Brink (not reviewed)

Brink came at a somewhat surprise to me. I had a gut feeling that this Bethesda release was going to disappoint on some level, though I never expected it to disappoint me on every level. Poor textures, meager animations and a queasy art style overall did not help the first impressions out, but the further I delved into Brink, the closer I can to the brink of raging out. Not only was the online broken at the time (I hear it’s been long stabilized, only no one ever plays it online now) but the mechanics as a whole were completely broken. Enemies took too many shots to fell, yet too few would do the player in. Weapon selections that underwhelmed. Just an overall sense of uselessness from the AI. Not one thing worked out for Brink, and it was a crying shame, since it had such an immense potential that it ultimately failed to ever realize.

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale (Rating: 3.5)

The action-RPG genre is a particular weakness for me. I can easily find myself engrossed in even the most mundane of experiences for quite a bit of time (Sacred 2) or fascinated for months on end with what I feel are the most pinnacle of console action-RPG’s (Champions of Norrath.) But Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale? There’s almost no helping this one out. Stale and dated visuals, lack of enemy variety and crippling bugs all but put an arrow into the knee (first and last time I’ll ever use that stupid joke) of what could have possibly been the action-RPG to play in this generation of gaming. This was a planned trilogy of releases as well, in which the level cap raises ten per release, but with how abysmal this initial release was, I’m hoping a cut and paste approach isn’t used to release each new installment from here on out.

Mindjack (Rating: 3.0)

What depressed me the most about Mindjack was the legitimate fact that there was a wealth of untapped potential deeply rooted into the poorly structured game. The intriguing aspect of jumping from mind to mind seemed like a strong gimmick to launch a new IP off of. Sadly though, my whole time playing Mindjack made me wish I could jump into another characters mind, just to spare myself from anymore torture. A PlayStation 2 game on an Xbox 360 disc, Mindjack was a step backwards with every facet. How ironic that the single worst game I’ve played all year was one of the first new releases of 2011. I’m just happy that the whole year had stellar releases after Mindjack, to help wear away the pain that it gave me.

As with last year, I’m going to take this time to reveal what my personal favorites were for 2011. It was a rather challenging ordeal though, as there were quite a few that I absolutely adored yet didn’t feel like they should make my list, and there were a good number I have yet to get my hands on (most notably Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.) I won’t categorize anything either, so iOS titles, XBLA titles and console retail builds will all be considered equally. Again, this is a personal reflection and not a collaborative effort with the rest of the Chocolate Lemon staff.

Honorable Mentions:

Homefront (not reviewed) – While it had its share of flaws, I still feel that the story was legitimately worth being invested in, outside of the ending. The multiplayer portion was shockingly addictive as well, and gave a more gratifying sense of accomplishment with each kill. I wholeheartedly recommend this to FPS enthusiasts more than Modern Warfare 3 or even Battlefield 3 (seriously.)

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Rating: 9.5) – What I still feel as the first true reason to purchase a Nintendo 3DS, Ocarina of Time 3D didn’t try to cram in anything unnecessary gameplay wise (the gyroscope archery aiming was actually a brilliant addition), but simply put a fresh coat of paint on the visuals to help give the 3D effect a more glorious and appealing sheen. It was the highest rating I gave a game this year, though I feel it just barely misses my top five. Plus, I’d rather keep the list to new releases and not so much a re-release, regardless of how fantastic it was. An honorary mention would suffice.

#5

Orcs Must Die (Rating: 8.5)

The only reason I ever knew about Orcs Must Die was based off of the PAX East preview that ForteWally provided us. My fascination for the tower defense genre had started to pick up quite a bit of steam, and the notion of third person gameplay thrown into the mix had me anticipating this one for quite a while.When I finally did get my hands on it, was I ever enthralled by the trap setting mayhem that I had unleashed on the legion of orcs. Orcs Must Die excelled at creativity, where setting up combos with your traps produced not only a better reward on a currency manner, but in a satisfaction sense as well. With each level conquered, a new skill or trap is revealed, and with each level completed gives a rating, which is another form of currency that can be used to purchase a one time upgrade for each skill or trap. With a modest number of levels to complete, a difficulty that steadily grows with each passing level, and the myriad of methods to dispatch the incoming horde of enemies, Orcs Must Die is not only my fifth favorite game this year, but just passes Bastion as my favorite downloadable game of the year.

#4

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Rating: 9.0)

For a series that last saw a sequel back in 2003, Deus Ex: Human Revolution made quite an impact on its return to the scene. Definitely for the more patient of players, anyone going into this one with a “run and gun” kind of mentality will be quickly taken down, as the stealth approach will almost always net the best results. The amount of customization allowed through leveling up helps players stave off the strictly stealth approaches as the game goes on, though sticking to the shadows and picking off a guard always feels like the more exhilarating choice of action. Though it had a number of annoying blemishes (excessive load times, emotionless protagonist voice acting, overbearing difficulty early on, the laughably easy last boss) the experience, stealth and story overall were more than worth the price of admission. Even if you turn your nose at any game that contains a predominant amount of stealth to its gameplay, I still recommend Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Have a bit of patience with its blemishes, level Adam Jensen accordingly, and the game becomes quite exciting.

 #3

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Rating: 9.0)

Skyward Sword didn’t reach every plateau that I was hoping the next big Zelda release would, but it nailed an aspect that helps immerse player into the franchise like never before – just about full control over Link’s sword. A radical departure from the industry standards of “press the attack button to hack and slash away”, motion controls gave a more profound sense of life to Link, enabling players to slash where they wanted, with little restrictions. on top of that, the narrative manages to suck you in from the very beginning, giving the story, while still as cliche as possible, more heart and presence. If Nintendo’s stubbornness ceases on the fully vocalized portion of the audio, removing the inane grunts, moans and “duh!” sounds, Skyward Sword could have made an even more significant impact in a year of solid gaming. It may not have been my favorite game this year (even after anticipating it for years before its release) but it’s still constructed in a way that has it superseding most every other release in general.

#2

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Rating: 9.0)

Truth be told, this was an easy selection for number one. A gigantic game world filled with life (eventually you’ll see more of it a few dozen hours into your adventures), numerous quests, sights, sounds and everything in-between. It’s just a shame that my actual number one selection was released just over a month later, or else The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim would have ran away with it all. That doesn’t diminish the fact that its addictive nature and much more refined gameplay, inventory system, skills and so on, are just a small fraction of why it’s nearly impossible to put the game down. In terms of console releases, Bethesda probably released the single best title in this young decade, with more incentives to march forward than any other game released since January 1st of 2010. If you haven’t got your hands on this hot seller yet, check out my review and then go out and get lost in the world of Skyrim for the foreseeable future.

Star Wars: The Old Republic (not reviewed)

I’ll be the first to say that this is the latest release I’ve played into a year, and the first that ever impressed me so profoundly. While the review is still some weeks away (I’m not going to throw out a review two days after launch like some people), I have spotted some flaws with The Old Republic, but they are not enough for me to bump it behind The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Bioware managed to do something that no other MMORPG has ever done in such a successful manner – provide a storyline that will grip players in and make them remember their adventures as much as they remembered their trek through the first two Knights of the Old Republic titles. Many of the MMO nuances have been simplified or streamlined some, though never feel excessively dumb down and borderline skewed to preteen casuals. As of this writing, it remains to be seen what kind of end game material will be available (I’m a level 46 Sith Juggernaut) but the journey thus far has kept me hooked harder than any other MMORPG that I’ve played since the one of the grandfathers of the genre, Everquest. While Imperial classes will intertwine in terms of content and side missions, as the Republic side does the same, just following the main storyline and finding out what happens next is gripping enough. The Sith Warrior > Juggernaut plot takes predictable turns here and there, yet they come about at unexpected times. From engaging combat to an engaging soundtrack, the complete package thus far of Star Wars: The Old Republic manages to peep its head above a plethora of high caliber releases that gamers have seen this year. For a game released midway through the final month of a year, that’s quite a spectacular feat.

Not only screenshots have been surfacing from Square Enix either, a couple of trailers have also found their way into the viral limelight. One displaying the new ‘Enhanced Battle System’ featured in XIII-2 and the second, a cinematic teaser trailer with some pretty awesome looking visuals dubbed ‘Battle of Valhalla’.

XIII-2 is slated for release in Feb. 3rd 2012 and Enix is doing a good job so far of keeping the interest level at it’s peak until then with these little appetizers. Fans may also be in for a more consistent pace of these treats much further beyond the release of XIII-2 as producer Yoshunori Kitase was recently quoted in a statement saying:

“I think we took a little too long getting [Final Fantasy XIII] out. When you think of Western triple A titles like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Assassin’s Creed, they seem to work with a lot shorter turnaround. They make a new game in 1-2 years”.

Apparently, Kitase feels this is a release model better suited for future Final Fantasy games and held large influence on the slightly less than 2 year release of XIII-2 after XIII. How such fast turn around would effect a genre such as RPG’s, which thrive from containing a massively larger amount of content in comparison to such Triple A titles, will just have to be seen in the future. RPG’s and Westerns alike hold an extremely strict following within the community in regards to gameplay formulas, quantity and quality.

"A Leader Within This Decade."

Lets get one formality out and away with – although I have played both Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War, I never did get a chance to complete either, for one reason or another. Not that there was anything wrong with them – I just have a queue of titles that never ceases, so a few games get lost in the shuffle every so often. With some kind of previous history with the franchise, I retained a semblance of familiarity with the gameplay as a whole. So coming into Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I have a bit of a peppered knowledge of the franchise and its inner workings.

With that said, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (DXHR) still came off as something totally unexpected, for almost all the right reasons.

Throughout the entire campaign, players will be in control of Adam Jensen, the lead for DXHR. This former SWAT team member wasn’t always held together with prosthetics and augmentations, as he was involved in what was dubbed as an “accident” that took the lives of dozens of scientists, including a woman named Megan, whom he was quite close to once. Jensen was left for dead, but brought back and stabilized with augmentations that are not all activated early on. The journey in which Adam Jensen departs on will more than keep players guessing throughout, with a curve-ball thrown every so often to spice things up. In some ways, DXHR fits the bill with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in terms of a video game that would make a stellar movie adaptation, in the right hands.

Approaching DXHR with a review in mind was a bit of a challenge. There have been a small handful of instances in which I’ve just about damned some aspects of its gameplay, but eventually turned around (both in a state of mind, and literally in game) and realized these issues were all self perpetrated. While I might have combed through each area to get a better understanding of my surroundings, I didn’t pull out the fine tooth comb the first few times, and when I did, I started to see just how well put together this machine really was. Those first couple of hours in were not so kind, but witnessing everything gel together and understanding the finer points of the gameplay, really shined a vastly brighter light upon the entire package.

One of the major complaints I had early on was the difficulty. Players will find out right off the bat that if a medium or higher difficulty setting is selected, a run and gun approach will quickly send you to a load last checkpoint screen (which is an issue in of its self, and will be elaborated on a little later.) Stealth becomes the major asset here, as getting around certain areas would best be accomplished within the shadows, although as you progress, upgraded ballistic weaponry and proper intuition will help break up the ”hidden in the shadows” mentality quite a bit. So while there will always be an emphasis on stealth throughout, once the nuances are all understood, and a few weapon/augmentation upgrades are gained, things don’t feel as overbearing as they started out. Just don’t immediately dismiss DXHR due to reasons of dying. A lot.

Stealth in its self is actually pulled off with a commendable success, having players rely on staying out of the line of sight of the enemies around you, as well as trying not to make any unusual noises that could be interpreted as suspicious. Best way to describe the inner workings of the stealth within DXHR is a mix between Metal Gear Solid and Winback – there’s the cover mechanics that let you creep along obstructions, as well as popping out during gunplay (Winback), and the reliance of silence and sticking to the unseen shadows (Metal Gear Solid.) It all meshes together in ways I’ve never experienced in a game before DXHR.

The AI competence is rather astute as well. While sneaking around, players will usually wait for an enemy to turn their back and walk away from them, so they can use that opening to advance. There are occasions where an adversary will quickly spin around and walk backwards, taking a look at their rear for a moment, before turning back around and continuing their march. While everyone has their strict path to march and no deviance from that route they were programmed with, it adds that extra layer of uncertainty and trepidation to infiltration or evasion. To further elaborate the AI’s potency, while crouching behind cover in a room adjacent to a patrolling guard, I had lifted up a cardboard box to place beside me and away from a grate I wished to enter. I unknowingly did this within the guards line of sight, setting the status to Alarmed, and compelling the guard to walk over, open the door into the room and investigate the unusual phenomenon. It’s the little things like this that adds an amount of depth to the stealth gameplay that other titles might not have even contemplated.

On top of that, there are plenty of areas in which multiple soldiers will march about with a slightly mistimed pattern or length of coverage, meaning while you might be able to get the peg on an incoming soldier for a CQC takedown, another soldier at a medium distance away might have had less of a path to travel and begin to double back sooner than anticipated, opening them up to potentially spotting your takedown. Once spotted, the AI begins a rather aggressive campaign of search and destroy, which does last much longer than other games with the same stealth build, and literally feels terrifying that a ton of enemies are scanning the area for you. While there are games that rely on stealth and being hunted down if spotted, DXHR actually feels like there’s quite a bit of intelligence behind this, and not just a five second search and then the enemies go back to their posts as if nothing happened (hi, MGS!)

If (mostly likely “when”) the player is spotted and sets off the enemy status to “Alerted”, that’s when things becoming rather interesting. Depending on where the players is and how many soldiers are in the same area, things will either be a piece of cake, or an exercise of patience. Taking cover is vital to staying alive during firefights, obviously to avoid taking damage. The thing is, while playing DXHR on the medium setting, I was still easily gunned down left and right, with a health regeneration that meager at best. It felt nearly overbearing early on, as anything I did to try and combat gunfire flying towards me, met with my death after a couple of shots, regardless of any augmentations I performed (more on that in a minute.) But I began realizing how reliance on stealth played a major factor, how to use environmental objects to my advantage during a fight and how to advance from cover to cover in a more meaningful manner. I started to see that not only could I avoid most firefights if need be, but with such a strong reliance on stealth and how the AI seems to be able to locate you on obvious mistakes as opposed to poor programming, but how well placed shots can kill standard infantry enemies, as well as myself. Health will regenerate slowly and yes, the player can temporarily boost their health to a degree, but all non boss characters or mechs weren’t built to soak up bullets, so there’s definitely a degree of intelligence in how to play through each area, sneaking by or spotted by all. Headshot a soldier in a close proximity with a silenced handgun and risk a nearby comrade being alerted to the guards fall and possibly having reinforcements file through, or sneak by and CQC only when needed and when it’s absolutely certain that backup isn’t close behind?

Throughout DXHR players will be able to gain XP, and with each “level” gained, a Praxis point is awarded to spend on enhancing the many augmentations within Jensen. There are a myriad of ways the player can help upgrade Jensen for the better. The option of enhancing his proficiency with hacking on multiple levels can ease the burden, or quicken the pack of each hacking attempt, or even bestow the ability to hack a higher security level terminal. Want to be 100% sure that Jensen’s movements will never be heard? Apply your Praxis points towards movement feats, which will ultimately silence your every move, whether it’s running or jumping (once the ability is toggled on.) From adding a bit of damage resistance, to negating fall damage completely, to even gaining the ability to see enemies through walls, there are more than enough ways to pimp out Jensen in his quest to find the answers that so many seem to be hiding from him, as well as the rest of the world.

Speaking of the world, DXHR‘s world really is a mixed bag of pleasantry and laziness. The game world its self has a variety and attention to detail that’s hard not to stand up and applaud. Boxes of cereal, piles of garbage, restrooms and every other pieces add up, and helps to shine a distinctive look between each area. On the other hand, there are issues with color variety. Too many outdoor areas have an yellowish-orange tint to them, muting the look of the world around it. It does help make some of the areas look adequately depressing to match the mood and conditions, but it seems just a bit overdone. Many indoor areas are free of this annoyance, though again, it’s not a visual marvel of any sort. More or less, it feels as if DXHR was visually built for a steady performance throughout, as there’s little to no sign of frame rate drops or any kind of slowdown. Character models have a similar balance issue as well. Main characters, or at least those with a legitimate dialog exchange with Jensen, look proper, with no mind blowing qualities that gamers have seen this generation from titles such as Final Fantasy XIII, Uncharted 2 and Gears of War. They fit the world around them as not detailed to the nth degree, but hold their own distinct pieces of distinction that helps flesh them out properly. Any NPC’s of non or minimal importance though, look as if they were ripped from a PlayStation 2 game. It’s definitely a mixed bag (this is the Xbox 360 version I’m reviewing via VGA cables) but with the consistency of the animation (with some repetition when it comes to conversations) and the fact that Eidos Montreal did nail down a feeling of a futuristic, gritty world for the most part, DXHR certainly does work on most levels as a whole, just not in an individual basis.

Even with the negatives to the game world, it’s still quite fascinating to wander around each section you’re currently at, and just go exploring. It’s not a huge chunk of land that one would find in games such as Fallout 3, but there’s enough meat on the bones to keep a player fed for a while. It’s mostly linear in terms of needing to go from point A to point B, however the approach can be totally different, depending on if certain augments were purchased (jump higher to bypass fences, augment Jensen’s strength to push heavier objects into place to access shortcut grates, etc.) Within each of these areas will be a side quest NPC or two that will deviate you from the main game. There’s enough variety within these side missions to try and comb through each area and see if there are more than the one or two per sector/area. From investigating a possible cover up on a death, to finding someone’s acquaintance that has gone missing, there’s variety with each of these missions, as well as your approach to each of them. Not a sandbox environment, yet not completely restricted in how to go about each activity. Just be sure to complete each side mission before taking off to the next location that the main storyline will lead you, as there’s no way to come back and tie up loose ends.

Audio wise, there’s only a small bit of inconsistency, although it does prove a bit problematic here and there. Most of the audio package is actually quite spectacular. The music is moody, which helps immerse players in each situation that arises. There are instances when the audio tracks begin to sound like something from Mass Effect, which fits the mood to a near perfection. It’s probably up there with Homefront as the most powerful compositions this year. The voice acting, while nothing Hollywood caliber, is no slouch either. A few of the NPC’s sound slightly phoned in, but nevertheless they helped keep me interested and invested in everything that unfolded.

Adam Jensen is where my only concern comes from. He suffers from a slight case of what I would like to affectionately refer to as “Samus Syndrome.” Anyone who has played Metroid: Other M will immediately recall the monotone, near lifeless delivery of Samus’ voice acting. Adam Jensen suffers from a similar affliction, where he’ll perform his lines, yet the voice acting seems almost uninterested in trying to engage the player with emotion. Jensen isn’t even a poorly written character either – I’ve become more and more intrigued with him and the world around him with every mission and side mission I encountered and completed. He’s not written to be someone that doesn’t give a crap either, nor are his lines of dialog, so I’m not sure why the delivery is so unimpressive. There are rare occasions where a sense of energy and passion is put into some of the more emotionally charged moments, but at no point does Jensen completely fit the vocal build. The sound of Adam Jensen’s voice does fit perfectly mind you, its just the performance is lackluster, which can rarely affect the attachment gained from watching his struggles and triumphs unfold.

Load times will become the unavoidable headache from beginning to end. If uninstalled, loading times can reach 30 seconds, with a HDD install only cutting it down by 1/3 or so. Of course the early portions of DXHR is where everyone will be learning the ins and outs of controls, augmentations and how not to approach a hostile situation (the controls by the way, for the most part, are precise and fully functional, with barely any snags to be had) so there will be periods of possible repeated death that occur. Having to constantly reload the same area multiple times in a short period of time, really breaks up the immersion and builds more frustration than anything. It’s not necessarily the dying that’s a problem, as there are multiple methods of getting through each situation (long way stealth, long way gun battle, shortcut stealth, shortcut gun battle, etc.) and being open minded to your surroundings can and will quell the number of deaths down some. It’s the sitting and waiting after each subsequent death that’s more maddening. Luckily the load times between areas doesn’t occur very frequently, as each area Jensen explores is large enough to not warrant continuous load screen and such.

The real downer that lingers after completing DXHR is the final boss and the immediate results. As spoiler free as one can be without giving a play-by-play on how it’s achieved, I’ll just say the following –  if Jensen has his hacking ability to level five, with a very small handful of Nuke ‘Em and Stop! worms, victory can be accomplished with what seems like zero effort. If crafty enough, not one thing will hit Jensen during this battle, as it will quickly turn into a waiting game. The first couple of major boss battles will be infuriating to those that don’t take the time (when there’s any available) to dissect their surroundings and use it to their advantage, but the last couple are rather easy, with patience, especially the final boss. Afterwards, depending on whether certain tasks just before the final battle were taken care of, the endings presented will be thought provoking, which is a definite plus. Whichever route the player chooses the end the game on, Jensen eloquently elaborates on why that route was chosen, and one could make an argument as to how strongly they side with his decisions, or whether or not they viewed it as completely wrong. They are endings with an intellectual spin to them, and it’s hard not to sit and analyze what just transpired. The problem is that they’re all short and somewhat remind me of the meager endings Fallout 3 presented players, though not to such a severe degree. The journey to those closing moments was well worth the time and effort put into reaching, so it’s not too severe of a blow. Do let the credits roll in their entirety though….trust me.

I know it seems like I’ve complained more than complimented, but I need to reassure everyone that there’s more to enjoy with DXHR than there is to be upset over, especially since one of the biggest sticking points (difficulty) will even out properly with eventual understanding of mechanics, augments, weapon upgrades, etc. The first hours will be a little bit of an exercise of patience, thanks to the number of times death may come, and along with it, the abhorrent load times that will never cease. But going further and further in, there’s a noticeable boost in the quality of story, character interaction, means of approaching each situation, and everything in-between. The best way I could sum up the experiences and approaches of DXHR’s gameplay is a “restricted complete freedom.” There’s no massive sandbox with dozens of activities to partake in, yet the world around Jensen has quite a bit of mass to it. There aren’t a whole lot of side missions, yet there are countless ways each of them, as well as the storyline missions, can be approached. It’s a fine balance that can only be understood and appreciated after a few hours of hands on time.

Augmenting Jensen’s powers further and further with every Praxis pack or Praxis point received will also open up new possibilities, including punching over certain context sensitive walls to either gain entry to a hidden room with beneficial items to be claimed, or to get the drop on an enemy behind the wall and progress through an area in a quicker manner. Upgrades to Jensen’s weaponry will either heighten the damage output, shorten the reload times, or even give the ballistic portions a tracer ability. Even with some color palette issues, each new area found can be easily distinguished from the last. On top of that, the little details that most would ignore, such as misspelled words in an email read off a hacked computer, and random conversations Jensen will overhear between two parties. Conversations about not being able to pay the rent and how no one has a job yet, to fixing an air conditioner, adds character to the game world and helps to infuse a feeling that the player is traversing through a living, breathing world outside the one they’re playing this game in.

The further one gets into Deux Ex: Human Revolution, the more one will witness the gameplay evolution unveil. It blends together a somewhat refined stealth and cover mechanics seen in Metal Gear Solid and Winback, with a core gameplay with a plethora of ways to approach each situation, and a story that becomes increasingly more fascinating and gripping as time progresses. The visuals might have inconsistencies, Adam Jensen might not have a consistent voice acting quality, the load times can break up the immersion ere and there, and the early part of the game might be skewed too high in difficulty, but after the player becomes accustomed to every facet of controls, stealth, augmentation and such, Deus Ex: Human Revolution begins to show its true colors through its 25+ hours of gameplay. If you’re the type of player that likes to shoot first and ask questions later, this will more than likely not be your cup of tea. If you enjoy patience, exploration, a story with making a film about, and multiple ways of approaching each roadblock ahead of you, this will be a cup of tea worth sipping. With standout titles such as Marvel vs Capcom 3, Mortal Kombat, Homefront and Portal 2 filling out the first half of 2011, Deus Ex: Human Revolution trumps them all and stands out as the best game released in 2011 thus far, and one of the must plays of this current decade.

Rating: 9.0

One of the little pieces of detail sprinkled throughout the game that players might not even realize the first time through.

One of the first games (I refuse to call every download an “app”) I downloaded on my new iPhone was Angry Birds. For a long time I had wondered what the whole Angry Birds craze was about. It’s one of those games where pictures could only describe so much – you launch several different species of birds into various structures, trying to incapacitate green pigs of various sizes. Really, what’s the appeal? For those without a smartphone or any means of playing this game on the go, there was no way to fully comprehend this phenomenon. What makes Angry Birds such a addicting mobile game?

Perhaps it has something to do with the pick up and play style. Depending on the stage layout and the number of birds you are given, each stage can take from 15 seconds, to under a minute to complete or fail. The brevity of each stage lends to the notion that the player isn’t ball and chained into the experience, relieving the feeling that they are forced to complete too many tasks in a limited amount of time. Whether it’s waiting on line at the supermarket or, for the lack of a better term, a bathroom break, there’s just enough game to play for whatever brief pause that awaits your life, without overstepping its boundaries.

Maybe it could have something to do with the brilliance of its gameplay, which rewards a more thorough and meticulous player, rather than someone trying to rush through a stage. There’s a significant amount of physics involved with Angry Birds, and even some semblance of an understanding to how it works will help player to not only conquer some stages much more easily, but feel immensely rewarded upon completion. Notice quite a few pigs under a couple layers of wooden plants with several large concrete blocks up top? Why not topple the structure from below to create a bigger ripple effect of decimation to said structure, allowing for those concrete blocks to possibly crash through the planks and squash your adversaries? While the physics do have their quirks (how several wooden planks, an ice block and concrete slab all leaning on the smallest pig doesn’t squash the little bugger, I couldn’t tell you) Oftentimes it’s the best solution for the toughest stages. Even while applying complexity to each stage, they never take too long to complete in the scheme of things.

The addiction could possibly be factored to the “one-upping” your own scores motif. Every stage has a three star rating, based on the score you produce. While certain factors such as destroying every pig on screen with the least amount of birds used will boost your score, there are times when complete annihilation of every breakable piece of every structure in a single stage will grant you a bigger payoff. It’s all dependent on the factors at hand. Regardless of that, the higher the score for that stage, the more likely you’ll receive a three star ranking. For those who don’t necessarily give a hoot about self or world rankings, Angry Birds opens up that urge to one up yourself and try to see just how much better you can do than your previous best.

In terms of gameplay, other than some wonky physics issues every so often, there’s nothing else to really complain about with Angry Birds. It’s simplicity meets complexity, starring several bird species of various perks, in a charming game world that doesn’t force you to stay within it, but makes you want to come back time and time again. It’s the makings of something special right? Well, yeah it is, however the huge success of the franchise has begun a bit of a marketing whoring that somewhat leaves a bit of a bird dropping taste in my mouth.

Now I’m all for companies branching off their success to a multimedia platform, so long as they are successful and it doesn’t seem like a forced venture. While the stuffed animal and t-shirt gimmicks are definitely not a bad idea, plans of a board game, talks of feature films, all seems like a milking of a novel idea and franchise. It seems like it’s too much, too soon. Then again, you can’t fault a company such as Rovio for doing anything they can to capitalize on a hot commodity. Hell, I grew up in the 80′s – probably the decade of milking a successful franchise from one market, into just about every market out there. I know I’m not the only one who wore Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle underwear back in the days, drinking my Hi-C from a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe thermus that was inside my GI Joe lunchbox.

While whoring out your successful franchise of one multimedia platform into other multimedia platforms isn’t something that’s as widely accepted these days, it’s hard to be that upset with Rovio. After all, they did create the phenomenon that started it all with Angry Birds. It also gave me a new respect for the mobile platform in terms of gaming achievement. If it weren’t for Angry Birds, I would have been less inclined to try out some other iOS titles, including one exclusive to the platform and developed by Square Enix, in Chaos Rings. So it was a double whammy for me; I finally understood what all the kids were going on about with Angry Birds, and in doing so, I opened myself up more to gaming on my iPhone. While I would have no doubt introduced myself to the App Store and picked up a few titles anyway, it says something when you choose to play the one game you didn’t understand the praise for, and were somewhat turned off by, and end up cursing those god damn Angry Birds for all the right reasons.

Borderlands

Her light armor

At number 5 it’s Borderlands. A post-apocalyptic waste land that is reminiscent of those Mad Max days. The downloadable content for the game includes a very special lady Max Moxxi who runs the Underdome Riots, a competition of gun fights we’re only the baddest survive. If you swap the Underdome for the Monsters Ball (childish chuckle) it’s almost the same concept if you take into account Moxxi’s design:

Almost a dead ringer for one of her outfits anyway

Considering Gaga’s penchant for machine gun braziers (as evidenced in the Alejandro video) I am sure not to many players will notice the change unless a dance routine breaks out. The decor for a one of Gaga’s concert is almost just like Pandora anyway with monsters on stage and people wearing a bunch of shiny metal parts and weird stuff, all they are missing is some clap traps (giggle), some skags and Catch-a-ride.

Gaga's future post Boob job

Street Fighter

This is one of the most obvious ones after you think about it. The names of her songs could easily be special, super and ultra moves. Her flamboyant style, her thousand yard gaze and her athletic (albeit tiny) frame would make for her to be a natural in Capcom’s flag ship fighter. The Japanese go crazy with the character design and Gaga’s character is already crazily designed so therefore this is a match made in heaven. We get a remixed version of one of her songs, the haters get a way to beat up Gaga over and over again and the fans get to beat up people as Gaga, everyone wins!

9-1 match up eaisly in Gaga's favor

This is too perfect. Ono needs to make this happen.

Final Fantasy

At number 3 it’s the Final Fantasy series. It’s nearly impossible to pick what game Gaga belongs in this series because she can be in any of them her outfits alone qualify her for so many different games. However one game in the series pops into my head and I think she would be the perfect villian for. That’s Final Fantasy 8.

I think she’d be a better villain that Utlimecia was. Granted that logically she may have inspired Gaga’s garb and make up due to the fact Gaga was 13 at the time of Final Fantasy 8 but after checking out her Judas video and some of the random Google images of Gaga, it’s tough to believe that Ultimecia didn’t play a role some where in Gaga’s development.

Go watch the Judas video,trust me.

Aside from their interesting fashion sense. They both like their pretty ‘bad’ boys. Pick any of Gaga’s videos plus her real life boyfriend and they similar to Seifer Almasy, Ultimecia’s lackey.

Why not

No More Heroes

Reaper Reaper

At number 2 it is one of my favorite games, No More Heroes. With the crazy designs for characters and their back story, Lady Gaga just fits right in “Scorned by her lover Gaga swore that she will be the most famous one day, so famous that her ex would never be able to even get a cup of coffee without seeing her” just add the twist some where in there that she kills him and you got yourself Gaga as an assassin.

Close but there's not enough skin out

To be honest with the exception of a few characters in the game gaga has worn something similar to these characters already without any Photoshopping required. Aside from the characters that are wearing ‘normal’ clothing the over the top stuff has already been done. I def want to see Gaga pull off the Alice Twilight look with the light sabers. The outfit I feel she wore already during any of her concerts.

Change the hair color and you have a winner!

Silent Hill

The number one game which is the place for Gaga is Silent Hill. The reason why she belongs here also helps explains my interest/obsession with her. She just simply looks like she lives there. She has that look in her eye that she has seen the horrors of this sleepy town and that she’s changed by it.

Pyramid Head got her D:

Also I don’t think she could be Gaga all the time I am fairly certain there are times when she is just Stef. it’s the same way Silent hill isn’t hell world all the time. Take a look at exhibit A:

So normal

How does a normal girl become this:

Exhibt B

not that it’s a bad thing, however it maybe jarring for someone to leave a lovely brunette (now blonde) to go to the bathroom and then all of a sudden come out of the bathroom in a completely different place with a differently woman in front of him. I feel that you were to date Gaga that would be the summary of what’s going on.

Just imagine this you’re enjoying a nice day at the pool with your Gaga:

then you doze off for a little bit, check your phone or you fall down a hole (hey it happens all the time in the Hill) and all of a sudden you’re faced with this:

My advice would be to if bring your flash light and radio with you at all times so you avoid waking up to one of these instead of your beloved (Gaga)

All things said I had fun putting together this list. Just looking at the crazy outfits she has worn with a serious face made me laugh. She’s one hell of a show-woman with a flair for the dramatic and absurd I guess you can say. The biggest knock I can say is her dance moves remind me of Cactaurs from the Final Fantasy series but that’s about it.

"JawJacked."

2011 promises to be an exceptional year for gaming. The amount of quality, innovation and potentially epic releases throughout the year is easily sweetening the taste buds of gamers that suffered through a rather sour 2010. Sometimes, it’s the least expected release that generates the biggest amount of buzz (Red Faction Guerrilla, Valkryia Chronicles). Then there’s Mindjack, one of the first releases of 2011, as well as one of the first new IP’s introduced to the market.

For all intended purposes, Mindjack has some stellar concepts, though sadly none of them seem to really mesh well. This third person shooter with cover mechanics is a mix of Winback, a dash of Maken X, a cup of generic and about ten pounds of missed opportunity. Though there’s not one significant reason as to why Mindjack fails to deliver an engaging experience, there’s definitely a dozen smaller and medium sized reasons that blend together.

Taking place twenty years into the future, a new technology is allowing for the minds of man, woman, child and robot alike, to be ravaged and controlled by a third party source. Your role as a government agent is to track down infidels and divert any kind of mass hysteria to the public. Part of the way this is accomplished is through the use of the same technology that the perpetrators are using — mindjacking your adversaries into doing your bidding. As a general premise, this does have promise, although how the government using this same technology against those using it first doesn’t stir up some panic among the public in of its self, I couldn’t tell you.

You assume the role of Jim Corbijn, who works for the government as an FIA agent. This occasionally clueless, oftentimes poorly acted waif has the ability to mindjack those that are incapacitated. For gameplay clarification, you can basically use an almost “Jedi Mind Trick” on someone or something, and have them do your bidding. We’ll touch upon their competence in a little bit, but the generalized use for mindjacking is controlling others. You can even commandeer flying bots, mini tanks and other non human entities.

Again, the concept of the mindjacking is intriguing, but sadly there are a few things that mentally castrate it, the biggest being the AI. The first level allows the player to basically run and gun, forgoing any type of cover mechanics. The AI is so pitifully absent, that there’s no reason for cover. Similarly, when mindjacking an adversary, their AI patterns are completely broken. They take no cover, standing out in the open, acting as a bullet sponge, or performing a kamikaze rush towards an enemy in order for them to try (and fail) to melee them down. When players move past that first stage however, the difficulty spikes, becoming completely unfair at times, and yet your mindjacked ally AI remains incompetent. It isn’t so much the accuracy but the sudden damage spikes that the CPU delivers, in conjunction with swarms of enemies that really tips the difficulty unfairly. There are some points where players really have no idea what to do, with the AI relentlessly pouring down on you in what seems like an endless swarm. It’s a frustrating pacing in difficulty that almost forces the player to just give up.

One stage in the third level has gamers avoiding a giant mech at a doorway, who’s spraying bullets towards their character. There’s an absence of chatter about finding a backdoor in, yet no nav point pops up. Swarms of enemies flood out, firing through the cover provided, killing the player an endless number of time, only to realize that access to that door is restricted until the robot at the front is down. The robot is impervious tom damage, so players are expected to kill every enemy that floods through, without being overwhelmed. The amount of schmuck dodging and unfair deaths in this section alone is almost unbearable. Then there are stretches of time later on in the game that are a breeze, allowing for an almost similar tactic from the first stages to be implemented.

Not just that, but the cover mechanics are mostly useless. Standing too close to either side and Jim gets hit. Standing in the middle with somehow get Jim hit, with no appendages exposed. The kick in the junk here though, is that the cover a player is behind can occasionally obstruct their own shots, while the CPU can somehow can get in shots from a direction that shouldn’t be possible. It’s a paradox of near biblical proportions; stay behind cover to avoid gunfire and you get shot, yet popping out of cover with the most minute obstruction in front of you, and you can’t shoot past it. It’s a shame that the cover mechanics are so misaligned, as combat heavily relies on the plethora of cover placement areas around each section.

Weaponry in Mindjack isn’t quite plentiful, though what’s available tends to feel pretty generic, and follows the typical shooter flowchart. The problem with most weapons is that it takes too many shots to fell an enemy. For the robotic foes it’s understandable, but when it takes three handgun shots to the head, or a near full clip to the chest of even the most stock fluky, then somethings not right. Weapons like the Sniper Rifle add some “oomph”, yet come with a literal handful of bullets, with reload times longer than any weapon of its class that I’ve witnessed. Melee in general has some serious issues. It’s a 50/50 shot getting it to work. Oftentimes you’ll pull next to a soldier, hit the B button and somehow push yourself away while attacking, becoming out of range and leaving yourself open to a counterattack. Even those you’ve mentally overwhelmed to do your bidding suffer the same crippling lack of accuracy in their melee attacks.

When it comes to death, Mindjack takes a somewhat unorthodox twist. At no point does Jim die, but rather he himself becomes temporarily incapacitated. If this occurs, you can scour around for another mind to jack, whether it be a homeless man in an alleyway, or a shielded robot. Your partner, if they are not incapacitated themselves, can come revive Jim and bring him back to the battle, where you can either remain in the mindjacked host or press L3 and R3 at the same time and jump back into your mind. The big issue is that it seems like most of the times I’m down, my partner is as well, so that counts as an instant loss, thrusting me back to the checkpoint. These moments become more frequent when a swarm of enemies are coming at you constantly, in what seems like an endless wave.

If you allow for it, you can have a random person via Xbox Live help you out through the game, as they take the role of your partner. On the other hand, you can also allow for random players to “hack” into your game, playing the role of whatever villains are in your way, as they try and stop you from completing the section. This is a fascinating concept, especially with the whole mindjacking motif and such. You can turn what’s basically a broken down single player experience into one that’s either cooperative, or competitive, as you try and defeat every enemy ahead of you and move on to the next section. With the multiplayer options enabled, it does add a layer to enjoyment to the title, though it also means that you’re suffering alongside a handful of individuals.

As you progress through the game, you can acquire experience points and level your character. The actual leveling in general is pretty much pointless, as it seems that no alterations to your characters vitals, defense, etc are arbitrarily raised upon each level. However you can unlock some “perks” that augment certain things, like accuracy and subtle defensive traits. You can only select two at a time, with a small number of unlockable perks as well. Again, this is yet another concept to Mindjack that’s intriguing, yet isn’t fleshed out enough, and is all but pointless. You can’t really customize Jim as much as you’d want to, and even with what is available, he’s still about all but useless on the battlefield.

The graphics in Mindjack range from drab, to high resolution PlayStation 2 quality. There are potions where the color palette doesn’t escape the color gray, making those section unbelievably dull. When entering section where the predominance of gray is not apparent, everything seems muddy, and just as lifeless. There are details here and there, but the overall quality throughout, from the very plain Jane character models to the alleyways you run through. There’s a stage later in the game that’s soaked in a putrid yellow tint, which literally made me feel sick to my stomach when I played through it. Even worse is the occasional slowdown, mostly when numerous enemies are onscreen at one time, being slaughtered almost simultaneously. The animation actually stutters to what seems like 5 fps at points, though that extreme is not generally seen. There are times when enemies will magically pop out of no where, with no rhyme or reason as to why, or forgo transitional animations from prone over too out of cover and firing. It’s quite sloppy all around.

The voice acting has the tendency to fluctuate between passable and downright deplorable, especially on Jim’s side. Each line lacks the proper emotion and delivery, making subtitles one of the most welcome additions to Mindjack. The rest of the sound effects are stock, with nothing extraordinarily different. Every so often some music will pipe through the speakers, isn’t much to cheer for either. It’s serviceable, but it’s nothing noteworthy that would help further engross a player into the experience.

The biggest compliment that can be given to Mindjack is that its ambition and concept are certainly commendable. If the package around it wasn’t so brainless, Mindjack could have easily been one of the more surprising new IP’s in recent years. Instead, we’re offered a whole lot of promise with a whole lot more of failed deliverance. Cover systems that don’t work, customization that ends up being useless, dated audio and video quality and an overwhelming sense of boredom give Mindjack an unfortunate brain freeze.

This is how you'll feel 10 minutes into Mindjack.

Rating: 3.5

Lets end the formals and jump right into the fray, starting with the Worst Three of the Year:

Monday Night Combat (Xbox 360)

Rating: 4.1

Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade provided a line up of titles that ranged from “too good to be an XBLA title” (Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light) to “lacking longevity and replay value” (LIMBO) to out-right piss poor (Monday Night Combat). With a character model influence heavily leaning towards the likes of Team Fortress 2, this flaccid third person team based shooter failed at nearly every level. The single player portions were either too easy or next to impossible without assistance. There’s no sense of depth with its various classes, not to mention so few maps that all felt like the same experience over and over. The worst part of MNC was the fact that after you played one multiplayer game, you basically experienced everything this game has to offer. Not to mention the occasional god awful lag encountered online. Upon its release, it was the absolute worst 1200 point ($15) investment one could make on an Xbox Live Arcade title, and then this next nugget of negativity was released….

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I (Xbox 360)

Rating: 3.5

Ever since I gave the Nintendo Wii version of Sonic 4 a whirl at E3 this year, I felt that Sega was onto something that would permanently tarnish the Sonic legacy. It has been documented at least twice here at Chocolate Lemon. I gave Sega the benefit of doubt that they would retool the piss poor acceleration speeds, the inability to hit an enemy or destroy an item without the pesky lock on targeting feature, and give the game world a diverse enough look to not have me question if they were lifted from previous Sonic titles. While the lock on targeting issue was changed to include both standard jumping to dispatch foes and break open containers, Sonic was slower than Mario in Super Mario land 2: 6 Golden Coins, the game world looked like high res copies of previous Sonic games, and the game could be completed in 45 minutes. Yes, Sonic 4 was gorgeous, regardless of its deja vu structure. Indeed the audio was spot on, mixing classic cues with some engaging music. No, the game was not fun whatsoever. Slow movement, slow acceleration, piss poor control overall and 45 minutes worth of content made Sonic 4′s 1200 ($15) price tag one of the years biggest jokes. Rest in peace, Sonic. You were a 16 bit God that turned into a corporate dog.

Final Fantasy XIV (PC)

Rating: 3.0 (pt I .. pt 2)

Arguably the most anticipated MMORPG outside Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV had a launch that seems to have surpassed Vanguard as the biggest botch in MMORPG history. The squandered potential here is at an unfathomable level. Square Enix did absolutely nothing in terms of taking player feedback during beta, outside fixing mouse controls. It wasn’t just the fact that quests took 36+ hours to become available again (which has been dropped somewhat), or the fact that there was no search engine when it came to searching through retainers in the hog-wash auction house the game had, or the total detachment to a singular class. Square Enix released this game missing fundamentals to gaming as a whole. Why can’t players tell when a buff or debuff is going to fade, thanks to the lack of a timer tick down? Why are there so many dead spaces throughout the game world, from stretches of land without monsters to hunt, to settlements between major cities that offer absolutely nothing in the way of beneficial notoriety? Why are there class guilds in some towns that do not even have that corresponding class in the game yet? With as bad as FFXIV has been, we have witnessed two extra months of free playtime added in, and in recent developments, Square Enix shaking up their FFXIV staff, as well as promising an indefinite amount of free playtime, at least until the product is at a level in which payments seem like a health investment and not a sickening feeding to the pockets of Square Enix. Unfortunately it might take much, much longer than a year to get this MMORPG up to snuff. Hell, I’m still awaiting a refund for that poor excuse of a Collectors Edition, not to mention the fact that I paid $70 for a half complete, half baked, half hearted title.

————————-

Now that we got the stench of failure aired out, lets hop over to the five games I felt were the cream of the crop this year. These are the five best games I played this year. While two will be rather obvious choices that many would make, the other three are not. First though, let me give out two brief Honorable Mentions:

Perfect Dark XBLA – While many critics complained that the game hasn’t aged well, I felt the exact opposite. Other than Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Perfect Dark XBLA was far and away the best FPS this year

Red Dead Redemption – GTA in a Wild West setting. Drop dead gorgeous in nearly every respect, though never really got around to beating it. Definitely an amazing title. Zombies weren’t needed though. Seriously.

NBA Jam (Wii)

Rating: 8.7

He’s on fire! EA returns the franchise to its true form with their “reboot” of NBA Jam. Instead of completely gutting the experience and making it play nothing like it used to (hi, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow), EA kept the core intact and gave it a fresh coat of paint, as well as a larger canvas to paint it all on. The commentary is brilliant and comical, the gameplay remains faithful, the graphics are appreciative, and the extra modes and unlockables more than seal the deal for NBA Jam. It’s absolutely bonkers how a classic title, re-released years later with an updated look and added modes, can supersede new IP’s and other titles with high production values, but NBA Jam does exactly that. It’s also amazing how the following title is in a similar situation as NBA Jam….somewhat….

Mega Man 10 (Wii)

Rating: 8.9

Mega Man witnessed a rebirth of sorts in 2008 when Mega Man 9 was released as a downloadable title. For 800 points on Xbox Live Arcade, $10 on PSN and 1000 points on WiiWare, gamers were able to experience the world of Mega Man once again. Though the difficulty did seem a bit extreme at times, it was a welcome return for the blue bomber. Two years later, Mega Man 10 gets released on all three systems at the same price tag, through the same methods. This time around, the difficulty seemed properly tuned, the music was quite entertaining, and the core gameplay remained the same — satisfying as all hell. Each stage felt properly tuned for each boss, and each boss had enough creativity to stave off that feeling of complete recycled garbage that the series slowly descended to. While you do have your takes on the fire and ice gimmicks, there are somewhat refreshing additions as a whole. Strike Man, a baseball themed boss, was aided by a sports themed stage that helped give an immersing feeling to the stage. Blade Man was helped out with a somewhat medieval throwback stage. Everything fit together like a glove, providing players with a Mega Man experience that hasn’t been this good since Mega Man 3 on the NES. Kudos to Capcom for giving a proper balance of difficulty, excitement, replay value and just enough creativity to stave off a generic feeling.

Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light (Xbox 360)

Rating: 8.7

This one could easily be labeled under “the best game no one expected to be good”. Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light took away the over the shoulder third person perspective, generic gameplay and often obtuse puzzle design and replaced it with an arcade style action, within a an engaging setting, more supernatural enemies, and some of the more clever puzzle layouts this generation. Everything that made a Tomb Raider game stale has been tweaked, or completely replaced, and the end result is a return to form for Lara Croft. The arcade style of gun-play (move Lara around with the left stick and fire using the right stick, pointing towards the direction that you would like to fore towards) helped to reinvigorate the stale combat mechanics from previous games, and the clever puzzles throughout the game will have you hunting every single room down. While it definitely wasn’t the longest game out there,there was enough incentive to return after defeating the game once (beating your old time for each stage, unlocking items and weapons for certain in stage benchmarks, etc). With offline co-op and a patched in online co-op, Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light not only stole the show with the Summer of Games on Xbox Live Arcade, but feels like a steal for the 1200 point ($15) price tag.

Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)

Rating: N/A

The first Mass Effect was definitely one of my all-time favorite games. The story was captivating, the combat felt intense, and the overall atmosphere was like nothing I’ve experienced before with a video game. With Mass Effect 2, there’s definitely an admitted feeling of a lack of RPG in the combat, but the story, visual design and audio production carries Mass Effect 2 to the stars and beyond. The cast of characters this time around are quite diverse, though a few of them could have used more background information. It’s definitely a big plus to play through dedicated story arcs to get to know each of them better, as well as gain their trust some more, but for certain characters, such as Jack, I would have loved to have know more about her in general. Aside from that, the only real complaint I ever had in regards to Mass Effect 2 was the skewed preference towards a third person shooter feeling with combat, and not so much of an RPG structure to it. What really drove it all for me was how captivated I was with the story, the atmospheric audio and the drama all about. In the end, I really started getting attached to these characters and their battles alongside Shepard. One of, if not the first blockbuster releases of the year, Mass Effect 2 stands tall as one of the best games I’ve played all year.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

Rating: 9.7

I’m a bit muffed as to how many have dismissed Super Mario Galaxy 2 as being one of, if not the single best release of 2010. The VGAs didn’t even recognize it as a contender for Game of the Year overall. That’s almost a slap to the face of gamers everywhere IMO, but then again, it’s the VGAs, so their relevance is completely laughable. Simply put — Super Mario Galaxy 2 embodies everything an outstanding video game should have. Gorgeous visuals by Wii standards. An amazing soundtrack. Fluid controls. A thoroughly creative game world. A difficulty that isn’t a complete cake walk (though the whole wealth of extra lives debacle is still aparent). Everything that makes a Mario game work, is present and polished in Galaxy 2. Not one area, not one star feels like a drawn out extravagance; each encounter is brief enough so that it doesn’t overstay, or under represent its self. I do miss the Koopa Kids, but there’s just so much to Super Mario Galaxy 2. There’s so much to see so much to do, so much to obtain and so many incentives to return beyond the immediate future. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is on par with the likes of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario World 2 when it comes to the pure magic of the franchise. The years best game turns out to be one of the greatest games to have ever been released IMO. For a system that seems to have only one good release every season (on average), this is the definition of a “system seller”. You could purchase a Nintendo Wii just for both Super Mario Galaxy titles and feel like the investment was well worth it, despite the lack of worthwhile titles overall.

It’s time to close the books once and for all on what was mostly an uneventful year in gaming. More mediocre than magnificent, 2010′s gaming releases failed to completely woo me, although what was good, ended up being really well done. I’m pretty sure everyone here has a much different line up of titles for this list, as my tastes are quite peculiar. What were your gamoes of the year, or possibly the worst thing you played this year? Leave a comment below and share it with the rest of us!

"A cut above....something."

“Realism” is something that doesn’t always translate with an immaculate end result. Putting realism into a fighting game can be considered as equally implausible. Bushido Blade tries to infuse authenticity in its engine, and in its own subtle ways, helps make for quite an interesting game. Unlike most fighting games (or as close to a fighting game as Bushido Blade comes), one hit can kill. Literally. Depending on where you land a blow, you can cripple an arm, gimp a leg, or flat out defeat your adversary. With the different weapons available, you’ll have to pay attention to  their strengths, weaknesses and so on, to fully take advantage of the situation at hand. It was quite a deep title for its time, and it still possesses quite a bit of innovation today. The visuals helped portray these samurai-like characters and scenery to a commendable success. The problems come with the audio and mechanics overall. The audio isn’t much of a presence as a whole, and the controls are a bit stiff with its movements. Each weapon has its perks, which changes up attack patterns and such, though the overall sluggish feel prevails throughout. Regardless, pulling off a one hit kill during the opening second of a battle rarely gets old. If you want a thoroughly rewarding game with some minor frustrations here and there (play too aggressively  and you’ll die within seconds). Don’t break the bank for this one, but if you find it cheap, the investment will pay off.

One wrong move can mean death, even if you haven't been hit previously. Bushido Blade is one of those games where even blinking can mean losing.

Rating: 7.2

"More technical fouls than Rasheed Wallace on fast-forward."

Nintendo’s takes on sports titles have come off as a predominant success in both sales and production value. Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64 had some satisfying four player action, while Super Mario Strikers went of to arguably be one of the most underrated multiplayer games to have ever been developed. To date, there’s only been two major blemishes to the Mario sports sub genre — Mario Tennis on the Virtual Boy, and Mario Hoops 3-on-3, a basketball title staring the Mario Bros. gang, lackluster gameplay and some of the most tacky usage of the DS touch screen to date.

The characters and backgrounds are the only true highlights to be found on the post game analysis.

While most Nintendo mascot sports titles have some sort of semblance of the sport in question, Hoops tries its best to be as distant from the sport as possible. You do have the staples of the sport of basketball (a hoop, backboard, full court), in a three on three format, two and a half minutes per half. However, point scoring and strategy are all discombobulated. You score more points by collecting coins. You can potentially score a four digit lead over the opposition before the end of the game. It’s exceptionally easy to rack up the points as well, since the AI routines contain some of the most incompetent, careless and nonsensical structures ever. During the early portion of the tournament, you could dribble over the question mark pieces for extra coins, and pass it off in time before a CPU controlled character decides to either attempt a steal or use an item on you. What seems like a small handful of items that can be acquired throughout the game, all feel flimsy, almost as if they were pieces of cardboard being thrown around. Tossing any of the items you come across, have what seems like an extremely slow travel speed to them, enabling easy dodging or enough time to pass the ball off before your character gets stuck by the useless item.

Unfortunately, in order to fully understand even the most basic of controls, you have to sift through about twenty five minutes worth of tutorials. All you need to learn is how to dribble faster (to collect coins faster at question mark pieces), pass the ball, steal the ball and shoot a super shot. Those said super shots have such a convoluted command to them. Depending on the character that currently possesses the ball, you have to input taps on the touch screen that resemble an M, W or L. Up until the very end (where the AI takes the most absurd and implausible boost up in intelligence), you’ll have almost no one contesting the super slow charge up and heave of these super shots.

Although the gameplay is pretty much broken, developer Square Enix managed to paint a very pretty picture with the visuals. Character models and stadiums are all detailed in ways that only a handful of developers can manage to do with such precision on the Nintendo DS. It really is a beautiful sight to behold. The same can’t be said about the audio. While the sound effects all work, with the same iconic sounds sprinkled into the appropriate areas, the music, as catchy as it is, feels completely out of place. The mix of JPop-like tracks, with some RPG-esque compositions, makes it feel as if Square Enix accidentally used a future RPG title’s soundtrack in this lax arcade basketball title.

The AI is as competent as this picture -- inanimate.

No matter how you dress a turd up, it’s going to stink. Square Enix managed to make a gorgeous looking arcade sports title on the Nintendo DS, but couldn’t mask the stench of failure. Mario Hoops 3-on-3 fouls out even before the first half begins. Being forced to sit through slow, mostly filler tutorials in order to understand even the most basic of concepts, is as painful as trying to play the game its self after the fact. The controls are convoluted, the AI is imbecilic, the power ups are useless, and it’s not a fun game to play whatsoever. If you need your fill of Mario mascot sports gaming, pick up any of the other console related sports titles.

Rating: 2.1