Far Cry 2 (PC) offers a huge, open environment for the game. In fact, the entire game is designed around the fact that it’s wide open. The mission objectives are generally very non-specific, just eliminate a single person or clear an entire area. Then it’s up to you to go and complete those objectives using the large variety of the weapons, vehicles, and equipment offered in the game.
The positive is its negative: it’s just too big. You spend half of your time driving a vehicle from point A to point B. Then, when you get there, you normally have to repair your vehicle after some sporadic light gunfire. Thankfully, you’re trusty wrench can fix any sort of mechanical problem that your vehicle endures.
But the stunning visuals, the unique setting, and the wide open areas set the game apart. Sadly, you run out of ammo far too quickly, and everything in the game is just far too unrealistic. Which would be fine, but the game is trying so hard to pass as a realistic shooter, that it sort of breaks the immersion.
Despite a few complaints, it’s still a fantastic FPS, and I enjoyed it more than Frontlines: Fuels of War or Crysis: Warhead, which were both contenders for this #10 spot! If you like big, open ended shooters... this game is an excellent title to pick up.
The Witcher is an excellent PC RPG. It has a deep leveling system, lots of equipment, a unique world, and all the blocks that it takes to build a successful RPG. On top of that, it’s got a great story, interesting characters, and a very gritty, mature theme to it. Filled with racial, political, and even sexual tensions, this game doesn’t treat you like a kid – it treats you like an adult. And that makes the world all the more believable and immersive.
The gameplay is above average, but it’s not great. Sometimes the animations are a bit rough, and occasionally the combat gets a bit spotty. However, other times it flows perfectly, creating a visual fest with bloody kills and messy deaths. The combination of melee and magic is fun to get used to, and you can set up some real devastating combinations of you know what you’re doing.
The biggest concern is the game is a bit buggy, and it feels unpolished. It’s probably not as focused as many gamers are accustomed to, but it’s still a good game despite its raggedy feel. Exploring the different areas, meeting new characters, pushing through the storyline, and essentially furthering the game is an exciting process. It’s not without a few problems, but it does feature many reasons to forget those problems and forge ahead. For hardcore RPG fans, this is a must have.
Burnout Paradise (XBOX 360) brings the classic Burnout formula into a completely wide open environment. You spawn into the city and begin, using challenges found at stoplights to upgrade your license and progress the game. As you progress, you get more and more cars to choose from .While not entirely deep, Burnout isn’t about a deep, enthralling experience. It’s about blowing the $%@# out of cars.
Sadly, the Crash mode is no longer. This brings me great sadness… however, they’re replaced it with a “Road Rules” mode, which lets you set a high score on the particular road you are on. From there, you can set a speed score, or a crash score. While it’s not the same as the traditional crash mode, it’s still fun to play through, and the graphics make the crashes so entertaining.
The core elements are still here: racing through the maps, plowing over cars, and causing as much mayhem as possible. There is more in terms of stunts and using the environment. It is a bit difficult getting a hold of the stunt system at first, but it’s incredibly entertaining to pull of a difficult manuever.
Overall, despite the lack of Crash mode, Paradise offers up some great ideas and the classic Burnout formula. The thrilling crashes are here to stay, and if you aren’t tired of watching high speed, massively detailed crashes… then do yourself a favor and pick up this continuation of the series.
Being a long time Command and Conquer fan, I’m always excited to see new games in the series. That being said, I have disliked the more recent games, feeling they’ve gone farther and farther away from what made the originals so special. They still aren’t bad games; they’re excellent, just the more recent games are no longer my favorite games.
The two facets of Red Alert 3 (PC) are the same game, but they’re rather different. The campaign is heavily scripted, usually linear, but also comical and light hearted. The campaign is further improved by the addition of high quality cut scenes, featuring a lot of Hollywood talent, that aren’t trying too hard to be something they aren’t. It’s entirely cheesy, and it works perfectly.
The other facet is the multiplayer mode, or skirmish, which is a lot less linear, incredibly strategic, and much faster paced. It feels a lot more serious and certain in multiplayer; almost like an entirely different game. It’s fast, furious, and tactical. No fooling around here!
This still isn’t as fun or memorable as my first visit into the Command and Conquer or the Red Alert universe was, but it’s still a great experience none-the-less. It offers superb visuals, a fun campaign, great multiplayer, and lots of variety for experienced or novice strategy gamers. Red Alert 3 is a near flawless execution of a real-time strategy title, though it's not entirely fresh or unique, it is incredibly polished and fun to play.
What does World at War (XBOX 360) do that other Call of Duty that the others don’t do? Not a whole lot, actually. But it gives you more – a lot more. And who could really complain with that, after all Call of Duty 4 has become the top tier of FPS action. World at War has all the same features: dramatic and intense singleplayer, frantic and customizable multiplayer, and the gameplay is refined to perfection, feeling responsive and authentic when you control it.
You get improved visuals, more weaponary, new locations, the addition of tanks, new maps, and the obvious transition from modern combat to World War 2. The addition of a zombie survival mode at the end of the campaign adds to the replay. This, on top of cooperative mode (over Live or locally), Xbox Live multiplayer, LAN, and other options for replay… there’s a lot to this game that keeps on giving. I also find the ranking and unlocking system online to be even more in depth and interesting to work through… there’s so many rewards to earn!
There’s very little to complain about, but repetition is the big key. If you found yourself growing tired of the Call of Duty formula, then World at War isn’t very much of a refresh. If you never played a Call of Duty game, but enjoy FPS games, do yourself a huge favor and pick this game up. If you’ve played previous Call of Duty games, you know what to expect, there’s just more goodness, and a little more polish.
The best way to describe Fable 2 (XBOX 360) is that it’s everything that Fable should have been. You get the wide open environments, deeper characters, more complex economics and real estate, lots of other little mini-games and ways to earn money intertwined into the game, and generally just far more polish. The combat is near perfection, though very arcade-y, it’s also adrenaline-packed.
Just about every part of the game is further focused, refined, and generally polished over the original Fable. You’ve got better graphics, superior sound, smoother gameplay, and a lot less annoyances. You can really dig your teeth into the game – and there’s a lot more to dig your teeth into. With a bigger world, more quests, and more things to do, it takes a lot longer before you get tired of Fable 2.
The co-op mode and Xbox Live integration (via mini-games) aren’t much to write home about. They’re good ideas on paper, but don’t get a lot of use. Thankfully, the replay value lies in the good / evil decisions. The moral choices is more refined in Fable 2, and your decisions play a bigger impact, so you’ll essentially want to play the game twice: once as good, once as evil.
The biggest complaint is that this is Fable 2, not the first Fable. I really wish that Fable 2 were pushing some boundaries and doing something new and exciting. Instead, all of the innovative ideas from Fable have been adapted and further refined into making Fable 2. Still, it’s an incredibly fun and unique RPG. There’s nothing quite like Fable, it’s a truly fun little game.
You really can’t go wrong with Grand Theft Auto IV (XBOX 360). The GTA series keeps on improving itself and pushing some serious boundaries – both ethnical and technical boundaries. It’s the game that non-gamers love to hate, and gamers love to play. And the fourth installment not only gives you more of the same; but it also adds more features, a greater level of polish, and essentially the best Grand Theft Auto game to do.
The gameplay is remarkably smooth and polished; the combat particularly is refreshingly entertaining. The controls are also improved. The most obvious improvement, however, are the fantastic new visuals – the game looks phenomenal. Everything has been revamped and brought into the next generation.
The combination of a great story and a huge, wide open world is what made Grand Theft Auto such as a success, and GTA IV does just that. The story is dramatic and gritty, and the world feels and acts realistic – while being overblown and insane at the same time. It’s a fantastic combination of sarcastic humor and realism, and this blend works well for the GTA series.
Overall, it doesn’t refresh the series so much as it brings it to the best as it’s ever been. And with such a prestigious series, this GTA IV is the new flagship title of the series, and it shows.
Sins of a Solar Empire (PC) was the first game that combined space and real-time strategy in an exciting manner. Ironclad Games was able to make something really special within Sins of a Solar Empire, essentially combining gameplay elements from deep turn-based games like Galactic Civilizations with the epic scale and functionality of RTS games like Supreme Commander.
You start off the game with a single planet. From there, you explore around you, building up a fleet and colonization vessels, then you expand outwards – colonizing as many planets as you can. Afterwards, the only way to expand is bombard enemy planets and take them. All of the research, diplomacy, trade, bounty, and other gameplay features you’d expect in an RTS are here, and are organized extremely well. The menu system is very nice and intuitive, giving you the information you need quickly.
One of the best features is the quick, smooth zooming functionality; very similar to Supreme Commander. While this may not seem like a lot, you can quickly zoom all the way back and view the entire galaxy – or even multiple galaxies – then zoom all the way in and follow a single fighter squadron.
There are a lot of great little features that add up and make this such a great real-time strategy game. It never manages to get too complicated. Controlling massive fleets, tons of planets, and all the other related features of running an empire is intuitive and straight-forward. The game is focused, fun, and very strategic. But most of all, it is rewarding.
Left 4 Dead (PC & XBOX 360) is a teamwork focused game where you and three other survivors had to battle zombies throughout infested cities, towns, and countryside. And who doesn't like destroying massive amounts of brainless zombies? It's a lot of fun. Toss in "boss" zombies, the ability to revive fallen teammates, limited ammo and items, and a few other key features, it really gives you a fun gameplay experience.
The best way to describe Left 4 Dead would be "chaotic." And this is an entirely positive remark. The chaos of the game makes you constantly on the edge of your seat, running away from zombies, killing off as many as you can. This pure, unadulterated madness is entertainment in its purest form. It's an absolute blast when you've got zombies surrounding you everywhere, guns blazing, people going down, and your friends screaming at each other.
Left 4 Dead accomplishes what it was trying to do, but at the same time, I wish it tried to do more. Left 4 Dead is a marvelous, no holds barred action-packed experience. Well it does offer a few scares at first, once you become accustomed to the game, it's not an entirely scary, deep, or immersive experience. Instead, it's chaotic, fun, and fast action gameplay. It has superb sound, graphic, and level design, and technically it's a fantastic game. The focus on teamplay works well, and so it's enough to set it apart from other shooters. By itself, Left 4 Dead is a great game. But due to its focus on teamplay, if you have a buddy or two to play it with, it's an even better game.
Fallout 3 (PC), put simply, does not disappoint. Not by a long shot.
The gameplay is strong, drawing certain elements from Fallout, but also adding and improving on those ideas. The change of perspective in this next generation Fallout proves to be successful, and draws you even further into the world. Exploration, leveling up, character interaction, questing, and other discoveries are all compelling and fun, making the game one entertaining piece after the next.
Combat, the cornerstone of this game, is fast, violent, and fun. You’re greeted with over-the-top visuals, guns that pack a serious punch, and just crazy mayhem all around. Whether you’re blasting a Super Mutant’s head off with a sniper rifle, planting a series of mines that’ll explode the legs off your pursuers, or pulling out a flamethrower to clear an entire room of enemies in a painful, flame-filled death... it’s all so much fun. Especially in VATs, where your gruesome kills are glorified via slow motion camera, radial blurs, and the perfect angles of the camera.
The eerily futuristic world in which civilization has been destroyed is remarkably spot on. The land is devoid of life, the urban landscapes are abandoned and dark, and the countryside is desolate and war-torn. The entire world is so realistic, and looks so amazing graphically, that it’s hard not to get lost in it.
Fallout 3 doesn’t just do one thing right: it does a LOT of things right. From the gritty, wide open environment, the leveling system, the plethora of characters, weapons, and creatures, and the gory and invigorating combat… every element of the game fits together perfectly and creates a masterpiece.
I do have some complaints about Fallout 3, so be sure to read my review for the full scope.
My Game of the Year picks are selected from the PC and Xbox 360. Usually I tend to favor the PC, however this year had some must have Xbox 360 games.
- Honor Mentions
Crysis: Warhead (PC), Battlefield: Bad Company (360), and Frontlines: Fuels of War (PC) - Unplayed games (may have been contenders)
Prince of Persia (360), Gears of War 2 (360), Dead Space (360), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (360), and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC)