2007 Disappointments

Some games just didn't rock as hard as I wanted them to. I'm not mad...just, disappointed.

Eye of Judgement: As a new PS3 owner, I've been quick to snatch up any of the system's unique offerings. Eye of Judgement is very much that. I've always been a fan of games like Magic, so the ability to play a game like it (made by Wizards of the Coast) with friends whilst on my couch sounded great.

Only problem, is that my apartment isn't lit well enough. And I don't have a small table that accommodates the mat. I spent 2+ frustrating hours tweaking the mat and waiting for cards to be registered by the all seeing eye only to find myself on the verge of heaving the Eye. It looks like a solid game if you have the right setup. It was just too much of a pain when all I wanted was to just play a game.

Mass Effect: By no means a bad game, Mass Effect wasn't quite what I personally thought it could be. I played through once with an Infiltrator and I completed every side quest I could find. After that, I began a second game on Hardcore as a Soldier.

I already went over it here.

Crysis: Crysis looks like a brilliant game, both visually and from a design standpoint. I mostly enjoyed Far Cry, so I was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately, I just have a good computer, not an NSA "I hacked the Chinese" super computer. And I don't think I'm alone. Sales for the game so far have been extremely poor, primarily due to its steep system requirements and a healthy dose of piracy for good measure.

I think it's a big mistake to make a game that people need to upgrade for. If most hardcore gamers cannot play it on their current PCs, you've done something wrong. I just don't understand the decision behind it -- a visual showcase nobody will every see.

Hellgate: London: Hellgate was really missing something. The longer I played it and the more it was patched, the buggier it became. The default difficulty was insanely easy and the others were only available by subscription. And the slot machine styled loot drop just wasn't that interesting. Perhaps all the developers trying to make the next Diablo should take a step back and realize that the industry has moved on and the "click click click" loot fiesta isn't it any more. I'm really interested to see what Blizzard does with Diablo 3. How can they evolve the genre they created?

A friend of mine commented that for every brilliant design decision, they made ten really stupid ones. After playing the game for a bit, it seems like a fair generalization.

Team Fortress 2: I'll make this quick. Yes, gorgeous visuals, a tone of very unique classes and extremely polished gameplay. For the first few weeks I had an absolute blast -- I thought it was going to be with me forever. But, after almost exactly two weeks the classes stopped being so interesting and the maps got really old. It felt like the choke points were the same, the tactics were the same and the outcome didn't really matter. I lost interest. I think I'm in the definite minority of gamers, but TF2 didn't keep my attention as long as I wanted it to. Perhaps I should give it another chance.

(posted by grant at 12/26/2007) (0) comments

2007 Games of the Year

This was easily the best year for nerds for a long, long time. The Xbox 360 received a ton of great titles and the PS3 threw up a few for good measure. I spent a fortune on games this year, but honestly got my money's worth. I found it interesting that my tastes have really skewed towards simpler games with cheap thrills (ex: explosions).

Top Games

In no particular order...

Crackdown: I didn't get Xbox Live until about Spring of this year. I spent my first few days downloading every Arcade and Game demo I could find to test what I'd been missing. Crackdown was a game I never expected to buy, but I loved the demo so much that it migrated to the purchase category.

The best way to describe my experience with it is Spiderman with a rocket launcher. Why drive around the city (using the awful car controls) when jumping from rooftop to rooftop was faster? The complete lack of direction was awesome and the stylized,though tad generic, world was just the right size. The co-op didn't hurt. All in all, I played through the game three times and eventually got my character to the Master Agent level. There are some great achievements in this game and I loved almost every minute of it.

Warhawk: What? A PS3 game? I've only spent about 12 hours playing Warhawk, but I love it enough to discuss it further. Incognito did an awesome job bringing Battlefield to the consoles, without the squads, classes or things that just didn't need to be there. The action is fast and it never lets up.

Tanks are a lot of fun, but the Warhawks take the cake. Hover mode is great for taking out tanks or infantry, but a quick button press moves you to hover mode. Advanced manuevers are easy to pull off using the right stick, and if you really want to push it you can string manuevers and weapons together to do some great stuff. There are few things more satisfying than pulling a loop, throwing chaff, then whipping around to get on your opponent's six to shoot him down.

They improved upon the Crimson Skies flight controls (brilliant!) and provided a game that has tones of variety. It's pretty slick and I really appreciate Sony signing off on such a hardcore (online only multiplayer) game.

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction: I love this series. Insomniac has never disappointed me with these two characters. The series remains funny, easy to play (with challenge mode when you're ready for more), the addictive weapon upgrades, gorgeous and still filled with fresh experiences.

Flying on glider wings to hunt dinosaurs was awesome. The new RYNO IV is insane and worth all the effort to find. I love playing against the space pirates, especially for their awesome soundtrack. This was an R&C game through and through, which is fine by me. A quick side note -- this is the game that made me say "ah, the PS3 can do some great things!" Long draw distance, not a jaggy in sight, smooth framerate and brief load times. It's a great showcase for the poor platform.

Halo 3: This was just a great game. Sure, there wasn't anything terribly "new" about it. Except for the story that made sense, the perfectly balanced weapons, 4 player online co-op...nothing new at all.

I haven't played the game that much on single player -- I've already played two Halos and I've seen it before. But, riding on the wing of a jet, then jumping off to board a scarab tank to destroy it from the inside, while my comrades take down another on the other side of the map...that's pretty damn epic. Playing Team Slayer with 3 buddies was also incredibly fun. Bungie has made the most tactical, intense death match experience and it never got old. You never have to worry about playing with idiots when you have friends around.

I guess that's the make or break point for Halo 3 -- if you are playing alone, it's good. If you have a group of people, it's phenomenal.

(posted by grant at 12/26/2007) (0) comments

I Rock



(posted by grant at 12/17/2007) (0) comments

Holiday Spielen

I wrote a really long Mass Effect review in the games section. Summary: Loved it, but it has some issues.

Rock Band is so incredibly good. You know a game is special when you go to Best Buy and see several people standing around to wait their turn, or just to watch. The song list is incredible and every instrument is funn to play. I feel like I could be a drummer or singer now. It's just such an awesome experience.

I think it'll be the party game we all fall back on for years to come. I think Harmonix's next game will be something phenomenal. Now that so many homes have the drum, guitar and mic, I bet their next software entry will be a game that lets you create music. How nuts would that be?

(posted by grant at 12/10/2007) (0) comments