2013 "Of the Year" awards Part 2

2013 Worst Ending to a Trilogy

Dead Space 3 grinds the thrills of its predecessor into a microtransactioned mess that abandons the entire horror aspect of the franchise to become a straight third person action game. The first half is strong, as Isaac finds himself stranded in orbit amongst a ruined fleet of ships, recreating the isolated feel of the first two games. Once the second half forces the player to the planet surface the story spirals down a toilet of repetition and insanity resulting in a hilarious ending that only has meaning if one is familiar with Scientology.

2013 "Of the Year" awards Part 1

2013's 2011 Game finished in 2013

Far less tactical but more dynamic and fluid, Dragon Age II was rightly criticised for it's tiny scope and asset reuse. More of an expansion than a full game, if you burn through only the story quests, the narrative is rewarding with fun familiar mechanics. A far more attractive and well animated game than the original I am glad I finished it.

Still Playing:The games of 2013

From my Still Playing 2009 post I was playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I have abandoned that game as I got stuck in a level, completely under leveled and under equipped with only a revert to a previous save from hours earlier as an escape. Yeah so no. I have not started either of the sequels.

New to 2013, the following are games I have begun but not completed.

Assassin's Creed 4: This nut will crack sometime in January. It's a great game and far superior to the mess that was Assassin's Creed 3.

MARK OF THE NINJA: A taut stealth side scroll-er with beautiful art and great mechanics, this XBL Arcade game is always beckoning to me.

RED FACTION:ARMAGEDDON: I had heard how terrible and linear this game is compared to its predecessor, and while it is linear, it is a perfectly fine third person shooter. It is gorgeous on PC and just the thing for a lazy afternoon of "working" from home.

F.E.A.R 3: I ignored this game when it was released, but having finished and enjoyed F.E.A.R. 2 and love the original, I wanted to give it a shot. Graphically impressive on PC, the mechanics are as expected with the new addition of co-op. The story is nonsense but as a satisfying mouse and keyboard shooter, I am digging it. 

STATE OF DECAY: This surprise hit downloadable game is a great if janky open world zombie exporation game that incorporates day/night cycles and mission timers like Dead Rising. I keep restarting it, hopefully I will find time to finish it.

DEAD ISLAND:RIPTIDE: A disappointing cut and paste of Dead Island with some of the more interesting quirks patched out, DI:R still has that combination of broken jank and open world combat that made the original compelling. However the linear nature and extreme familiarity to the first game make it a bottom rung choice.

Here I discussed a bunch of games I had not yet finished at the end of 2012,  few of which are now in the can, unfortunately.

SKYRIM: This game is like my white whale. I keep finding reasons not to play it.

FAR CRY 2: Like any other open world game, I get lost in wandering and lose interest in the main thread of quests. Rightfully lauded for emergent gameplay and player agency, I hope to give this game it's due. I have attempted to stick to the main quests, especially after finishing Far Cry 3, just so I can stop wandering. 

RAYMAN ORIGINS:  Equally beautiful and punishing, I will push through until my skill runs out, which may be sooner than later. Abandoned.

JERICHO:  A dark and ugly curiousity, I will give it a go I gave it a go. Poor squad mechanics and relentlessly ugly. Abandoned.

DRAGON AGE II: "Streamlined" and repetitive I should be have been able to tear through this in short time, especially in comparison to the enormous time I put into Dragon Age:Origins, but nope. I enjoyed Dragon Age II a lot. The animations are beautiful and the combat is fantastic. By skipping virtually all side quests I was able to finally finish it in due time.

HYDROPHOBIA: Released, tweaked and released again in a perpetual feedback loop, the graphics and mechanics make the janky parts bearable, but just. The broken just couldn't be patched out. I finally abandoned.

ODDWORLD: STRANGER'S WRAITH (Maybe HD): Be super if remake developer JAW finally released the promised patch so I can play it on PC with an ATI card and a stable framerate. When and if it comes, I can't wait to beat this game again as I loved it on OG Xbox. It finally required upgrading to quad-core to get the game to hit 60 fps at 1080p so it is clearly under optimized for PC.

JUST CAUSE 2: The campaign story is pointless and best ignored in favor of exploring the massive game map, wreaking havoc. The lack of compelling direction makes this and Skyrim both hard games to stick with.*NOW WITH INSANE MULTIPLAYER*


OLDER CONSOLE GAMES:

I have a bunch of older 360 and PS3 games to attach as well  Abandoned

Bully (360)
Metal Gear 4 (PS3)
Resistance 1 & 2 (PS3)
Psychonaughts  (PC)

The Short and The Terrible: Games I didn’t care enough to finish 2013

Killzone: ShadowFall:   Momentarily beautiful but deeply devoid of substance, Killzone:SF was so unmemorable I entirely forgot I had played it until I made this list. It's unfortunate because the basis of the narrative had the potential to be extremely compelling as a metaphor for the Isreal/Palestine conflict but the game is bland and toothless.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter

This game is as horrible and boring as rumored. I liked the previous MOH and respected it as a tribute to the lives of soldiers. Warfighter takes that good will and shits on it with a pained grimace.

Spider-Man Web of Shadows:

Web of Shadows is well remembered as the Spider-man game to beat, mostly due to its open world nature and free movement. While WoS does both better than any other Spider-Man game, I found the controls to clunky and the mechanics repetitive.

X-com: The Bureau

What a tragic waste of talent. Too long in development, and originally a first person shooter, it has all the ingredients of a great game. Using design inspiration from X:Com Enemy Unknown in both art and mechanics combined with a squad based third person shooter perspective, The Bureau slows time to allow a Mass Effect style radial wheel to assign tactics.

Unfortunately the extended development cycle has stripped this game of any inspiration. I made it past the first major set piece with little or no effort on my part and quit playing the game. I might give it another shot.

Meh of Duty:Mehs vs BattleMeh 4

Call of Duty:Ghosts is a mechanical retread of previous COD entries, but it has a dog. Launched simultaneously on current and next gen platforms the aged engine is showing it's seams especially in comparison to Battlefield 4 on next gen.

COD is COD once again, with slight tweaks to the perks and rewards system. Mechanically it is still a functional divider of those who run and die and those who run and shoot. I was most successfully using only a knife during my time online on PS4. MP graphics are startlingly poor on next gen and extremely disappointing. Perhaps this is the rose that loses the bloom.


Battlefield 4 is a broken mess across all systems. I played the campaign until my save was destroyed by the game itself and then realized I didn't care enough to start over. The graphics are gorgeous on PS4 and as close to PC as consoles will get.

Specular lighting, ambient occlusions and massive particle effects make BF4 a treat for the eyes,even in multiplayer.

When I was able to find a game, it was a functional divider of those who run and die and those who run and find cover and die. I found the most success using a sniper rifle and camping.

I have fundamentally lost interest in this type of  FPS.