Game of the Year 2010!!

1:

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, 360):

Final Fantasy XIII was the game I enjoyed the most this year. When I bought my PS3 a few years ago, this was the game which proved the push I needed to plunk the dough for the machine. Fast forward to 2010 and the lead up to the release date was a bit of a frenzy, but the moment I popped the game in the PS3 and the introduction started playing, I was stunned into silence. Here was a game which I had waited for 4 years, was finally mine and for me the wait was well worth it.

Final Fantasy XIII's tale about a band of heroes who have been cursed by the gods and their ordeal in trying to fulfill their goals has all the moments one find in a top tier JRPG. The narrative was really strong, I mean SquareEnix's risky move to streamline everything was also felt in the plot. Unlike previous Final Fantasy games where the story would take it time to develop, in Final Fantasy XIII the plot is fast paced up to the point where I was overawed pretty much the whole game by the roller coaster ride of a plot. Sure the complexity of the storyline from previous games is missing, but the new focused approach is still refreshing, esp in the JRPG genre. By the time the end dungeon loomed over I was emotionally exhausted and right now I cannot wait for the conclusion of the intriguing sojourn.

Final Fantasy XIII is the greatest looking game ever made. No question. SquareEnix has outdone itself in the graphics department as I have never seen a game this beautiful. The attention to detail seen on the characters is mind-bending as the animation and facial expression are phenomenal to say the least. The background of all the locales are exquisite to gaze upon be it the sterile yet foreboding environments of Cocoon, or the vast and wild fields of Pulse, the visual are astounding. The art design of Final Fantasy XIII is just as vivid and totally over the top. Lightning's and Sazh's military outfits, or the unreal look of Vanille's dress are very impressive. The archeiture of both Cocoon and Pulse look fantastic as does the monster designs, but what took the cake was the Sari which Fang supports. Name any game where one of the main character wears a Sari.


What makes Final Fantasy XIII so strong artistically is that the art designs are pretty much original in nature. Most games this year had a template ready from the start for e.g Mass Effect 2's space theme or the Wild West of Red Dead Redemption. In Final Fantasy XIII the brain child of Tetsuya Nomura is at the forefront and all the artistic touches were wonderful, and this little fact makes this game artistically unbeatable.

The other aspect of the presentation which was pretty much flawless was the score, in fact I deem it as the best this year. Many fans of Final Fantasy were bitter when they heard that the veteran Final Fantasy composer Nobou Uematsu was not involved in XIII, but for me the day I heard that the guy who composed majority of the tracks in Final Fantasy X (Masashi Hamauzu) was the main composer for this game I was overjoyed and knew for a fact the score will be great.

I dunno about other gamers but Final Fantasy XIII evolution of the ATB system was a stroke of genius. ATB system is inherently kinda slow but in this game that little annoyance has been taken away completely as the battles are very fast and intense. Final Fantasy XIII system is the upgraded versions of the systems found in X-2 and XII, which I thought were a step in the right direction and in Final Fantasy XIII that system strikes the perfect balance. And then you add in the Job system which you can change mid battles brings about in amazing strategy in battles. The RPG mechanics are solid in this game as always the case in any Final Fantasy game along with customization options for weapons. All these makes for a fine game steeped in RPG tradition, presented in a new perspective.

In the last post I mentioned that Mass Effect 2 was one of two which I would think about constantly, the other game was Final Fantasy XIII. Even when not playing the game I would be thinking about particular battles, how to use the Job system effectively or just thinking about the plot. This game had me pegged like crazy.

As I near the end of this piece there are a couple of things which have bothered me no end concerning Final Fantasy XIII. Yes Final Fantasy XIII isn't the greatest game in the series, but it definitely among my top 10 Final Fantasy games (6th out of the 25 games released thus far in the series), but as a stand alone RPG this game is really incredible. I mean whats there not to like. You have a really involving story line, jaw dropping presentation and a very solid battle system. This a very polished JRPG and if you pit this game against other games in the genre this game will be quite high on my list.

Hence this brings me to my other point of contention. I feel it is very unfair to the game and the developers of the game to always compare Final Fantasy XIII with previous Final Fantasy games. I mean every game is very different from the other. Many elements found in one game is absent from the other, so why put the game through a ringer. As I said as an RPG this game is really amazing and I implore to the fanboys to stop hating the game. I think the fanboys only want Final Fantasy games to be made in Final Fantasy 7 mould (a game which may not even feature in my top 10 Final Fantasy games!!), and that I think is totally pointless. Play the game as its meant to be played, as an RPG!

And so 2010 comes to an end and with it also one of the greatest gaming years ever. Having played a load full of awesome games from many different genres, Final Fantasy XIII emerged as the best of the lot.

So we say adieu to the year 2010 and wait impatiently for the new year to roll in and all signs already point that gamers will have a ball in 2011!!

Games of the Year Awards 2010 Day 9

2:

Mass Effect 2 (360, PC and soon PS3):

I hate WRPGs (Western RPGs). I dont like how their narratives are told, I dont like the usual fantasy setting of about 96% of WRPGs, and I don't like the non-linear exploration. Hence Mass Effect 2 was a massive choice on my list as this is the only WRPG that I actually thought was darn terrific. Something about the space setting instantly clicked with me and I have become a fan (the game series not the WRPG genre). The plot and how it is told makes all the difference as the narrative of the game is Hollywood-esque, the characters are particularly fleshed out and every decision you make has an instant bearing on the flow of the game. Its the reliance on the plot is what separates Mass Effect 2 from other games in the genre. Dare I say it seem to have taken a leaf out of Eastern RPG manuscript on how it handles the story.

And what is story it is, I mean the epic scope is just awe-inspiring. John Shepard's massive quest of saving the Universe from an indestructible threat is treated with panache and vigor as the plot is complete with intense moral decisions and a sense of grandour of the almost impossible situtaion the heroes find themselves in. This is also helped by briallant characters made up of disaprate personalities and backgrounds which makes for intriguing viewing. I consider the character of the blank slate John Shepard to be the best maybe due to how much control I have over his actions but whatever it is John Shepard felt as the complete character. Mass Effect 2 has easily the best story-line and some of the finest characters (Miranda Lawson FTW!!) this year and that says a lot in the face of some great games with stellar plot and characters released this year.

Mass Effect 2 takes the moniker of WRPG very lightly as the RPG mechanics are pretty sparse but that is off set with the feeling of actuall 'role playing' as the player is left to make any choices when conversing with many NPCs or on how the main character reacts to a given scenario which give a whole lot of independence to the player. As I rule I freak out when games give me a lot of options to think about and this is esp true when playing dense WRPGs. but Mass Effect 2 is nothing like that. I felt at ease when making tough decisions and although many decision were really hard to make, I was never over-awed, rather felt as I was IN the game. The game play itself is a major improvement over the original game with Bioware making a lot of tweaks. On a personal level the action bit in the game were awesome as the game felt like an action game even though there is a lot number crunching underneath the hood. The last time I tried a Bioware game (Knight of the Old Republic) I was bored out of my wits as the game play was pretty slow but not in Mass Effect 2.

Another aspect which made me a fan of the game was the entire presentation. The graphics are positively epic. The game uses in game engine in many of the cut scenes but boy the game still looks awesome. Even the characters all look really good (Miranda Lawson FTW!!) with real life facial expressions and animations and all environments lend a lot the the space theme. As I mentioned earlier I dont like WRPG with fantasy setting, so Mass Effect 2 sci-fi strapping just look amazing and this is why this game stands apart from rest of it contemporaries. The sound track is really strong and the voice acting is very easily one of the best due to a) a large number of good actors were hired and b) all the voice performance are uniformly good. Such polished games are not that common.

Games earn full marks from me when a particular game get a hold of my attention and doesn't let go..EVER!. Mass Effect 2 is one of two games this year which I would think about almost constantly. Calculating how to do a mission, on how to be become the best captain/hero for my crew or on how to be become the perfect saint, Mass Effect 2 had my number. This game was epic!

I am very impressed by Mass Effect 2 as the number of improvement made over the first games are so high that in comparison Mass Effect 1 feels broken, buggy and glitchy (which it isn't). Xbox 360 has an awesome game library and Mass Effect 2 is it best game (so what if the game is about to come on the PS3, its still a year late, I mean everyone has played it already!!). It doesn't have online multiplayer nor is the game overly lengthy, but it packs a massive wallop!

So finally we come to the Game of the Year which will be unveiled very soon.

Games of the Year Awards 2010 Day 8

Climbing on to number 3 on my Games if the Year Awards 2010 is the little legendary plumber.

3:

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii):

Super Mario Galaxy 2 maybe the only perfect platformer ever made. It just evolves everything found in the previous game and raises the bar for all future platformers, its really that good. Shigeru Miyamoto is called a genius for a reason and SMG 2 in my opinion his greatest creation.

The premise is the same: Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, Mario off to the rescue. The blueprints from the years gone past have remained the same but the game play mechanics have changed and the game designs have been made perfect as evident by this game. SMG 2 game play is very tight, I mean never was I frustrated while playing it with its controls or its streamlined approach and to be honest I was bemused at the level of creativity in each stage and area. The stuff added to the core game play makes sense esp the introduction of Yoshi in the mix. It seems to me that Nintendo told the game developers to go nuts and hence the end product is unbelievable.

Again what bothers me is how little importance this game was given by a large of the gaming fraternity. I mean SMG 2 was the most fun I had playing video games this year. Yes it doesn't have an epic story line, multi layered characters or even a hint of online play, but in terms of pure gaming bliss, SMG 2 was tops. The levels were plenty in number brimming with extraordinary creativity, variable objectives of the levels, the perfect balance of the difficulty (the game was pretty tough but also fair) while the presentation were just awesome with no hint of slowdown and colorful environments and the sound track once again was appropriately epic yet whimsical.

As you can see by now that I have used the word perfect a fews times, and this is how SMG 2..Perfect...Almost (why cant the story lines for the core Mario games be a little different..this is a definite little nitpick..but ah well).

Super Mario Galaxy 2 epitomizes every thing good and holy about Nintendo. SMG 2 and a bulk of other releases in 2010 made this year probably Wii's best in its cycle, and easily toppled the PS3 and the 360 of their pedestal of elite gaming machines. Nintendo also got back their disfranchised fans who were lost due to Nintendo's follies of the past. If the Wii does start to go down in the next year, then 2010 was its incredible swan-song.

Games of the Year Awards 2010 Day 7

Number 4 on my Games of the Year Awards 2010 goes to the wild west epic Red Dead Redemption

4:

Red Dead Redemption (PS3, 360):

Red Dead Redemption is awesome. There is no other way to describe this game. An epic sweeping drama of the wild west and the tale of a man's journey for redemption. The wild west has featured in games before but none have been ever this good. Red Dead Redemption smoked a lot of the competition in the action genre this year, even in the face of heavy hitters like God of War 3 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Rockstar has once again proved that their GTA success wasn't a fluke!

Red Dead Redemption's main draw is exploring the wild west, and the game world is a huge, barren place to visit and reaching each and every new town and place was quite amazing. Travelling in the shade of the setting sun or under the eerie moonlight the game does quite a job in making a immersive experience in a meticulously crafted world. The plot of the game does a fantastic job in providing a believable and a well grounded narrative of the journey of John Marston (the protagonist) as he tries his best to wash his hands of his terrible past and start anew. Like many of Rockstar big games (i.e GTA games) the characters become show stoppers with wonderful personalities (good and totally outlandish) and they all lend into the whole wild west setting. But the main character, John Marston, has to be in my opinion one of the greatest game character of all times. His nuanced yet complex character makes the whole package and as much as I played the game, I always felt connected to his ordeals and the horrors of his past. Its not that he is running away from his past, rather he fully accepts it and tries to make amends. Such human traits are seldom seen in this medium.

If one really wants to nitpick (not that I am in any way), but the game play is basically a little identical to the GTA games where selecting mission requires you check the map regularly and going to different characters who provide the missions. But this is where the similarities ends as the game takes a very solid approach to the action sequences, gun slinging and horse riding. And such a route easily makes it a very different entity from GTA. Nay-sayers or GTA haters will need to shut it and actually play the game, and be amazed how awesome the whole thing is. The presentation of the game is top notch as well and it brings the wild west to life like never before. I mean the barren and hostile terrains look positively harsh and the accompanying sound track puts on a strong showing.

Red Dead Redemption is an easy game to recommend and placing it in among the top honors this year wasn't hard at all. Sandbox games have an inherent tendency of becoming a bit of a slog but this game simply doesn't. I mean who doesn't want to a desperado. Red Dead Redemption simply put is an outstanding achievement in gaming.

Games of the Year Awards 2010 Day 6

Once again 2 games will be sharing this spot at number 5 in my Games of the Year Awards 2010.

5:

Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP):

Even after all the trials Sega has had to face in the last 10 years ranging from the demise of the Dreamcast to the myriad of really abysmal Sonic the Hedgehog games, there is one positive that has occurred for them in the form of the Valkyria Chronicles. The original game came out for the PS3 to glowing praises for it innovative take on the SPRG genre and its beautiful water painted look of the graphics. Valkyria Chronicles 2 walks in the path of the previous game, but this time on the PSP. What really surprised me was how Sega bought the game in the portable system without losing any of it visual pizazz and adding depth to the game play. Valkyria Chronicles 2 round off a truly spectacular year of the PSP.

Valkyria Chronicles story was lauded with is fictional portrayal of World War II, and the PSP iteration goes in the same vein but with a civil war motif and a novel high school like/military academy setting. So on one hand the story deals with the horrors of civil war and on the other hand follows a high school anime strapping which ultimately comes off a little lazy. But the game play is still top notch with its hybrid of SRPG and real time mechanics.

Valkyria Chronicles had robust RPG elements, but Valkyria Chronicles 2 had added a lot more depth with 4 news classes to choose from and detailed customization of characters and vehicles. The thing which gets me going that this game would had been awesome for PS3, but I am still NOT disappointed that PSP got this game (even if the PS3 fanboys threw a massive tantrum). The visuals of the original game for the PS3 were really amazing but it was obvious that the graphics would be scaled down for the PSP but that does not mean that game doesn't look good. The game is technically very solid along with a decent art style.

PSP had pretty lousy 2009 and all the sign pointed that PSP had its last hurrah but 2010 changed all that with a string of really good games of major franchises and Valkyria Chronicles 2 stand at the top of the heap.

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii):

The Wii has be subjected to some very unnecessary and harsh criticism from the so-called 'hard core' gamers who love to point out the shovelware and the casual gamers littering its game library. But the Wii has gone about its business and has garnered a few gems along the way. Fragile Dreams is one of those games. Here you have game which boasts a terrific storyline, some lovely visuals and a solid, slightly flawed game play. On the face of it the 'hard core' audience won't be satisfied but if one keeps their bias on the side and accept Wii has a viable game console, they will get to play some amazing games like Fragile Dreams.

A post-apocalyptic game where all human have vanished off the face of the earth, expect for the main character, Seto. As he starts his journey to find more people like him , he has chance encounter with a human girl and from there the focus of the story is Seto trying to find that girl. Fragile Dream had quite a profound effect on me with is subtle yet powerful plot, beautifully orchestratde sound track and a captivating world. Throughout the game Seto encounters unexpected denizen of the ruined world, and the relationship these characters have with Seto is something to behold. Each relationship is nurtured through the course of the game and each relationship arc is revolved as well which makes up for some really poignant and powerful moments of the game. I mean I still fondly remember some of these moments and to be honest no game this year comes even close in this regard.

The reviews of this game on many game sites are really harsh and that frustrates me no end. I agree that some of the game play elements in Fragile Dreams are strange, but not as broken as the reviews will lead you be believe. This is one of the those games which I remember not for its mechanics but rather for the melancholic mood it creates and how it enveloped me with its multifaceted storyline and its beautiful yet bleak world. The art style of the game for me was one of the most strongest as the world is filled with little artistic touches and many of the characters on show have some bizarre yet inspired look to them and all these things make the art style go off the charts.

Hence for all its worth Wii easily had the best year in terms of pure gaming bliss. A year which was filled with stellar Wii games and the return of some big names to the arena, Fragile Dreams was the 'little game that could'. The game is clearly is a labor of love of the developers and that makes Fragile Dream the game with the most heart. (Just on a side just follow the link and watch a beautiful trailer for Fragile Dream just to get an inkling of why I am drooling all over this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T08sXdq80dw)

As this list winds down, the games that will be featured were the cream of 2010. So join me tomorrow for number 4 in my Games of the Year Awards 2010.

Game of the Year Awards 2010 Day 5

PSP received one of the best Metal Solid game in recent years in 2010 with Peace Walker which also makes it to number 7 on my Game of the Year Awards 2010

6:

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP):

Last time Snake ventured on the PSP (Portable Ops), it was met with mixed reaction on my part. I could not get used to the camera angles and a few wonky control issues. So when Peace Walker was announced I was a little skeptical, yet excited at the same time, I mean come on, this is Metal Gear Solid!. I was hoping that Hideo Kojima may have worked on the issues from the previous game and to my relief he had which made the game more than playable. Using the 70's era and the Banana Republic phenomena of Central America as a driving force for the plot, Peace Walker became the PSP game to play in 2010.

Peace Walker has a really tightly wrought storyline with the right amount of political intrigue of the 70's and its global ramifications. Peace Walker also puts the ball in motion for the Metal Gear sage and it became fascinatining to see how Snake slowly become the main villan of the future games of series. And thank God for that as MGS series has been know to have pretty convoluted storyline as was evident with MGS 2 and MGS4. But with Peace Walker Kojima kept every thing pretty simple in lieu with MGS 3 and in end the game had the same emotional impact MGS 3 had on me. With the plot centering around the mystery for a certain person from the MGS mythos, you can't help but be impressed by the direction taken by Kojima-san.

The game play is classic MGS fodder and it shows that the developer have put in the effort in making a perfect MGS game. There is sneaking, A LOT of sneaking, more sneaking than found in MGS 4 (which was a bit a mess in my opinion). And the forest environs once again become the perfect setting for the tried and tested stealth action. The camera angles which were a pain to get used to in Portable Ops, have been tuned very well for the PSP and the control schemes felt reminiscent of Syphon Filter games for the PSP. Its an achievement for Hideo Kojima and his team that they have made many small changes to the mechanics but their effects are very clear which made the game shine rather than chruning out the same engine from Portable Ops.

But perphaps the most amazing thing about Peace Walker for me was how it spun such a story which made me actually wiki many of the names and events from the 70s. There are huge references to Che Guevara, the Sandinista from the Nicaragua Revolution and the repercussion of the Cold War from the scary days of the 60's (Cuban crisis and all). I mean this game made me watch some of the best movies based on the Cold War and getting my attention to read Confessions of the Economic Hitman. There aren't many games which feel very relevant to real life events.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is a really well made game with huge amount of content and some great characters. For me MGS 4 kinda killed the attachment from the series with its sterile settings (and the art designs, I mean I am sorry but the MGS magic was missing from the game, plain and simple) and a very (needlessly) complex storyline. But Peace Walker rectified the issues I had with both Portable Ops and MGS 4 and delivered a very bright and tightly woven MGS game.

Game of the Year Awards 2010 Day 4

2010 heralded Platinum Games into the limelight with some awesome games and that is why Bayonetta is at number 7 of my Game of the Year Award 2010.

7:

Bayonetta (360, PS3):

Bayonetta was the guiltiest pleasure of 2010 with its WAY over the top action, a stunning new female lead and some jaw dropping visuals. The plot was pretty much rudimentary with something about good witches and bad witches, a nasty rendition of Angels and some quack wanting the ultimate power but Bayonetta is SO not about the plot and makes no effort in correcting that. Rather the kinetic yet smooth and silky game play and quite possibly one of the greatest main character ever conceived makes Bayonetta linger in the mind even after finishing the game.

Bayonetta game play borrow very heavily from the Devil May Cry series (its pretty obvious as the director is the same guy, Hideki Kamiya), but just..I dunno...multiplied by a zillion!!!. I mean the game play takes the phrase 'over the top' to another level, nay another world, no...another dimension!!. The titular heroine can be made to dish out massive combos, perform outrageous moves, using an assortment of swords, shoot with handguns and heel guns (guns mount of heels!!!), torturing enemies with the use of torture machines! ...and if those antics fail then Bayonetta could summon these huge grotesque beasts from the netherworld to devour anything in her path!!..Yes Bayonetta is that insane. And oh yeah as embarrassed as I am to admit this but I thought the sound track was really catchy, hell I even loved the the rabidly hated battle theme!!

And although I did play the game on easy mode but that did not take away the fun, it actually made me like that game a bit more (after getting my back handed to me by one of the earlier bosses. Mentioning the character Bayonetta is quite important as she is really awesome. For starters her clothes are made from her hair (no funny ideas please), she has a whole librarian/school teacher/military instructor thing going, but with copious amounts of wanton sexuality and who loves to 'spank' naughty demons and all done with a charming British accent. Quite awesome if you ask me.

Platinum Games look set to become the toast of the gaming industry as the developers are not afraid in taking chances. And if you have legendary developers such as Hideki Kamiya and Shinji Mikami taking the reins on the games then you bet your bottom dollar that games are going to be amazing. Bayonetta is a testament of that.

Game of the Year Awards 2010 Day 3

The platformer genre was very well represented in 2010 and saw many big name franchise making a splash. At number 8 in my Game of the Year Awards 2010 is Donkey Kong Country Returns.

8:

Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

I was a Sega fan as a kid and hence did not own a SNES which is why I never really knew about Donkey Kong Country series. The Wii did introduce me to the series through the Virtual Console service but I wasn't really impressed with Rare's popular franchise. But when Nintendo announced its barrage of games at this year E3 Donkey Kong Country Returns was the game which piqued my interest. Maybe the graphics were the real cause as basically the game design was identical as its SNES precursor (although the game development was done by Retro this time around rather than now Microsoft owned Rare), but whatever the case the game looked gorgeous. I was keen in knowing what the whole hoopla was about Donkey Kong Country popularity.

Fast forward to November and Donkey Kong Country Returns had knocked my socks off with its awesome graphics and spot on controls and inspired level design. Making leaps across canyons, dodging huge waves, transversing treacherous mines, battling awesome bosses was the quite rush and when you factor in the difficulty, it makes for some fine old school gaming. Yes the game is quite difficulty, sometimes so much so that I would almost fling my Wii controller across the room, but even then the difficulty is not frustrating as usually it would be my impetuousness which would lead to me wasting Kong's lives. The level designs are really well thought out with right amount of obstacles to overcome and finding secret areas. Each area of the game has a cool theme which makes for varied environments to look at and explore. And as I mentioned before the visuals are easily among the best on the Wii with staggering amount of attention laid on in the details and nary a hint of slowdown. Nintendo has brought out its A game and has delivered a stunning comeback from Donkey Kong and his cohorts.

You can always count on Nintendo to turn heads, and usually such events come about more often than other developers. It is as if people at Nintendo know exactly what gamers want and literally pulverize them with such knowledge and insight. Donkey Kong Country Returns is a fine example of such a fact as this game is easily one of the best 2D platformers I have played and is definitely one of the best games for the Wii. Period.

Game of the Year Awards 2010 Day 2

Coming in at 9 in my Game of the Year Awards 2010 is the diamond in the rough from Ninja Theory Enslaved.

Enslaved (PS3, 360):

To be really honest Enslaved never entered in my most anticipated games of 2010. I just watched the first trailer which came out back then only out of curiosity and dismissed it as a run of the mill action game forgetting Ninja Theory's previous title, Heavenly Sword. Even when the demo came out I did not download and on top of that I had heard my friend really disliking the demo which justified my lack of interest in the game. Just imagine my shock when most of the top video games sites where praising the game's plot and the characters. As I started to comb each and every written and video reviews (Thank God for Metacritics and Gamerankings) it become abundantly clear that Enslaved was a game which was worth my time.

What got my attention in the early sections of the game was the realistic symbiotic relationship of the main character Monkey and the 'damsel in distress' Trip. There was almost a Hollywood like quality of how the relationship was being treated by the developers. Sure Enslaved isn't the first game which has such a setup, games like ICO instantly comes to mind. But the motion capture and the acting really took the game to an amazing high. Andy Serkis, Lindsey Shaw and Richard Ridings really took a liking to their virtual counterparts and gave wonderful performances.

Hell even the game play was really solid but without really setting the world on fire. The action and platforming game play in Enslaved did come off as 'being there done that' but still what ever was presented was pretty neat. The world of Enslaved was also a star as most of post apocalyptic setting are usually bleak and desolate. Here the game world was bursting from its seam with color and hence made the exploring new areas a joy. But Enslaved would had placed much higher on my list if it weren't for inept ending which left me really frustrated. Without ruining the ending I will just like say that Ninja Theory could had ended the game on an epic note like they did with Heavenly Sword but in my opinion they did not.

Anyways Enslaved was a really good game as there were many points in the adventure which were really memorable and the relationship of the characters was done in a very believable fashion. Hence I cant wait to see what sort of game Ninja Theory comes out with.

Come back for more tomorrow as I make my way to number 8 on my Game of the Year Awards 2010.

Game of the Year Award 2010 Day 1

And finally 2010 is drawing to close. A year which saw some truly spectacular games on every gaming system, a year which welcomed back some old fan favorite franchises while also introducing some great new IP. 2010 also saw the Sony and Microsoft dabbling in the casual market Ala Nintendo with their MOVE and Kinect hardware and the introduction of 3D gaming started to take root which lead to some awesome revelations and announcement. While the industry moved forward at rapid pace, there were some controversy with the whole Infinity Ward and Activison debacle, but that aside 2010 was a year which the gaming industry will fondly remembered.

For us gamers this may well be the greatest gaming year since 2004 as a bevy of games were released across the board which catered to all taste. It is therefore a taxing proposition for me to single out 10 outstanding games of 2010 as many titles will lose out but only due to the fact that the games on my top 10 list were really ahead of the pack. But on the other hand the games which will lose were very good games in their own rights and worth playing and investing time on. So from today till the 30th of December I will start a countdown of 10 of the best games I played in 2010 with my Game of the Year to be unveiled on the 31th of December. But before I start I will confess that many games on my list have NOT be finished to completion. Anyways on to my top 10 games of the 2010:

10

Coming in on number 10 are two games actually. Nier (PS3 and 360) and The Sly Collection (PS3).

Nier:

Nier is a complex beast. On the surface the game is an action RRG alongside some bullet dodging sequences and borrows a lot of elements from many block buster games but ended up being pretty lame imitation. The word derivative becomes a key word indeed. The visuals of the game are lacking as well, actually I would even call them ugly. But if you were to look past the flaws there is quite a good game underneath it all. What got me interested in Nier were a) the post apocalyptic future where humans face extinction by the hands of a race ancient sentient beings and b) a heart rending storyline of a man's quest of saving his sickly daughter and c) Some quite bizarre but awesome characters which included a haughty talking magical book (or Grimore) and a Aphrodite warrior...Yes you read that..an Aphrodite!...a gaming first!!. I mean I have never played a game which has an Aphrodite character who kicks butt and cusses like a drunk sailor!!. And accompanying the game is easily the best original sound track of the year. It somehow embodied the dire and bleak world of Nier with haunting vocals and has a distinctive ethereal vibe which makes the sound track stand way above its peers.



But seriously the now defunct game developers Cavia made a real gem here and kudos to SquareEnix in publishing the game. It was shame that many of the game play mechanics ended up being pretty lazy but not unplayable and that many gamers ignored the game altogether. Even so the mesmerizing storyline and characters made this game a surprising winner for me.

The Sly Collection:

The Sly Collection is a remastering of 3 of the best platformers of the PS2 era. The Sly series was part of a three pronged attack on the PS2 alongside the Jak and Daxter series and the Ratchet and Clank series which gave gamers awesome platformers to play. But for some reason the Sly series was not considered a run away success even though the Sly games were very exceptional with its tight game play, cel-shaded graphics. endearing characters and a pretty clever storyline. But with Sony's new strategy of releasing PS2 games remastered in HD as part of the Classic Collection line up for the Play Station 3, the Sly games unexpected got the nod. And boy was this news awesome when The Sly Collection got announced at this years E3. Playing all the three games in quasi HD quality and trophy support is one of the most endearing moments of 2010.



It quite an obvious move by Sucker Punch to work with the little known Sanzaru Games in bringing the HD remastering on the PS3, as its a no brainer it will make way for a proper HD Sly Cooper game for the PS3, so till then The Sly Collection fits the bill and scratches the 3D platforming itch.

Tune in tomorrow as I reveal number 9 in my Game of the Year top 10 games for 2010.

mini-updated: Keiji Inafune has quit Capcom....

Capcom's legend Keiji Inafune has quit the company as effective end of October. Wow, this is major news. I mean the guy has been credited as being the creator of many awesome games like the Mega Man series, Onimusha series and more recently Dead Rising games. Although I have not played many of his games, but it still makes me a little sad that one of the pioneers of the game industry has left the company which made him the legend and brought amazing games to the world. I guess these are changing times. I still remember a few years back I felt the same when Hironobu Sakaguchi left SquareEnix. Anyways back to Keiji Inafune.


Personally I was not his fan esp not after this scathing remarks that Japanese game industry was finished and how Japanese developers could not compete with the Western developers. In this HD generation I have played many incredible Japanese developed games like Valkyria Chronicles, Final Fantasy XIII, Tales of Vesperia and Bayonetta to name a few. Hence Inafune-san remarks were a kick to the gonads and it made me wonder why the hell he made such a statement. But anyways I guess he had his reasons and him being one of the bigger developers from Japan he must know what we don't or maybe this was bout of reverse psychology!! (conspiracy theories anyone?)

Well good luck to him I guess as he embarks on a new challenge and I am sure many of his fans will wait impatiently for his next game or series. As for me, what will be interesting how he plans to bring the Japanese game industry back to it feet with his new game whenever it comes out! (whatever that means!)

The perfect Galaxy...

Around two years ago I had the pleasure of playing a platform game that most probably had the greatest level designs ever seen in a 3D platformer. Miyamoto-san and his cohorts at Nintendo had brought their A game the party and delivered an incredible experience on the Wii with Super Mario Galaxy. Almost every level had amazing creativity, full of little touches which made me stop and be mesmerised and thought to myself that the level designs of Super Mario Galaxy cannot to be beat.



Lo and Behold in 2010 Miyamoto-san has pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat and brought us Super Mario Galaxy 2 and incredibly has level design which trumps the original. I shake my head in disbelieve as I write this statement: that the amount of creativity oozing from this game is staggering and miraculously the game manages to drawfs its predecessor. In the game industry its a common sight to see sequels of games upping the ante, but how do you react when a perfect game gets perfected in its sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2 is that awesome!!!

I once wrote a review for original game where I mentioned that I never liked any of the 2D Mario games, but the Galaxy series has made me a fan of Mario (albeit not of the tradition 2D ones). The polish in every department of the game, the challenge of each and every level, some totally amazing set pieces of platforming and creative bosses makes everything about game sparkle. I will even go on and say that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the greatest 3D platformer even made. Don't worry I have played many awesome 3D platformers in my time; games like the Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank games, but this game kinda beats them by a country mile!

I heard a rumour some where that many of the levels present in the game were actual rejects from the previous game. If this is true then one can only wonder what sort of talent presides in the development arm of Nintendo. Take the following as an example; by just adding the cute dinosaur Yoshi, the game design opened up in awesome new ways which makes his levels quite a treat. Another addition was the streamline nature of Mario progress. Gone are the hub world of previous 3D Mario games, and replaced by the typical level selection menu: old school style. Sure many of the basic themes of levels have made it on the to Galaxy 2 from the original, but some how they have been made more intricate and complex, yet still retaining the typical Nintendo charm. Its stuff like that which made me take notice of the game and also made me think about the awesome development which made this game. Kudos to them!

Last week was a Mario rush for me as Super Mario Galaxy 2 was the only game I was playing, so much so that I even had dreams of the game for crying out loud!. The sad part is playing the game made me think of how less attention the 3D platformer genre gets nowadays as Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the very rare platform game in the HD generation

The only complaint that I have against Galaxy 2 is the abject storyline, to be precise the typical cannon fodder that has been seen time and again in previous Mario games. To many gamers this isn't much of a complaint as this is what we expect from a Mario game, but if you take a look at the Mario RPG games then you being to wonder why don't the main Mario games have such charming story lines. Take any iterations of the Paper Mario series of the Mario and Luigi series. These games have funny and genuinely charming storyline and also dispel the the notion that Mario games cannot have a proper plot. If only the plots of next Galaxy games are given attention then you will have the most perfect platform game.



So Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the best Wii game to date. There are no if and buts from me as the amount of fun I had playing this game was immense. I now eagerly anticipate the next inevitable Mario game and can't wait for what Shigeru Miyamoto has in store for us.

Thank You for the Games!

As I was surfing throgh my daily dosage of video game news I got to know that a couple of days was the day when PS2 got released and ushered an era of undisputed reign at the top of the video gaming ladder. The awesome numbers of games in almost all the genres is a true testament of how much of a stranglehold Sony had over the industry. This system has made its way into the pantheon of the gaming elites, so much that even after the HD generation is running full tilt many of us gamer still have their PS2 in working order. I know I still use the black machine from time to time.

I still remember going crazy as I oogled many screen shots of the PS2 launch and actually getting dizzy with anticipation due the graphics and announcement of many games. Yes the early games were not too great and not too much in number, but I knew that a time will come when the gates of Heaven will open to unleash a barrage of awesome games. ICO and Klonoa 2 were two of the games which started the rot, and also send me over the hill with my constant pestering get my dad to buy me a PS2. It was October 15, 2001 when my dad finally took me to the game shop and got me a PS2. I got around 5 games which included ICO, Klonoa 2, Gran Tursimo 3, Twisted Metal Black and Okage: The Shadow King. The ride home was a blur as I keep one envisaging awesomeness, and boy the PS2 did not disappoint.



As the years whizzed past by and more awesome game kept on coming, my time with the PS2 started becoming memorable. Spending long afternoons parked in front of the TV and playing games. My love of RPGs reached legendary status as the amount of RPGs on the system meant that I will always got my fix of the genre. The 3D platforming games were dime a dozens and action and racing games become the major forte for the PS2 games library. That equates unhealthy amount of time playing video games. Good ole days!

I will not state the number of amazing games I have experienced on the PS2 as that will take up most of the post space, but I will jot down 10 of my most favorite PS2 games:

1) Final Fantasy X
2) Metal Gear Solid 3
3) Final Fantasy XII
4) Persona 4
5) Final Fantasy X-2
6) Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
7) Jak 3
8) Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
9) Shadow of the Colosuss
10) GTA: Vice City and Beyond Good and Evil

So there you have it, 10 years of providing awesome games to a massive number of gamers. And as the PlayStation brand rolls on in the HD generation with the PS3, we still fondly look back to the PS2. Cheers PS2, Thank you for the all games and memories!

The War Machine

My last update hinged around my stance against mindless war video games like Medal of Honor or Call of Duty. It also highlighted how video games can be used to flesh out the concept of war and its complexities and how games can be as powerful as movies. So around a year ago I wrote an article pertaining to the aforementioned topic for a web site but unfortunately that article never saw the light of day (some major technical problems occurred on the web site). So as I guess now is the perfect time to 'publish' that article. (The name of the web site has been blotted out)

“War! that mad game the world so loves to play.” ~Jonathan Swift

We live in a world that is rife with war, conflict and utter discord. Everywhere we look we have escalated conflicts and issues spinning outta hand, innocents lives being snuffed out while the world leaders are pulling the strings. War has been tackled in video games dealing from war against sentient beings or depicting the violent edge of the World Wars in form of action games with emphasis on action on the battlefield. As such we have seen some brilliantly paced games from the likes Call of Duty to the Medal of Honor franchises where the player is dropped right in the middle of the action and quick reflexes and the run and guns tactics being the player best friend. As much as these games are high in the playability, you always feel there is a distinct lack of a cohesive storyline, engaging characters or a message of some sort and this is where I think action war games have lacked. The genre which has packed up a bit of the slack is the RPG genre.

RPGs tend to tell an epic tale of a band of heroes who are out and about trying to stop the evil tyrant from destroying the world, but once ever few moons a game company chomps the bit and bring about an RPG which deals with the issues of war. They make huge rosters of characters, an epic scale of the situations and of course an army. A rag tag team of characters are replaced by a huge army focusing on one goal while the story makes every battle, every skirmish deep with repercussions and undeniable tension.

In following paragraphs we have jotted down names of a few RPGs which revolves around wars and poignant stories about the people and soldiers involved in war.

For us at (xxxxxxxxx) we have always been a fan of the Suikoden series for its decidedly different approach to games story and flow along with tried and test RPG mechanics. What started out as a niche game franchise has exploded among RPG elites for the new features the series adds: for starters Suikoden games incorporates 108 stars from the Chinese scribes of Shui Hu Zhuan, which in terms comes down to recruiting characters for a common cause. What separates Suikoden recruitment designs from other RPGs is the staggering number of character which can be bought down under one banner i.e. 108 stars. Sure not all of them are playable but quite a of few of them act as NPCs or having significance to the story. And as such Suikoden stories have a lot of political wrangling, allies, treaties, POW situations that ties in together with the major story theme and that in turn leads to the game having the "war atmosphere".



Another feature that lends to the war ‘factor’ in the Suikoden series are the full scale battles which take place at sporadic times in the game. These are usually pretty simple take on the SRPG genre and are quite easy but when taken as a whole these battles really add to the war situation and really drive the theme home. The impending doom sort of situations or the fighting for survival are the themes which make these battles quite impressive in scope. And if you add in the base camps, eclectic cast of character in the players burgeoning army you end up with a pretty impressive war themed franchise.

War is a pretty complex theme to showcase in an RPG as the game developers have to carefully tread themes which are usually quite lofty to discuss in any case. Square Enix's Final Fantasy franchise often prides it selves on crafting impressive story lines, complex theme coupled with the supporting game play properties, but in the Final Fantasy cannon there have been two games which have directly presented a pretense and background of war. Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII have walked a path usually not reserved for a high end franchise (risk over bizness jargon), but as these games have ended up being really awesome, the risk was worthwhile. Final Fantasy Tactics was an ambitious game to start off with as this was a very different approach taken by the developers with its really strong narrative. The behind the scenes look at the politics, the ambiguity of allies and enemies, the deep background of history, a sordid and complex cast of characters and the epic main plot made Final Fantasy Tactics a stand out amongst its RPG peers and become a work of legend. Sure the level of depth found in the battle mechanics and job system coupled with its notoriously brutal difficulty and an awfully translated script has been talked about in full detail but it’s the game world’s history and the intellectual story that was the real standout.



In this regard Final Fantasy XII is an odd choice considering the character driven story but the whole atmosphere of war and invasion gave this iteration of the venerable series its distinct vibe. The world of Ivalice is steep in conflict and that hold true in Final Fantasy XII with the war between the mighty Arcadia and Rozarria and the small kingdom of Dalmasca. It’s this background that lays the ground work for the story which follows the exploits of a deposed princess. One of the basic theme of the story and the world of Ivalice was of alliance and that is how the main plot became much larger than the characters themselves. The epic nature of Final Fantasy XII politics and war really stood out on its own.

War themed RPG also has gotten a bit attention on the portable systems with notable entries of the Fire Emblem series on the GBA and DS or the remake of Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP but one thing’s for sure, war on the go is a whole lotta fun. While one the subject there is one game series which technically isn’t an RPG but garners our attention due to the insane number of war mechanics in the game: The Advance War series. This military theme strategy series may not be a RPG but when dealing with so much detail in game play, one can only be impressed. The meat of the games are the battles which are filled with military terms and mechanics like Fog of War, troop placements, warring on different terrains or laying siege on a city or industrial compounds, it’s all there. The look of the game is really modern so expect to see units like submarines, APC, armored tanks, ground infantry or even fighter planes. This series showed how military themed games can easily be done a handheld, and if the game play is as addictive as Advance Wars, then you've got a killer combo.



If pointed out the aforementioned games have a few war angles but not the full war experience at it were, hence our last choice is Valkyria Chronicles. The game is the entire embodiment of the war machine with its reliance on an emotionally charged storyline rife with patriotic elements, back door politics and many fleshed out characters who have different reason to take up arms and of course military theme game play mechanics. This little gem was an easy choice for us as the amount love exhibited by Sega on this game is quite astounding. Let’s takes the story first: An fictional take on World War II; as the plot takes place on the continent of Europa where a massive war has broken out between the Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation and caught in between is the small country of Galia. The story follows the exploits of not the army but of a local militia and it is this aspect which really is heart rending as the combatants mostly consists of regular people such as a baker, a bar maid, a farmer or a student. Some the exchanges of the main characters or how all the characters react differently to the conflict is quite inspiring as emotions are flying high and it all culminates into a moving narrative.



The war motif ventures much beyond the plot as the depth of the game play mechanics makes use of the said theme quite well. The players amass a large number of militiamen each having their own strengths and weakness, furthermore the solders are categorized into different of jobs ranging from infantrymen, elites foot soldiers to the snipers and engineers, hell the players even gets to use of a full size tank. There are terrain positions to think about, different strategy to partake in a given battle right down to requesting backup at the right time. Even during the non battle scenario there are recruitment centers to visit, training grounds for practice (i.e. used for leveling individual job category) and R&D facilities to go and perform upgrades on weapons and tanks.

Therefore Valkyria Chronicles become quite the odd beast as the whole game revolves around war: be it the story or the game mechanics. Personally Valkyria Chronicles has moved the RPG genre in the right as based on the game play but this game will linger in my mind for its plot, emotions and its characters. If Sega realizes the potential of this series it will surely give some of the big name RPG franchises a run for their money.



Tackling the issues of wars is a tough job at the best of times but some of the games mentioned in this rant do more than a commendable job in handling this sensitive matter. "War is Hell" as noted by the celebrated American Civil War hero William Sherman as it becomes a part of a nation psyche and party of a country difficult past. Most of the time RPGS tend to relies on a well worn track but if there are more bold developers who willing enough to explore the war business then most of us gamers will have a ball for sure.

My Inconsequential Stand

(*Disclaimer: I like games of all kinds. My game interests are vested in games targeted to the younger audience, games where strategy and tactics are involved and mature games with blood, gore, violence and sexual content*)

As the trailer starts we see a band of soldiers in full gear surrounding a run down shack in the streets of Kabul. They get into their attack positions, and as the music wells up into a frenetic beat, the soldiers bust down the door and hell as breaks lose as guns are shot at the terrorists. The trailer end with this phrase "This is Tier 1".

These are scenes are taken from the trailer of an upcoming (I think it got released a couple of days ago) video game: Medal of Honor. A video game developed by the industry giant Electronic Games or EA, is a virtual depiction of the terrible war in Afghanistan. In the game we player assume the role of one of the elite US Marine soldiers as we transverse the rugged terrain of Afghanistan, searching and exterminating pockets of insurgency forces.

Let now me just come to my point. The more I write about this game, the more angry I feel. And hence i draw the line. I make my stand. As video game player I will boycott this game.



Many gamers and non gamers will be wondering what sort of content does the game have which has incited my extreme stand. Let me start my simple explanation with a rather generic remark: I hate war, I hate video games depicting real life war. That is not say that video games displaying war has no place, on the contrary. War video games need to a little preachy and maybe even have a message rather placing gamers in middle of a virtual battle field and calling it a day. How about comparing some of the great war movies such as Apocalypse Now, Lions for Lambs, Letters from Iwao Jima or Saving Private Ryan to popular games like Call of Duty or the aforementioned Medal of Honor. These movies show case the true brutality of war and its complexities on a soldier in a battle field as well as repercussion on innocent lives. While Call of Duty and such games usually have a ham fisted story and wholly concentrates in giving a whole lot of things to shoot at, offline and on.

I feel many of the game developers who make war games do not use the powerful new medium of video games to display the horrors of wars. More often than not most war games just give gamers the licence to become a 'bad ass' soldier and kill everything and anything on site. Sure most real wars are like that but again you ask any war veteran and he/she will tell you it is not as simple or as 'fun' as it sounds. This aspect of war is usually ignored and hence it numbs the gamers or viewers to the insensibilities of war.

Yes many will argue that this is only a game and is not real and that in effect makes it OK. I am not saying that I am against violent games, as one of my favorite games are violent games but making a video game about a real life war is callous. And I am not against war games per say. I mean if there exists a message in amongst it all then such games can be used to propagate anti-war sentiments. As I mentioned earlier that movies have been made on the topic of wars where it would show the raw nature of conflicts and they have been successful. Video games about wars also can be used in such an exercise

Yes there have been very good attempts where the concept of war has been displayed in its entirety along with its impact by people like Hideo Kojima and his Metal Gear Solid series. The games in this series always had stories relevant to the real world as well as a message which has made this series a big hit amongst the gaming fraternity.



The RPG genre also have many games about wars and its brutalities but as the genre lies a little out of the main stream audience (even after the incredible run of awesome RPGs during the PS1 and PS2 era), the purpose of such games usually don't get to an average gamer. What I trying to say is that game developers have to be a little progressive, just like how movies makers and musicians assumed that role in the late 60's and 70's, and starting making war games with a some purpose rather than just thinking of making maximum profit.

So anyways as I end this blog update and the realization dawns upon me that this my stand basically is pointless and eventually without result. My boycott won't stop this game selling around a million copies (or more) around the world and my opinions will be scoffed at by many of my fellow gamers. But I will accept this fact and therefore I will preserve on my principle. I will draw the line. I will make my inconsequential stand.

Co-pilot

Before reading on I suggest to the read this article:

http://kotaku.com/5656943/the-gamer-i-really-am

Playing video games with my siblings is one of my most enduring childhood memories. Spending hours with my older brothers playing Super Mario Bros, or using cheat codes in Contra in an effort of finish game. Jungle Strike on the Sega Mega Drive was a game which me and my brother played quite a bit, doing mission turn by turn or helping out in difficult sections. Another game which vied for our time was Brian Lara Cricket. Here was game which we played tourney style, and it was always a blast. Streets of Rage series was one also another franchise we sibling with play alot.

With my purchasing of the PlayStation, coupled with my brothers getting less and less interested in games, I started getting more time playing single player games, and slowly I enjoyed them more than playing with my sibling. My gaming started to revolve around RPGs and it was good. Although it didn't matter much that none of my siblings were interested in gaming much (barring a few games here and there of course), but I did miss simpler days.

As my brothers left home, my gaming would become a total single player experience, as my sisters were either too young or just not interested. But that changed, just for a short period of time when I purchased PS2's first Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy X. As the game started, my younger sister (who is just a couple of years younger than me) caught a glimpse of me playing the game, and just like that she is like watching me play the game intently, marvelling at the graphics, chipping in with a suggestion on beating enemies and getting really surprised at how the story was developing. This went on for while, and I was kinda surprised that a single player game had caught the attention of one of my siblings. Its not that my sister was interested in the game itself, but she got intrigued with the game's story and the characters.



Now whenever I would put the game, my sister would come and watch the cut-scenes (not FMVs mind you, but story exposition cut-scenes). New developments in the story and characters would be discussed and analyzed. Hell even the sound track would get a bit of attention. I actually had to stop from progressing the story for a month as my sister's annual exams had started, and that gave me ample time to get all the ultimate weapons for my characters and finish all of the side quests by the time her exams finished.

And when the game reached it epic conclusion, and I had broken down into a sobbing mess, my sister was there to witness that doing her best not laugh at me all the while trying to cheer me up during the credits. Yes the game was quite incredible and I regard it as a crowning glory in the world of RPGs, but I know it as a fact that the game become so memorable due to my co-pilot. Even today we sometimes discuss some of the finer points of game's story and the characters.

Invariably after a few years when my youngest sister (who is alot younger than me) started playing Final Fantasy 10, I would usually watch her play and essentially performed the co-pilot's role.

Single player games are still the trend of my gaming, but as I said, for a little while Final Fantasy 10 become a 'multi-player' experience.

But anyways the article written the Leigh Alexander (in link above) was quite the read and will be visiting her blog Sexy Videogameland.

Enslaved by Enslaved...

So yesterday I started Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, a game which was virtually shunned by a lot of people due to its demo, but has managed to garner some high marks on sites like Gamespot and IGN. Not having played the demo I relied solely on game reviews and boy this game has just knocked my blocks off. The game is frigging fantastic!

The story of Enslaved revolves around the meek and fragile Trip and her captive hulk of a man, Monkey and their journey across a perilous wasteland. The game's plot has been inspired by a 400 year old Chinese novel filled with Monkey Gods, divine princess, demons, mythical beasts and such called Journey to the West, but the game has put its own spin on things, making the world a post-apocalyptic wasteland. That in it self had got my interest piqued. Oh by the way this isnt the first time the classic novel has been used as inspirtation in games as one look on the wikipedia might attest too.

So anyways yesterday after booting up the game, I have not been able to put the game down. 5 hours in the game, the pacing and the tense situations are top notch. But by far till now the best aspect of the game is the symbiotic relationship of Trip and Monkey due to the fact as Trip is the weak character and its up Monkey to do all the heavy lifting and fighting as the pair struggle for survival. The way both the characters interact in the face adversity is quite splendid, as many a times the captor has to be the one to be saved by the captive and this opens up some great exposition between the two.

The more I play the game, the more I am reminded by a couple of games which has the same symbiotic theme between two characters. One being 2008's Prince of Persia and other being ICO. Enslaved too has the same set up but still ends up holding it own identity and that in itself is an achievement.

The end of the game is quite far away but the amount of work Ninja Theory has put in the game is really awesome and for me they are the up and coming development house esp after creating the epic Heavenly Sword and now Enslaved. Hence this makes for interesting times as Ninja Theory is handling the reboot of Devil May Cry and it may well be really good as well, emo Dante and all.

Dimensions and all.....

Around 3 months I ago updated this sparse looking blog, so I guess it high time I got my groove on. So a bit has changed since the E3 rolled by. Some big games have been released, a few records have been broken.....hmmm for both these example Halo Reach comes to mind. Announcements of new hardware are flying all over the place (3DS is going to be fracking awesome) and to be honest it still remains an awesome time to be a gamer.

Anyways for my first real update in months I will talk a little about a game I finished just last night: Spider Man: Shattered Dimensions. Well truth be told the game started off really nice and was really fun to play, with awesome set pieces with some well know villains and playing as Spider Man is always a rush. But by the time the game reached it conclusion I got partially bored.



Make to no mistake the game is fun. The level designs in the early part of the game was quite striking as playing four different types of Spider Men is a pretty novel concept and hence the level design shone quite brightly. As most of you know Activision touted the ability to play different Spider Men from 4 dimensions in the game trailers and for me that become a real hook. For most part 3 of 4 Spider Men (Amazing, Ultimate and 2099) controlled almost identically and dishing out major combos and web swinging through the levels was fun, but the dimension of Noir was a bad idea. It was bland, boring and had no thrills associated with being Spider Man. Noir's levels usually made me lurk in the dark, picking out unsuspecting baddies, but that's no fun at all. And as most game sites have pointed out Noir was a blatant copy of last year's Arkham Asylum, with only one difference...ARKHAM ASYLUM WAS WICKED!!



As the game progressed, I found that the basic levels and mission structure of the game was pretty identical, yes there were a few chase segments here and there but the basic theme was the same. And that is a shame really, with 4 different Spider Men to work with, the game could had used a bit of variety. Along with completing the game's various levels, the inclusion of in game achievements which granted characters upgrade was kinda addictive as I would find myself going a little out of my way to complete a few of them.

The most attractive angle of the game were the visuals, and they were good. Technically they were OK, but the cel-shading of the Amazing and Ultimate dimensions were really eye catching, Noir dimension's odd melange of blacks and sepia tones complimented the game over all visuals quite well. 2099 visuals were your generic sci-fi crap.



Oh yeah the voice acting and dialogs were really really good. Spider Man's wise ass quips were really funny and the voice acting was really well done. The characters of Amazing (Neil Patrick Harris) and Ultimate (Josh Keaton) were the best as they were constantly funny and gave the friendly Spider Man the pre-requisite spunk. And amongst the villains fan favorite DeadPool was very engaging.

My Impressions: All in all a good game indeed, but due to repetitive mission and level structure, the game does not reach the heady heights of Arkham Asylum.

Well with 2 awesome games coming out in a day or two in the form of Enslaved and Castlevania: Lord of Shadows I will have my handful indeed.