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25.1.12
Late to the party, you say? 2011 may be dead and buried old news, but forgive me; I've only just built up the courage to say what I'm going to say.
You see, I'm not a man with splitting opinions, a vicious tongue or a mind for devil's advocacy. I like what I like, and generally that tends to be what everyone else likes. You'll find no 'Homefront was the bestest game evar!' antics from me. But in a year that granted me the gift of Batman: Arkham Asylum, the cherished delight of Portal 2 and the unforgettable, unconquerable, unbelievable Skyrim, amongst a glittering sea of celebrated gems, it was a coma-fuelled carmageddon that gave me the greatest joy.
Driver: San Francisco is a throwback in pretty much every way possible. The story itself harks back to the vibrant, garish and funky, beat-heavy 1970s, where everyone was either pushing coke or doing dope or being a dirty cop or doing something illegal and slightly hilarious. There's also the gameplay, which doesn't burden the player with muddy motion control, sloppy shooting mechanics or faulty free-roam. You drive, and occasionally you'll press a button, move the camera over another car, and press a button. Then you drive again. It's pure, clean and fresh. Whilst most modern titles cram the back of their game boxes with trademarked UltraCrap™ features ("now with 50% more green-brown textures!"), Driver had you, a car and a beautiful city. To top it all off, this is Ubisoft Reflections' last attempt at reviving the lifeless and much spat-on corpse of the Driver series; from the golden age of the ultimate PS1 cop-chase emulator, Driver has fallen hard, shooting itself in the foot with the awkwardly-titled Driv3r and then proceeding to maul its own limbs off in desperation with Parallel Lines and 76. When it was announced that the latest Driver would be a retro throwback to San Fran's heyday, all coddled up in the mind of coma patient John Tanner, eyebrows raised. When the game released, jaws dropped.
Well, mine did at least. See, 2011 was a wonderful year. Not if you were a dictator, or a Middle Eastern rebel, or near an earthquake hotspot, or Amy Winehouse, or pretty much anyone else in this sickening world slowly trudging to your inevitable anti-climactic demise. But, for videogames at least, it was damn exciting. Needles plunged into eyes in Dead Space 2, robots plunged into fiery pits in Portal 2, elbow-daggers plunged into cyborg motherboards in Deus Ex, and Skyrim plunged the world into a fury of 'Fus Ro Dah'-ing and wishing their cats could dual-wield. There was fierce competition, no doubt about it. But Driver: San Fransisco stole my heart and drifted across the Golden Gate bridge with it. And I'll tell you why.
You knew what Dead Space 2 was all about. If you had hands, or even eyes, well before your clammy palms had caressed your controller of choice you knew Dead Space 2 was about kicking alien ass and taking alien names. Maybe you'd completed Dead Space (2008), or just played the demo, or even caught a fleeting glance of a trailer, but any semblance of surprise had been squandered long before you ever played it. You knew how it would feel to decapitate an otherworldly head, and fly about in zero-gravity, and what Issac would say, do, think, whisper, murmur, smell like; the corpse of Dead Space 2 was examined and pored over long before its release into the big wide world. All the grand games of 2011 had the same issue: hyped beyond excess, with endless trailers, walkthroughs and interviews to feast upon, your appetite was spoiled before the main meal. I'm a huge Skyrim fan, and the game itself is unconquerable colossus of scale, and yet killing my first dragon didn't feel all that special. Because only a few months ago, I'd watched Todd Howard do the very same.
Driver: San Fransisco didn't have that problem. I'll choose my words carefully so I don't offend any hardworking Ubisoft employees, but... how do I put this? The game was shoved into a grimy corner to die a lonely death. Advertising was basic; no grand statements spilled from Martin Edmondson's - creative director - mouth; there wasn't a new trailer every thirty seconds. I knew a bit about the game, but I certainly hadn't followed it with the same wide-eyed vigour as I had with the better-endowed releases that came before it. It was brilliant.
When I got the game, seamlessly swinging sideways around San Francisco's sunbathed streets was an absolute thrill. Leaping from car to car in comatic fury was a real joy, whilst the good-cop/bad-cop (or in this case, white-coma-cop/black-sassy-cop) relationship - filled with sharp one-liners and just enough homoerotic tension to emulate all those 70s buddy movies - was riotous fun. With no expectation or preconceived notions, Driver: San Fransisco had an empty stage on which to wow the player, and it did so with all the tricks it could stuff up its sleeve.
The crux of the game had to be the side-missions. The main plot was tongue-in-cheek, bizarre, over-the-top brilliance, with interweaving threads of stolen ammonia and hospital beds. But to keep you interested, there had to be stuff to do, and I'll happily hold my hands in the air and claim that Driver: San Fransisco had the best side missions of any game I've played for a long, long time. Whilst Skyrim had you traversing endless load screens as you fast travel, enter a building, talk for a bit, leave a building, fast travel, find some treasure, fast travel, speak to a guy, and so on and so forth, Driver makes every side mission an attention-grabbing, emotionally-involving rollercoster. Who could forget Jun and Ayumu, clumsy Korean kids who accidentally get themselves embroiled in vicious street-races? An ageing truck driver nearing retirement who is caught up in a Speed-style bomb threat? An unfortunate husband unwittingly driving an adulterous wife to a lesion with her lover?
They each had spirit. They each had flair. They each had soul. Every single one of them felt crafted, sculpted and born out of love, and you find yourself becoming more and more involved in these characters with every lightning-fast second. I shouldn't care about these people! Whole games devote themselves to creating sympathy with a block of pixels, yet fail with a fizzle; Driver: San Fransisco, with a sharp script and colourful characters, grabs you and doesn't let go.
That's without retracing the fleet-footed main plotline, that's so brilliantly tongue-in-cheek yet straight-faced that you can't help but admire Ubisoft's gumption. Going from the meandering countryside roads of automobile shifting fun, through narrow back-alleys of genuinely disturbing plot twists ("Christ - he's everywhere!"), hurtling down the open highway of one of the most thrilling climaxes of the year - Driver was an utter joy to behold.
There are hundreds of honestly superb games out there. Games with blockbuster budgets, Spartan-sized teams and the community's eyes focussed dead on their every move; these types of games are wonderful to play and technically proficient. But when was the last time a game rocketed out of the blue and knocked your socks off? When was the last time you were properly, genuinely excited by the game you were playing, full of wonder and possibility and brimming with the unknown? Nowadays, those games are harder to come by. And all the more incredible for it.
Labels: Chris Hawke, Driver, Driver: San Francisco, Feature, Opinion, Ubisoft
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Developer
Infinity WardPublisher
ActivisionPlatforms
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PCReviewed on
Xbox 360Genre
First-person shooterCertificate
PEGI 18+, ESRB MThis formula hasn't changed with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, what would a holiday season be like without another Call of Duty game? I couldn't fathom it either.
Following the fallout between Infinity Ward's lead designers and Activision, many thought that the departure of most of the studio would bring about the demise of the Modern Warfare brand. Yet, the game you know and love remains intact. Immensely intact. In fact, that's my one issue with the series that touts itself as the "best-selling game of all time"; being afraid of change.
How so?
A word of warning: if you haven't played the previous Modern Warfare games, you'll more than likely have absolutely no idea of what's going on (then again, even if you have you might fall into the same category). Following the events that transpired in Modern Warfare 2, the Russians have invaded America and continue to rain destruction down on the eastern shore. Makarov, the man behind the whole 'destroying the world' thing, is still at large, and you need to kill him so that the US and Russia can make peace. There it is.
Yo, yo, yo! Check out this sentry turret man!
Being candid, the campaign for MW3 is as cinematic as it is disappointing in almost every category. Without giving away major plot points, this game follows exactly the same formula that was given to us with the original Modern Warfare four years ago. Controversial issue arises, a main character dies and then you eliminate the main threat (or a notable one). This makes the story extremely predictable and shallow, especially during the cut-scenes, where the whiteboards, post-it notes and other information is basically flung at you from seemingly nowhere. These moments remind me of a standard CSI episode where the team has come to a dead end and then, miraculously, someone finds something and the case is busted wide open. Of course, when it comes down to it, all you need to know is that you need to shoot people. A lot of people.
There are few things that don't blow up as you climbing your way to the objective in the campaign. Missiles flying overhead, buildings collapsing around you, ordnance being detonated nearby - I can't deny the adrenaline rush that MW3 offers. A quote I recently heard describes it best: "if Modern Warfare 3 were a movie, Michael Bay would have to retire." Sure, in some ways the game makes great use of action and definitely stirs excitement, but Activision and Infinity Ward have been pulling the same strings for a while now. I understand they're trying to recreate the same effect that the original Modern Warfare had on the masses, but by literally utilising the same story-arc again and again, the game just ends up seeming plagued by lazy design. It'd be one thing if the story were at the very least interesting, but sadly this just isn't the case.
You are the Juggernaut.
Multiplayer, on the other hand, offers a much better experience in MW3 than its predecessor. Whilst MW2 gave us the superior co-operative Spec Ops mode along with a slew of new perks, equipment and kill-streaks, MW3 refines it all, creating a nicer overall package. As far as I'm concerned, Spec Ops is once again the star of the show. If you've never played it, Spec Ops is a two-man set of challenges that earn you stars for the difficulty you complete them on. Some missions may be completed alone, but if you're dead set on getting all 48 stars you're going to need a partner in crime. There's also a new Surivival mode, which pits you against waves of enemies, à la Gears of War's Horde.
The original Modern Warfare was where I sunk my teeth deep into the competitive multiplayer. MW2 felt bigger, but it was ruined for me by exploiters, terrible spawns and overpowered weapon sets. MW3 feels better to me, purely due to the fact that you're rewarded for staying loyal to certain weapons. What I mean is that you can actually level up your individual weapons, unlocking additional attachments and bonuses. For instance, leveling up the Riot Shield will give you the option to make it melee quicker or give you a speed boost.
Only novices shoot rockets. I think.
However, my favourite new additions to the multiplayer remain with the playlists and new kill-streak mechanics. MW3 offers the biggest selection of playlists the series has seen yet, including an all new mode called Kill Confirmed. Kill Confirmed's basic premise is that killing people doesn't automatically net your team points; instead, upon death your enemy will drop a dog tag and, if claimed, collection of that tag will net your team points. The cool thing about this mode is that you can grab your own teammate's dog tag, denying them the point. As far as kill-streaks go, they can still be fully customised, but can now be set to either Assault or Support streaks. Assault is your typical streak system which will end if you're killed prematurely. Support, though, allows your streak to persist through death. They aren't quite as devastating as the Assault ones are but it's still a rather nifty change that makes constant death less frustrating.
After that though, MW3 devolves back into its typical 'shoot everything, everywhere' format. It wouldn't be such a bad thing if MW3 were to have better spawns, but, alas, it does not. Couple that with an unbalanced matchmaking system and you have a real issue. The first game I played online pitched me against four people who were all level 80; about midway through the game, I was killed six times in a row without taking more than four steps from my spawn location.
MW3 isn't a bad game, but its lack of imagination and derivative nature will drive away gamers who want just a little bit more. Its nonsensical story doesn't help matters, but at least Spec Ops and a familiar competitive multiplayer element provide enough to keep coming back to. Having said that, this title is nothing more than average, but if you're a Call of Duty fan and shooting dudes is the name of your game, go ahead and add two to the score.
5/10 [?]
Labels: 2012, Activision Blizzard, Andrew Whipple III, Call of Duty, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 3, PC, PS3, Sledgehammer Games, Xbox 360
For nearly the entire calendar year, the Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises have been at war.
Similar to the Sega vs. Nintendo days of yore, it’s a pitch, knock-down battle for supremacy; the two companies have launched ad campaigns taking none-too-subtle jabs at each other, and gamers are digging in and choosing a side, ready to defend their favourite franchise and see the opposition go down in defeat.
This has to stop.
Seriously, folks, I’m all for good, healthy competition, but what’s going on between Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is just plain ridiculous. It goes beyond competitive rivalry and turns into something out of bloody Amadeus. The antagonism on behalf of either franchise is colossally wrong-headed, and it would be in everyone’s best interest if gamers put down their torches and pitchforks, and let both games be.
First of all, this battle doesn’t make our industry look good. Though gaming has slowly risen to a place of prominence in the last five or ten years, it isn't yet quite as ubiquitous as movie-watching or listening to music, and there’s still plenty of room for outsiders to get the wrong idea about gaming culture. I can’t imagine it speaks terribly highly about our industry if its fans are willing to act like jackasses in defence of a multinational corporation, who would just as soon suffocate under their large piles of money than give specific attention to those dedicated to besmirching their competitor’s name. We’re just starting to be seen by the rest of the world as more mature; let’s act like we deserve to be treated that way.
I also can’t think of any other industry that pits its competition head-to-head in such a petty manner. At no point in 2006 did Warner Bros. point at 20th Century Fox and say "Hey! Our movie about magicians in the early 1900s is way better than yours!" Neither do book publishers declare that their new novel is 'better' than an already-established series ("puts James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club books to shame!"), and whilst it’s hardly unusual for recording artists to enter into disputes, they rarely involve direct album comparisons. These industries appear more confident about their products, and about their ability to coexist with consumers. Fans may argue about whether Star Trek or Star Wars is 'better', but these discussions are most often held between consumers, which is a far cry from having a quarrel perpetuated by the films' own studios.
Besides, if you were to sit down and play both Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, you would quickly find them both to be different and complementary experiences. Battlefield’s multiplayer-focussed shooter offers much more in the vein of wide-open spaces and free-form combat options, whilst Call of Duty places a greater emphasis on tight, twitchy action. True, both games are modern military shooters with straightforward, set piece-driven single player modes, but they both accommodate largely different play styles, resulting in two different gameplay experiences.
Which leads me to my main point: it’s okay to like both. How very basic it sounds, but how true it actually is. Getting caught up in EA and Activision’s trumped-up battle of the shooters can be great fun, but it can also result in players missing an important truth: that both games are fun, top-notch experiences, and each is worthy of your time. Personally, I alternate between the two, depending on what I feel like playing. Perhaps you can only afford one game, and need to pick between the two; choosing one over the other is fine, but liking one game doesn’t preclude you from enjoying the other.
Perhaps I’m being a curmudgeonly sod, but the whole 'one versus the other' thing just smells of stupidity. Too much time, energy, and Metacritic User Score credibility has been sacrificed to a conflict that does not matter in the grand spectrum of gaming. Both games are out now. Buy them, or don’t. Like them, or don’t. But dragging out this pissing contest of a sales matchup is unnecessary, not to mention stupid.
Labels: Andrew Testerman, Battlefield, Call of Duty, DICE, Infinity Ward, Opinion
I am a big believer in the positive aspects of gaming. I’ve defended my hobby both in person and on the net, and I truly feel that videogames can have a palpable, positive effect on people everywhere.
Recently, I was pleasantly reminded of this fact, thanks to the little downloadable game that could, Trine. Trine is a PSN game (developed originally for Windows PC) by Finnish developer, Frozenbyte. In the game you take control of three heroes, each of whom have been bound together by the mystical Trine. As a result of the magic spell of the Trine, a knight, a thief and a wizard are forced to share one body, and must work together in order to traverse platforms, solve puzzles and defeat enemies. The main concept behind the game is that you can - and must - freely switch between any of the three characters, but can only control one of them at a time, forcing you to use your head and think about which character’s ability you need to get past a specific challenge.
Trine was one of the first downloadable games I ever purchased. The game enamoured me with its beautiful graphics and its old-school, 2-D platforming; plus, since the game allowed up to three players to play locally, I figured it would be a great chance to convince my boyfriend to join in on the gaming fun.
It’s been a concerted mission of mine to turn my boyfriend into a pseudo-gamer of sorts. I have had varying degrees of success. Fighting games he can manage, as long as you don’t force him to choose more than one character. It still surprises me that, to this day, when I play Mortal Kombat with friends and they choose anyone other than Zub-Zero, I had forgotten that such a decision was even possible. Shooters have also been a success of sorts, and we’ve logged hours upon hours playing Resistance - it has become quite evident that shooting aliens in the face is something that makes us a better and happier couple.
Trine was one of our earliest co-op experiences, and I kid you not, gamers, but that game taught me more about us and our relationship than I care to recall.
Before we go further into this, there are a few things you should know. I am not what you might call a 'patient' gamer. If you see me flipping a switch, grappling off a wall and double-jumping over a fiery pit onto a platform, I expect you to do the same. Damn it, how hard could it be?! You just saw me do it, didn’t you? I sometimes forget that not everyone has been doing this since they were five.
Case-in-point: my boyfriend. The poor shmoe owned a Nintendo with a copy of Mario Brothers a few eons ago, and that’s basically where his gaming-jedi training ended. And, although talented in many areas – the man makes a mean apple pie - when it comes to games, a fast learner he is not. As you can imagine, in a game in which three heroes share one body, throwing two gamers into the mix only confuses things even further. Co-operation and communication are key. The players, like the characters of Trine, have to find a way to share the three heroes and their abilities, and act in unison towards achieving their goal.
I think it was maybe after the fifth consecutive time that I plunged to my death, after my significant other conjured a box directly over my head with the Wizard as I attempted to manoeuvre over some platforms, that I very seriously thought it was time to reconsider this whole 'relationship' thing. "It’s just a game!" he protested. "Why are you so lame at this!?" I yelled. It didn’t take much more than that, and a full blown fight was on. Over Trine. Over a game. But not really.
Turns out it wasn’t so much that we were having trouble communicating during our Trine gaming session, but rather we were having trouble communicating in general. I was not only an impatient gamer; the fact of the matter was that I wasn’t a patient boyfriend. As for him, it became pretty evident that he was hesitant to follow my lead during Trine, because, in a lot of ways, he wasn't too keen on following my lead at all. We had run into a problem here; a puzzle of considerable challenge.
Here’s the thing though. We both wanted to make it work. We both wanted to beat Trine, so to speak. Trine became a metaphor for our relationship and its creases. So we took a step back. We took an inventory of what our strengths and weaknesses were, and reassessed that puzzle. Long story short, we beat that puzzle and kicked Trine’s ass.
A few days ago, we started playing Trine 2. Every now and again, a random box will be conjured directly over my head. And yes, many a digital death has ensued as a result of his inherent noobness. But he’s getting better, and I’ve learnt to sit back and enjoy it all. I’ve stopped trying to turn him into a fully-fledged gamer (sort of), and instead I've begun to enjoy the simple joys of gaming with my significant other. As a result, the yelling to laughing ratio has been flipped on its head.
Trine, and gaming in general, has not only helped my relationship, but has provided me and my boyfriend with a hobby that not only allows us to spend time together, but that forces us to work together as a unit, to communicate or fail, that gives us ample opportunities to help each other succeed and to share triumphs. And that's certainly not bad for a pastime that has a reputation for turning us all into a bunch of antisocial loners.
Labels: Feature, Joey Núñez, Opinion, Trine
I want very much to say that this year’s Spike VGAs were the best they’ve ever been, but I’m not sure that I can.
Make no mistake; this year’s broadcast, which aired on the 10th November at 8:00pm EST, saw markededly clear improvements over previous years' instalments. The now bog-standard celebrity guests were, by-and-large, less awkward, with most sounding excited to be there, and several even giving off a genuine gamer vibe. Spike also finally found a competent host for the VGAs in Zachary Levi, whose ‘aw, shucks’ charisma helped sell even the most staid of material (oh look, a life bar joke in 2011). And the actual broadcast itself has become a well-oiled machine, shuttling between segments of the show and killer trailers with an ease that the Oscars could only dream of.
The problem was, though, that it was too well-oiled. In all of the fervour to promote new trailers, promote VGA-related competitions (“Check out how popular the VGAs are on Twitter!”), and Felicia Day’s noble-though-misguided backstage shenanigans, the producers failed to give attention to the actual reason everyone was there: the awards. During the course of the evening, all of three proper awards were given and accepted. Three. The first, Best Action Adventure, was given at the very beginning of the show, and nearly a solid hour and a half went by without so much as a peep about the other awards.
Actually, I take that back — they did mention sixteen other awards during an earlier portion of the broadcast, because they announced the winners in the form of a montage. To put this in perspective, more time was devoted to Kevin Jonas introducing the Rainbow 6: Patriots trailer than on the presentation of sixteen different awards. In fact, so much was lost in the shuffle that Spike didn’t even mention the winner for one of their categories (if you’ll check out the Wikipedia page, you’ll notice a blank spot for Best Team Sports game.
It’s kinda surreal, truthfully. I realise that the VGAs are starting to become a hot zone for announcing new games and showing off huge trailers, which, in all fairness, is pretty conducive to television, but Spike aren't even pretending that the awards matter anymore. I mean, fun as it was to watch Felicia Day play real-life Fruit Ninja with the cast of Comedy Central’s Workaholics, it felt disrespectful to all the major industry figures whose hard work was supposedly being honoured at the ceremony, a sentiment shared by more than a few actual nominees. Though, in terms of developer disrespect, nothing quite tops Michael Condrey of Sledgehammer Games getting teabagged for running over the time limit on his acceptance speech for Best Shooter.
Award neglect was certainly the largest problem this year, but it was far from the only one. As with any awards show, several presenters were absolutely dire during their onstage moments, particularly Jason Biggs of the American Pie franchise, who either did not care one iota about how obvious it was that he was reading from the autocue, or was simply stoned out of his gourd. Felicia Day’s Japanese game show-esque antics for Child’s Play were sound and admirable in concept (promoting a major game-related charity, and doing silly stuff for donations), but they killed the programme’s momentum whenever they popped up. And the aforementioned teabagging, which was funny as a concept-based joke, was simply terrible as an execution-based joke.
The most frustrating aspect of the VGAs, though, wasn’t the unfunny jokes or the awkward celebrities. No; it was the moments of actual, legitimate entertainment, the slight glimpses of what the VGAs should be. Case in point: The Legend of Zelda’s induction into the Videogame Hall of Fame.
Seth Green briefly talked about Zelda’s achievements, and then showed a video with clips from nearly every Zelda game, whilst a tasteful narration discussed some of the series’ finer points, including an acknowledgement of the game’s resonance despite the lack of spoken dialogue. After the video, the curtains opened, and who should walk out but Shigeru Miyamoto, who gave a charming acceptance speech in English to a standing ovation from the crowd. In another cool segment, Levi showed a video from Activision featuring Captain Price and Frost of Modern Warfare 3, saluting US troops and promoting a program to help veterans acquire jobs after they've returned from active duty. Moments like these tell me that, ultimately, the VGA producers 'get it', which makes the segues into rocky, stereotypical ‘gamer’ territory that much more painful.
Despite my negativity, I really do have hope for the VGAs. This year’s ceremony was ultimately stronger and less painful to watch than in previous years, and if the show continues to improve in the way it has, there is every potential that it might really be worth watching in a few years. Still, if the VGAs want to be taken seriously as an awards show, they need to focus more attention on the actual awards; to quote Justin McElroy of Joystiq, "if winning [a VGA] is ever to be a big deal, that has to start with you guys [the Spike producers] believing it is." [source] Even the MTV VMAs (the ‘award show as entertainment’ programme that the VGAs obviously wants to be, which is a perfectly fine goal) understand that winning is a big deal; if Spike wants to improve the VGAs for next year, I’d start there.
Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, Awards, Feature, Spike, VGAs, VGAs 2011
Batman: Arkham City
Developer
Rocksteady StudiosPublisher
Warner Bros. InteractiveSquare Enix (Japan)
Platforms
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows PC, OnLive, WiiU (2012)Reviewed on
PlayStation 3Genre
Action-adventure, beat 'em up, stealthCertificate
PEGI 16+, ESRB TAs tends to happen, the extreme popularity of the comic character has led to movies, animated series, tonnes of merchandise and - of course - videogames. In 2009, Rocksteady broke the licensed game curse, and created a Batman videogame unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. The boys and girls at Rocksteady care for the character, and poured attention and love into every single detail of the project, crafting more than just a game, but rather an experience. Batman: Arkham Asylum was more than just the best Batman game ever, or the best comic book game ever; it was one of the best games of 2009, full stop. This left this year’s sequel, Batman: Arkham City, with a rather unprecedented predicament: it ended up a licensed game with a large quantity of valid expectation for greatness weighing it down. Comic geeks and gamers the world over were wondering if Rocksteady would be able to strike gold twice.
The answer? Yes. God, yes.
You know the way that every sequel promises to be bigger and better, and then hardly ever is? That, luckily, didn't happen this time. Rocksteady hit the bullseye, and somehow managed to make the already pefect Batman experience even better, delivering a massive follow up to Arkham Asylum that is truly bigger and better in every way, giving you more of what you loved from the original and doing away with anything you hated. Fan expectations were more than met; they were surpassed entirely. This was clearly Rocksteady’s objective.
So how does a developer go about beating itself at its own game? Well, Rocksteady’s first order of business was giving players a larger playground to play in. Enter Arkham City, the mega-prison after which the game is named. If you’ve somehow managed to avoid spoiling the story for yourself already, I won’t spoil it for you here. All you need to know is that Quincy Sharp, former warden of Arkham Asylum, is now mayor of Gotham City, and he has somehow convinced the bigwigs of Gotham to let him wall off a complete section of the city and turn it into a prison. The result: a literal city prison, populated by every low-life thug, criminal and super-criminal in Gotham City. With appearances from almost every major nemesis in Batman’s rogue gallery (and a few not so major ones), veteran comic book writer Paul Dini has written a meaty, intense and suspenseful story that evokes a true sense of urgency in the player as the plot develops. The pacing of the narrative is pitch-perfect, and the game is filled with unexpected twists and reveals that will have you nerdgasming well into the night.
The game’s narrative is made that much greater by the excellent gameplay through which you experience it. Gameplay is divided into three basic elements: exploration, combat and stealth. Playing as the Dark Knight himself, Arkham City is yours to explore. As a gamer, jumping, gliding and grappling from rooftop to rooftop in an environment as vibrant and layered as Arkham City is a treat. As a Batman fan, the experience is just indescribable, and must be experienced to be understood. When you’re not mindlessly gliding around the city skies and freaking out at just how awesome Batman’s cape looks billowing in the wind, you’ll probably be meticulously scouring the environments for secrets or clues related to your current mission. Rocksteady has not forgotten that Batman is first and foremost a detective, and has made sure to feature Batman’s crime solving deductive skills prominently in the game, both in the main story missions and side missions, which I’ll get on to later.
As you can probably imagine, based on the fact that the whole game takes place in a megaprison filled to the brim with people that want our hero dead, you will get into a fair amount of scuffles. You will deal with your opponents either via direct mêlée combat or stealth. For the mêlée combat, Rocksteady has refined the amazing combat system they created for Arkham Asylum, the Freeflow Combat System. Freeflow combat sounds simple on paper: attack enemies with one button, stun them with another, dodge with a third and press a fourth button at the right time to counter. The truth of the matter, though, is that although the system is simple enough that a beginner can pull off some nice moves, this by no makes the game a button masher. If you’re going to call the Freeflow combat button-mashing, you might as well call Guitar Hero a button masher, and no, that is not an exaggeration. The key to successful combat in Arkham City is timing; you have to time each move to perfectly follow your previous move, counter just at the right moment, dodge exactly when required, all in an effort to boost your combo count and, consequently, the experience you gain from a fight. Perfecting Freeflow combat requires real skill. Add in enemies which require specific attack approaches, special moves and quickfire gadget moves – which allow you to incorporate Batman’s nifty arsenal into his combos – and you’ve got yourself an extremely robust combat system which will probably provide you with some of the most rewarding combat in any action title, ever.
Once you perfect the freeflow combat I guarantee you will feel like a ninja. But, alas, Batman - like all heroes - has a lethal weakness. For Superman, it's kryptonite; for Batman, it's guns - guns will kill the guy. Charge into a room filled with gun-toting goons, and you'll find yourself walking into the light faster than you can say "holy fatal wound, Batman". Armed henchmen require a more tactical approach; namely, stealth. Stealth (or predator) sections will require you to patiently wait in the shadows and use your wits and your gadgets to take out your opponents. Fear not, though, because the game arms you to the teeth, with everything from the must-have batarangs to explosive gel, freeze bombs, smoke grenades and zip lines. These stealth situations are also where you’ll make use Batman’s 'Detective Vision', which allows you to see through walls, in order to identify enemies and the weapons they're carrying. Each predator room is basically a puzzle that needs solving, with the answer always ending up as you doing a triumphant Batoosie dance over a heap of unconscious bodies.
Once you’ve explored, fought and ninja’d your way through the main story there’s still loads - and I mean loads - of things to do in Arkham City. The side missions prepared are just awe-inspiring, with most side quests featuring deep plots and their own villains. These optional quests will have you scouring the city solving The Riddler’s riddles, as lives hang in the balance; investigating a series of grisly murders; chasing down ringing phones in an effort to track down a psychopathic murderer, and so much more. With no hint of a joke, the side missions in Arkham City could be their own stand-alone game, they are that good. You also have the challenge rooms to occupy your time; these are Riddler Challenges, that either see you taking out waves of enemies with Freeflow combat, or clearing rooms of armed thugs in stealth missions. All missions are ranked online, with leaderboards and such, so you always have incentive to come back to these challenges and increase your scores. Add to the mix the addition of the newly re-vogued 'New Game Plus', which lets you play through the main story with all your experience and gadgets whilst considerably ramping up the difficulty, and it's easy to see that replay value is the name of the game. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned Catwoman yet, have I?
Every new copy of Arkham City includes a download code, which will let you access the Catwoman missions. These missions are interwoven with the game's main narrative, so they seamlessly integrate with the main story. It’s true that you could play the entire game without experiencing the Catwoman missions and not feel like you’re missing out on anything, but trust me, you would be. Catwoman moves and fights completely differently to Batman, and playing as the famed femme fatale was probably one of my favourite experiences of Arkham City. Not only will these missions reveal more about what’s going on in Arkham City, but they will also reward you with some of the best gameplay the title has to offer. Long story short, download, and play now.
Rocksteady has also been generous with its offering of DLC. Already the company has released two DLC character packs, featuring Nightwing and Robin respectively. These packs allow you to play as these two members of the Batman family in all of the game's challenge rooms, as well as in additional challenge rooms included in the DLC. These characters can’t be used in the main game, which has disappointed more than a few fans; however, I can guarantee that each character is worth trying out. Both have a very distinct feel to them, in combat and in stealth missions, and they are more than just palette swaps, with distinct moves, gadgets and combat styles. At the end of the day, though, I’d say that you should only really get these packs if you have the cash to spare, or if you’re a huge fan of the characters, like me. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.
Lastly, I just have to mention how spectacular this game looks. The art style is spot on, and the game is brought to life with stunning graphics and vibrant music, every bit as epic as anything you’d expect to hear in Christopher Nolan’s Batman flicks. It’s the gaming equivalent of awesome sauce, and you know just how awesome awesome sauce is.
I read somewhere that Arkham City was more of a Batman simulator than a game, and I couldn’t agree more. Rocksteady has successfully, and fully, recreated the 'Batman experience' in gaming form, and if you know anything about Batman then you'll know just how much of an impressive feat this is. Batman: Arkham City is easily my favourite game of 2011, and a solid contender for Game of the Year. You owe it to yourself to play this game.
10/10 [?]
Labels: 2011, Batman, Batman: Arkham City, Joey Núñez, Review, Rocksteady Studios, Warner Bros.
Happy December, everyone! In this month of year-end retrospectives and Oscar-bait films, we here at GGTL are beginning our annual Christmas content series.
In the past, we've had countdowns, poems and various other sundries celebrating the Yuletide, and this year, every Sunday until Christmas, I'll be offering my reflections on some of my past holidays in gaming. Christmas is a special, memorable time of year for all, and I hope you enjoy my memories of winter gaming gone by.
Part I – A Very Downloadable Christmas (2009)
Sometimes the best gifts come in small packages, or even no packages at all. During this Christmas, I was staying at my parents' house for the holiday break, thankful for the reprieve from what was a very gruelling senior year of college. My old bedroom had long been given to my younger brother, but I was able to set up shop in the back room, where my parents did office work. It was cozy enough, and though the sofa-bed I was using wasn't ideal, the area was mine, and that was all that mattered.In the room was a small, 18-inch television that my step-dad used for watching his Second World War documentaries (like a typical History major), and with a little fiddling, I was able to hook up my Xbox 360 using an HDMI cable I found on Amazon for $3.50. Since it was the Christmas break, I had a good two weeks of free time to spend with myself, and in no time at all, I had set up my own little area: Xbox 360 and television, plus my computer and monitor set up on a chest I used as a foot rest. It was my own little corner, and I loved it so.
Christmas was quiet that year; we forwent the usual trips to visit relatives, and instead stayed at home. I didn't receive any new games for Christmas, but I took advantage of several Xbox Live holiday sales whilst barricaded in the office: specifically, Chair Entertainment's Shadow Complex and Stainless Games' Magic The Gathering: Duel of the Planeswalkers. I had just finished the first Assassin's Creed game before Christmas and, whilst I loved it, I was ready for something a little less grand in terms of scale. How ready I was, though, I wouldn't know until I fired up my two downloadable gems.
I had heard nothing but praise for Shadow Complex all summer, and I was excited to discover whether the game would live up to the hype. Fortunately, the game surpassed my expectations, utilising everything I loved about the Metroidvania formula (exploration-friendly environments, backtracking, item-collection, etc.), whilst excising all of the elements that I didn't (lack of direction, uneventful moment-to-moment gameplay, unintuitive exploration, etc.). Shadow Complex's two-dimensional environments were both simple and deep, letting me either explore as I wished, or follow the map screen to the objective. I never try to deliberately complete games like Shadow Complex to one-hundred percent - the over-exploration involved in finding that one last item tends to kill the experience for me - but that was just what happened during the course of my playthrough. So hungry was I for Chair's supremely satisfying platforming that I even completed all of the tutorials and challenge rooms after I had finished the main storyline.
After I finished Shadow Complex, I shifted my focus to Magic The Gathering: Duel of the Planeswalkers, another game I picked up on sale. As an avid Yu-Gi-Oh! player who dabbled with Magic during my sophomore year of high school, I loved the chance-elements and strategy of collectable card games, but lacked the financial capacity and encouraging community to ever play regularly. For the price of two-and-a-half booster packs, Duel of the Planeswalkers scratched my card-craving itch, giving me the opportunity to play against computerised opponents with fourteen different decks. Some reviewers cried foul concerning the game, due to its inability to create decks from scratch, but I appreciated the simplicity of pre-made decks and enjoyed simply diving in and playing.
Whilst I was playing my two downloadable goodies, I was using my computer to revisit two of my favourite animé series: the pulpy space opera, Outlaw Star, and the sci-fi neo-western, Trigun. Additionally, I was chewing through Stuart Hill's fantasy novel The Cry of the Icemark; hardly a challenging book, but the story was engaging, and the prose was to my liking. My winter break was heavy in escapism, but I can't say that I didn't need it; I had just completed my second of three nineteen-credit semesters, and a nice, long wallow in escapism was just what my over-tired brain was craving.
When told as a laundry list of what I accomplished, my 2009 Christmas season sounds pretty uneventful, but - truth be told - I wouldn't trade it for anything. My opportunities to do absolutely nothing are rare and far between, and to be able to relax and enjoy a trifecta of my favourite hobbies - gaming, animé-based nostalgia and imaginative, if under-taxing, fantasy books - was nothing short of memorable. More often than not, I need a holiday away from my holiday. That year, however, I got exactly what I needed: indulgence and rest, and I attribute no small part of my break's success to two of the best downloadable games I've ever played.
Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, Chair Entertainment, Christmas, Christmas Season 2011, Magic: The Gathering - Duel of the Planeswalkers, Shadow Complex, Stainless Games
Spike has rolled out its nominees for this year’s VGAs, everyone's favourite awards show based largely on what Spike thinks gamers like.
Disregarding the actual quality of the show (which, when discussing something like the VGAs, is probably for the best), this year’s nominees list looks pretty solid, one that Geoff Keighley and everyone involved can be proud of.
Since the best part of any given awards show is speculating who will win, I thought I’d run through the nominee list and give my predictions about who will walk away victorious. The VGAs aren’t intended to be a prestigious, designer-focussed event like the Academy Awards (those are the AIAS Awards), which can make them trickier to make guesses about. Still, I feel pretty confident about my choices, and if you wanted to use them as a basis for your choices in this year’s VGA pool (you guys do that too, right?), I certainly wouldn’t hold it against you.
Game of the Year
Nominees
Batman: Arkham City Warner Bros / Rocksteady StudiosThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Nintendo
Portal 2 Valve
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Sony / Naughty Dog
Predictions
Winner: The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimDark horse: Batman: Arkham City
This year’s Game of the Year nominee list is perhaps the strongest one since the VGAs’ inception, with every single title receiving at least one perfect score from a major publication, and critical love surrounding all of them. The VGAs have traditionally chosen open-world titles in the past, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion won Game of the Year back in 2005, making Skyrim a pretty safe bet. There is a chance Arkham City could knock Skyrim out, as its smaller open world and more-focussed experience have the potential to trump Skyrim's enormous, sometimes daunting one. A Wii game has never won the prize, so Zelda is likely out, and Portal 2 was released too long ago to be fresh in the mind of the VGA voters, especially in favour of heavy hitters like Skyrim and Batman. Uncharted’s huge set pieces and tight story could win the day, but Skyrim’s breadth of choice will likely be more attractive than Uncharted’s highly-scripted gameplay style.
Studio of the Year
Nominees
Bethesda Game StudiosNaughty Dog
Rocksteady Studios
Valve
Predictions
Winner: ValveDark horse: Bethesda Game Studios
Unlike the Oscars, where Best Director and Best Picture are nearly always the same film, the VGAs have never had a single game take both Game of the Year and Studio of the Year. With that in mind, I think Valve has a good shot at this year’s Studio of the Year title. Whilst not necessarily Game of the Year material when compared to Skyrim, Portal 2 was one of the best-developed titles this year, with incredible attention paid to how the player experiences the game. Coupled with Valve’s continued support for their old games and their dedication to the Steam platform, it’s inconceivable that Valve won’t get it. However, voters may take into account Bethesda’s incredible code-wizardry for cramming the entirety of Skyrim onto one disc, a feat which other huge RPGs, like Mass Effect 2 and Final Fantasy XIII, have had trouble with. Naughty Dog’s set piece control may be recognised, but many of Uncharted 3’s best moments were also seen in 2009’s Uncharted 2, making it easy for voters to say "Yes, but..." Rocksteady’s work won them Studio of the Year in 2009 for Batman: Arkham Asylum, but their jack-of-all-trades approach to their Arkham City open world seems less revolutionary this year, especially when compared to other titles.
Best Xbox 360 game
Nominees
Batman: Arkham City Warner Bros / Rocksteady StudiosForza Motorsport 4 Microsoft Studios / Turn 10 Studios
Gears of War 3 Microsoft Studios / Epic Games
Portal 2 Valve
Predictions
Winner: Batman: Arkham CityDark horse: Gears of War 3
It seems odd that Portal 2 is considered an Xbox 360 game, given that Gabe Newell has made it no secret that the PS3 is the preferred console for the title, but its clever puzzles and sculpted design make it a strong case for Best Xbox 360 game. However, the likely winner is Batman: Arkham City, with its huge open world, strong story element, and the myriad of reasons (read: collectables) included to keep gamers coming back. All things considered though, the usurper just might be Gears of War 3, with its four-player co-op and wealth of multiplayer options. Forza is out — though it’s one of the year’s top driving games, the VGAs generally ignore racing titles in favour of more action fare.
Best PS3 game
Nominees
Infamous 2 Sony / Sucker PunchKillzone 3 Sony / Guerrilla Games
LittleBigPlanet 2 Sony / Media Molecule
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Sony / Naughty Dog
Predictions
Winner: Uncharted 3: Drake’s DeceptionDark horse: LittleBigPlanet 2
Naughty Dog’s tribute to all things adventure has far too much going for it not to win Best PS3 game, though voters with good memories may favour the incredible depth presented in LittleBigPlanet 2’s creative tools. It's true that Infamous 2 is a worthy follow-up to the open-world superhero antics of the first game, but my bet is the voters will show their open-world love to other games. Killzone 3 has some chance, but doesn’t hit as high as other shooters this year.
Best Wii game
Nominees
Disney's Epic Mickey Disney Interactive / Junction Point StudiosKirby's Return to Dream Land Nintendo / Hal Laboratory
Lost In Shadow Hudson Entertainment
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Nintendo
Predictions
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordDark horse: Disney’s Epic Mickey
No contest. Perhaps the last huge title on the Wii, Skyward Sword makes good on every single promise Nintendo has made about motion controls in gaming, and unlike many of the Wii’s best titles, it’s near-impossible to consider Skyward Sword being played without them. I'm sure that most voters enjoyed Warren Spector’s take on Disney’s most valued icon, which gives Disney’s Epic Mickey a chance, however, the game was released too long ago, and was too critically-divided, all of which will most likely prevent it from taking home Best Wii game. Lost in Shadow has exceptional art direction, and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is a satisfying return to consoles for Nintendo’s pink puffball, but neither have the chops to compete with what some are calling Nintendo’s best Zelda title.
Best PC game
Nominees
Battlefield 3 Electronic Arts / DICEMinecraft Mojang
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Atari / CD Projekt
Portal 2 Valve
Predictions
Winner: MinecraftDark horse: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
This category can go one of two ways. The first way recognises one of the most graphically-impressive titles of the year, along with its distinctly PC-flavoured action and its mature, non-traditional take on the fantasy genre. The other honours perhaps the biggest breakout hit in gaming in the last five years, one that gives players nearly-endless freedom in expressing themselves creatively. I’m opting for the latter; good as the other three titles are, none of them have become the phenomenon that Minecraft has.
Best Handheld/Mobile game
Nominees
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective CapcomInfinity Blade Epic Games / Chair Entertainment
Super Mario 3D Land Nintendo
Jetpack Joyride Halfbrick Studios
Predictions
Winner: Super Mario 3D LandDark horse: Infinity Blade
Again, no contest. Super Mario 3D Land has taken even the chilliest 3DS non-fans and brought them in, providing more addictive Mario platforming, whilst making perhaps the best use of Nintendo’s much-vaunted 3D technology. Leave it to Nintendo to show everyone how it’s done. Infinity Blade may create a strong impression, based on how Chair and Epic have managed to create such high-quality graphics in the mobile space (using Unreal 3, no less), but gameplay has never been the title’s selling point. Both Ghost Trick and Jetpack Joyride are too niche for something like the VGAs.
Best Shooter
Nominees
Battlefield 3 Electronic Arts / DICECall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Activision / Infinity Ward / Sledgehammer Games
Gears of War 3 Microsoft Studios / Epic Games
Rage Bethesda Softworks / Id Software
Predictions
Winner: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Dark Horse: Rage
Infinity Ward has cranked it all the way to eleven this year with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, with World War 3 taking the spotlight in its drum-tight single-player, and its now-signature responsive shooting shines during competitive multiplayer and its two flavours of cooperative play. Battlefield 3’s weak single-player will be taken into account, no matter how good the multiplayer is, and Gears of War 3’s broad, galumphing gameplay will suffer by comparison to the lightning-fast mechanics of its competitors. Rage’s enormous game environments and imaginative art design may help to give it the edge, but Call of Duty has won in every single year it’s been nominated for an award (except 2006’s middling Call of Duty 3), and Modern Warfare 3 looks set to hang onto the throne another year.
Best Action/Adventure game
Nominees
Assassin's Creed: Revelations Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montréal et alBatman: Arkham City Warner Bros / Rocksteady Studios
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Nintendo
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Sony / Naughty Dog
Predictions
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordDark Horse: Batman: Arkham City
Of all of the VGA categories, Best Action/Adventure game is the vaguest, with past nominees including Super Mario Galaxy 2, God of War III and Dead Space. All of the previous winners have been open-world titles (Grand Theft Auto IV, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood), so it’s tempting to hedge bets that Arkham City will emerge the victor. No one does action/adventure like The Legend of Zelda, though, and it seems unlikely that Link’s latest effort will go unrewarded. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations has received less critical love than past titles, and Uncharted went down to Batman last time they met.
Best RPG
Nominees
Dark Souls Namco Bandai / From SoftwareDeus Ex: Human Revolution Square Enix / Eidos Studios – Montreal
Dragon Age II Electronic Arts / Bioware
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios
Predictions
Winner: The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimDark Horse: Dark Souls
Similar to how Wall Street used to be, Skyrim is too big to fail. From the size of the game world to the sheer amount of different play options, Skyrim is the ultimate in role-playing this year. If there’s one title with any hope to bring it down, though, it’s Dark Souls, with a deep character-building system and sprawling, dangerous game environment. Deus Ex: Human Revolution leans too close to the shooter genre to compete with such traditional RPGs, and Dragon Age II hasn’t fared wonderfully well among critics.
Best Multiplayer game
Nominees
Battlefield 3 EA / DICECoD: Modern Warfare 3 Activision / Infinity Ward / Sledgehammer Games
Gears of War 3 Microsoft Studios / Epic Games
Portal 2 Valve
Predictions
Winner: Battlefield 3Dark Horse: Portal 2
Every game in this year’s category features co-operative play, with Portal 2’s two-player puzzle-solving bringing the most unique co-op experience. However, when it comes to massive conflicts and an incredible variety of moment-to-moment gameplay, Battlefield 3 takes the cake with ease, especially if voters consider the 64-player PC version. Gears of War 3’s four-player co-op, competitive matches and one-two punch of Horde and Beast modes might tip the scale, but the VGAs skipped over the previous Gears of War game. Call of Duty hasn’t taken home a VGA in multiplayer yet, and its similarities to previous games won’t give it enough kick to win over so many other unique multiplayer experiences.
Best Individual Sports game
Nominees
Fight Night Champion EA Sports / EA CanadaTiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters EA Sports / EA Tiburon
Top Spin 4 2K Sports / 2K Czech
Virtua Tennis 4 Sega
Predictions
Winner: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The MastersDark Horse: Fight Night Champion
Best Individual Sports game tends to favour action sports titles like Shawn White Snowboarding or Tony Hawk’s Project 8, but with nary a kickflip or mute grab to be seen, it’s a bit tougher to call. Tiger Woods finally took home the prize last year after five attempts, and this year’s game adds further improvements, making it a safe choice. Fight Night Champion’s gutsy, story-driven career mode might sway votes, though, especially considering its already-solid gameplay. The VGAs have never, ever favoured tennis, and the idea that two are competing is a bit silly, regardless of how solid both titles actually are.
Best Team Sports Game
Nominees
FIFA 12 EA Sports / EA CanadaNBA 2K12 2K Sports / Visual Concepts
NHL 12 EA Sports / EA Canada
MLB '11: The Show Sony / SCE Studios San Diego
Predictions
Winner: NBA 2K12Dark Horse: NHL 12
In light of the recent troubles with the NBA 2011-2012 season, 2K Sports has given perhaps the best entry in its highly-acclaimed hoops series, and though the NBA’s Greatest mode is a hollow attempt to re-catch the Jordan Challenge lightning in a bottle, the rest is gravy, with smooth, strategic hoops action and wonderful presentation. Being an American awards ceremony, the chances that EA Sports’ new and outstanding FIFA title will win a VGA are slim, but many critics gave it positive reviews, so perhaps it’s not wise to count it out just yet. EA’s NHL series has competed with the NBA 2K series throughout the category’s history, and this year’s solid entry may just put NBA 2K12 in the penalty box. MLB ’11: The Show ranked highly, but baseball has never taken a VGA in team sports as yet.
Best Driving game
Nominees
Dirt 3 CodemastersDriver: San Francisco Ubisoft / Ubisoft Reflections
Forza Motorsport 4 Microsoft Studios / Turn 10 Studios
Need For Speed: The Run Electronic Arts / EA Black Box
Predictions
Winner: Forza Motorsport 4Dark Horse: Dirt 3
Due to an oddity during both last and this year's voting period, Gran Turismo 5 was not eligible to recieve votes in the 2010 VGAs, and seems to have been forgotten for 2011. And with GT5 out of the running, Forza Motorsport 4 has a wide-open path to secure supremacy as Best Driving game, with a deep, customisable driving experience, and nearly unrivalled options for user creativity. Dirt 3’s take on rally racing may end up stealing the throne (it did back in 2007), but it'll have an uphill battle to achieve it. Driver: San Francisco’s joyriding action might seem far too removed for voters looking for a racing experience, and Need For Speed: The Run’s Michael Bay-style take on racing will come off as a 'diet' version of Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.
Best Fighting game
Nominees
The King of Fighters XIII Atlus / SNK PlaymoreMarvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate Of Two Worlds Capcom
Mortal Kombat Warner Bros. / Netherrealm Studios
WWE All Stars THQ / THQ San Diego
Predictions
Winner: Mortal KombatDark Horse: Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Responsive controls, balanced fighting and a heaped helping of nostalgia helped Mortal Kombat to sell a metric crapload back in April, and there’s no reason to assume that these factors won’t help it to take home a VGA. If anyone has a chance, though, it’s Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, bringing gonzo action and a huge amount of fan service to the table. King of Fighters XIII is too niche for the VGAs in the face of such well-known titles, and WWE All Stars doesn’t offer a competitive-enough take on the fighting genre (see 2007, when Super Smash Bros. Brawl lost to Soul Calibur IV).
Best Motion Game
Nominees
Child of Eden Ubisoft / Q EntertainmentDance Central 2 Microsoft Studios / Harmonix
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Nintendo
The Gunstringer Microsoft Studios / Twisted Pixel
Predictions
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordDark Horse: The Gunstringer
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a fantastic game, aided in no small part by its motion controls, which turn every battle into a mini-puzzle, and give players new ways to interact with the world in ways that don’t suck even in the slightest. Child of Eden is too Japanese for the VGAs, despite Q Entertainment’s high pedigree, and Dance Central 2 seems too conventional a choice. This leaves The Gunstringer, Twisted Pixel’s quirky, surprisingly fun puppet-show shooter, with the best chance of raining on Link’s parade, but the odds aren’t in its favour.
Best Independent game
Nominees
Bastion Supergiant GamesMinecraft Mojang
Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP Capybara Games
The Binding of Isaac Edmund McMillen
Predictions
Winner: MinecraftDark Horse: Bastion
To put this in perspective, more people have played Minecraft’s pre-release builds than many fully-finished games will ever see. Minecraft is the poster-child for how to build and market a successful indie game, and has this category positively on lock. Bastion has critical acclaim behind it, Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP received awards acclaim earlier this year, and The Binding of Isaac merges deep themes with its Zelda-throwback gameplay, but all of the above thoughts on why Minecraft will win apply here.
Best Adapted videogame
Nominees
Back To The Future: The Game Telltale GamesBatman: Arkham City Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios
Captain America: Super Soldier Sega / Next Level Games
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Lucasarts / Traveller's Tales
Nominees
Winner: Batman: Arkham CityDark Horse: Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
No contest. Arkham City is one of the best licensed games ever, and the idea that it would lose to the likes of Captain America: Super Soldier is quite laughable. And, though it features excellent use of the license, it’s unlikely the VGAs will warm up to Telltale’s particular brand of adventure game in favour of Arkham City. If Lego Star Wars has a chance at all, it’s only because it’s one of the best games in its series, but at this point it’s almost wishful thinking.
Best Song in a Game
Nominees
Build That Wall (Zia’s Theme) by Darren Korb, BastionExile Vilify by The National, Portal 2
I'm Not Calling You a Liar by Florence + the Machine, Dragon Age II
Setting Sail, Coming Home (End Theme) by Darren Korb, Bastion
Want You Gone by Jonathan Coulton, Portal 2
Predictions
Winner: Want You Gone, from Portal 2Dark Horse: I’m Not Calling You a Liar, from Dragon Age II
Unlike past years, this year’s Best Song in a Game category is free of licensed music, or at least music that wasn’t produced specifically for a game, and the crop of songs is rather strong. Bastion has two killer cuts; 'Build That Wall' builds a bluesy, stark atmosphere, whilst 'Setting Sail, Coming Home' evokes the sort of feeling of finality that fits its ending theme nature, plus a cameo from the former track. Florence + the Machine saw 'I’m Not Calling You A Liar', from their debut album Lungs, repurposed by Dragon Age II composer Inon Zur for inclusion on the game’s soundtrack, with Florence’s indie sound supplemented by symphonic touches and large-sounding percussion. In my experience, though, it’s unwise to bet against Jonathan Coulton, and 'Want You Gone' is a hell of an earworm, perfectly capturing GLaDOS’s sarcasm and character, whilst providing a rollicking drum-and-bass-influenced pop sound. Having said all that, there is no precedent to the inclusion of so much original material in this category to draw conclusions from, making Best Song in a Game anyone’s contest.
Best Original Score
Nominees
Bastion Warner Bros. / Supergiant GamesBatman: Arkham City Warner Bros. / Rocksteady Studios
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Square Enix / Eidos Montréal
Portal 2 Valve
Predictions
Winner: Batman: Arkham CityDark Horse: Portal 2
Batman: Arkham City hits all of the dramatic notes that players have come to expect since Danny Elfman first gave the dark knight a theme in 1989, with a healthy dose of electronic undertones. By contrast, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is almost entirely electronic, which fits well with its gameplay themes. Bastion’s guitar-driven score matches its wanderer motif to a tee, as does Portal 2’s blip-bloopy take on its abandoned science facilities. There’s very little through-line between past Best Original Score winners, except perhaps a touch of 'biggest atmosphere wins', making Arkham City a reasonably safe choice.
Best Graphics
Nominees
Batman: Arkham City Warner Bros. / Rocksteady StudiosL.A. Noire Rockstar Games / Team Bondi
Rage Bethesda Softworks / id Software
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Sony / Naughty Dog
Predictions
Winner: RageDark Horse: L.A. Noire
Rage looks so good, it needed two discs to play on the Xbox 360. From its art direction to its buttery-smooth presentation, Rage is an absolute graphical beast, especially on consoles. If anyone can compete, though, it’s Rockstar’s L.A. Noire, with its exceptional facial animation technology that also spreads the experience across multiple discs on Microsoft's console. Compared to these two, Uncharted 3 and Arkham City’s graphical improvements are only subtle, and much less likely to capture the imagination of voters than their other competitors.
Best Performance by a Human Male
Nominees
J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson, Portal 2Mark Hamill as The Joker, Batman: Arkham City
Nolan North as Nathan Drake, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Stephen Merchant as Wheatley, Portal 2
Predictions
Winner: Mark HamillDark Horse: Stephen Marchant
Arkham City is ostensibly Mark Hamill’s last stint as The Joker, and if this is true, he picked a hell of a high note to go out on, with a masterfully-voiced performance balancing equal notes comic and menace. The Joker also has the advantage of being a known role, which sometimes helps at the VGAs. Strong, too, is Stephen Merchant’s Wheatley, whose loose, almost improvisational delivery makes Wheatley’s performance sound alarmingly personal. J.K. Simmons’ Cave Johnson is a hoot, but doesn’t have enough time to shine in the game compared to Wheatley, and Nolan North’s umpteenth (though still enjoyable) performance as Nathan Drake will likely not be as noteworthy as the other nominees. That said, the Best Performance by a Human Male award last year was a set-up to a horrific comedy routine as Neal Patrick Harris argued with himself, so we’ll see if Spike plays it 'for real' this time.
Best Performance by a Human Female
Nominees
Claudia Black as Chloe Frazer, Uncharted 3: Drake’s DeceptionEllen Mclain as GLaDOS, Portal 2
Emily Rose as Elena Fisher, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, Batman: Arkham City
Predictions
Winner: Ellen McLainDark Horse: Emily Rose
Unlike the male category, Human Female was treated as a legitimate award last year, with Tricia Helfer winning for her performance as Sarah Kerrigan in StarCraft II. Emily Rose’s Elena Fisher covered many different emotional notes, with her best one being a quiet, intimate moment with Drake near the end of the second act, and her presence both in the game and as one of gaming’s strongest female characters are enough to make her a consideration. When it comes to memorable female roles, though, few can top the unsettlingly sarcastic GLaDOS, who has practically become the face of the Portal series. Tara Strong’s filling-in for Arleen Sorkin is note-perfect, though perhaps a little melodramatic (which actually suits the character well), and Claudia Black’s Chloe gets shuttled off too quickly to make a lasting impression.
Best Downloadable game
Nominees
Bastion Warner Bros. / Supergiant GamesInsanely Twisted Shadow Planet Microsoft Studios / Fuelcell Games
Stacking THQ / Double Fine
Iron Brigade (previously Trenched) Microsoft Studios / Double Fine
Predictions
Winner: BastionDark Horse: Stacking
We really liked Bastion when we reviewed it this year, and newcomer Supergiant Games’ debut title’s inventive art and narrative direction should help it to take home a VGA. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet boasted some of the most unique art of the year, but its basic (though still fun) Metroidvania design was less praised by critics. Trenched - recently renamed Iron Brigade - offered a unique, more action-oriented approach to tower-defence games, but was critically mixed. Double Fine’s other title, Stacking, has perhaps the other biggest chance to win Best Downloadable game, with a lengthy storyline, charming old-timey art direction and diabolically clever point-and-click adventure gameplay.
Best DLC
Nominees
Old World Blues for Fallout: New Vegas - BethesdaArrival for Mass Effect 2 - EA
Freddy Krueger for Mortal Kombat - Warner Bros.
Peer Review for Portal 2 - Valve
Predictions
Winner: Arrival for Mass Effect 2Dark Horse: Old World Blues for Fallout: New Vegas
It is rare that a piece of DLC expands on a game’s single player mode, and rarer still is one that succeeds as well as Arrival, which not only acts as a satisfying chunk of standalone content, but also helps to bridge the gap between the current title and its sequel. Peer Review was free, but often lacks the magic of Portal 2’s initial campaign, and Mortal Kombat’s Freddy Krueger was about as close to fighting game horse armour as one could get. Old World Blues adds a quirky, 1950’s B-picture element to Fallout: New Vegas’ campaign, but its episodic nature could compare unfavourably to Arrival’s near-essential playing status.
Finally, after eight years, the VGAs have a nominee list that is one hundred percent respectable, with nary a 50 Cent: Bulletproof-calibre gaffe in sight. If Spike can get its collective hormones in order, without trying to pander to its previous notions of what ‘gamers’ will want to watch, this may well be the first year that watching the VGAs was actually worth my time.
The Spike Video Game Awards air live on Saturday, 10 December on Spike, MTV2 and Spike.com at 8:00pm EST.
Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, Awards, Feature, Spike, VGAs, VGAs 2011
The holidays are finally here, and with that comes the requisite avalanche of food and tsunami of triple-A titles that you'll never have enough time to finish.
In honour of all of the edibles you're probably wasting, we at Gamer's Guide to Life want to recognise some of our favourite foodstuffs in video games. What better way to enjoy holiday nourishment than analysing the digital equivalent?
It may never have crossed your mind, but food is an important part of videogame design. Much like real life, without proper sustenance our avatars would shrivel up and disintegrate into the uncaring winds of the digital world. In fact, videogame characters would simply respawn, but that's beside the point. So, whilst you're diving deep into your household delicacies, take a moment with me to explore the food integration in these nine video games.
Energy tank
Found in: Mega Man
Believability: 9/10
The Mega Man games are known for their unforgiving difficulty, slamming music and, of course, Energy Tanks. The Energy Tank is basically your 'get out of jail free' card, as it refreshes your health before you become an unrecognisable hunk made formerly of man and machinery. Usually, they're found in hard-to-reach areas and secret passageways, but occasionally you'll get a lucky drop from a normal foe; when this happens, the accepted reaction is to joyfully scream like a small schoolgirl (if a girl is playing, the result is, instead, a manly football shout).
Mega Man is a dude made of lots of stuff. We don't know exactly what makes him tick, or what could be lurking underneath the lid of those rare E-tanks. Really, it could just be a gob of oil, Sour Patch Kids, or something weirder still. Whatever lightning-infused shock plasma liquid he throws down his gullet works, though, and I don't think anyone has any reason to argue.
Mushrooms
Found in: Super Mario
Believability: 7/10
There isn't a single Super Mario game that doesn't have the famed mushroom shuffling about in its digital depths. It was fairly obvious that this item would make it to the final list, so I'll make this as terse as possible. How does a mushroom make somebody grow? That's another debate entirely, and the answer is surely lying within another castle, but the real question you should be asking is how does each mushroom affect Mario? Green ones give him another go at life and the red ones make him healthier (in other words, bigger). That's how it works in Mario-land.
If you think about it, Mario doesn't have it that bad. Mushrooms are really very nice when sautéed with various ingredients and they can literally go with anything if you love them that much. Mario fetches these things out of boxes in all sorts of crazy environments, and fortunately for him mushrooms can grow practically anywhere. As for Mario getting bigger or gaining another life due to their properties, mushrooms certainly aren't bad for you, so I suppose they could aid in your growth. As far as the extra life goes, though.
Bananas
Found in: Donkey Kong Country
Believability: 8/10
Bananas aren't exclusively found in the Donkey Kong Country series, but they're certainly a heavy focus. Whilst you might question how bananas float of their own accord, collecting one hundred of the potassium-enriched fruits conjures up a free guy out of nowhere. Don't ask how it works, though; I'm a little more concerned about collecting them from industrial complexes, swamps and underwater.
The bottom line is that bananas are good for you, and the emphasis on collecting them in Donkey Kong Country shows that quite clearly. It might make little sense as to why a horde of creatures are after a bunch of bananas, but if Donkey and company were smart they'd just let the Kremlings have them. Why? Well, I'm fairly certain that ingesting bananas found scattered about an oil plant can't have any positive effects on you.
Assorted foodstuffs
Found in: The Elder Scrolls
Believability: 5/10
Skyrim has taken over the lives of the weak-willed here at Gamer's Guide to Life.com, but we who have somehow wrested ourselves away from its confining grasp tell of its plethora of assorted foodstuffs. Yes, every Elder Scrolls game contains a vast variety of food items, whether it be standard cabbage, carrots or a simple baked potato. The magic of this food presents itself, though, when you find yourself in a sticky situation. Defying the laws of everything, you can effectively stop time and gorge yourself, since each piece of food gives you up to one or two health points back without even having to leave the inventory screen. What does this mean? Well, that Black Knight who lifted his two-handed blade of killing to strike the final blow will instead find a refreshed and replenished adventurer before him.
Whilst there are people out there who make a living on the back of downing hot dogs and other foods within twelve nanoseconds, it's a little odd to see someone devour their entire collection of paraphernalia as their life flashes before their eyes. I mean, I have nothing against carrots or delicious baked potatoes, but something has to give. Unless it was recently discovered that cabbage has an alien, regenerative power, I'm fairly certain that an iron arrow impaling your body is a large concern. Fairly.
Pot roast and chicken
Found in: Castlevania
Believability: 2/10
There's little as enticing as a nicely-roasted chicken awaiting your arrival after a hard day of vampire-slaying. We complain about rude customers, inefficient co-workers or leaving work five minutes late, but how do you think the Belmont clan feels? Cursed to hold Dracula in perpetual check, these guys have to traverse demon-infested castles riddled with entire walls of spikes and other things that want to kill them. Injury is inevitable at this point, and what better way to heal wounds than to... eat a pot roast?
Assaulting a fortress of demonry is one thing, but asking to be healed by a chicken or a pot roast is something different entirely. First, it isn't like a ghost or some other angry, supernatural beastie is going to purposely drop a nice, fully-cooked chicken for you. Even if that does somehow happen (and it does, surprisingly often), the other way to find this miracle meat is inside the castle walls. That's right, you actually have to destroy the dilapidated remains of a castle wall to realise the possibility of finding a delicious chicken for you to devour. I don't know about you, but if I were trying to kill someone trespassing in my castle, I wouldn't be leaving culinary wonders in my damned walls.
Leaves and spray health
Found in: Resident Evil
Believability: 4/10
The Resident Evil games boast an impressive roster of murderous nasties. With zombie-sharks, -dogs and mutated beasts of varied poor dispositions all vying for a stake in your demise, healing is an absolute necessity. Despite how bad the injury looks or just how diseased the creature was that bit you, herbal leaves will always - and I mean always - do the trick. Crush 'em up, throw them into your stomach, and you're ready for another round of zombie-related injury. It makes about as much sense as a healing spray.
I'm no herbal expert, but I do know that there are some miraculous plants out there. However, I don't think these plants are dropped by a mutilated zombie, and I don't think they're going to be effective in treating several gunshot wounds and a bite to the neck. But I've been wrong before.
Meat buns
Found in: Dynasty Warriors
Believability: 3/10
What do you do when a thousand warriors stand in the way of you and your goal? The choice is obvious if you're playing any kind of Dynasty Warriors game. Killing hundreds of thousands of soldiers is a rough business, though, and even the most stalwart of warriors will eventually suffer from fatigue and injury. Enter the 'meat bun'. Whilst you might indeed be being chased by a horde of angry peons with pikes, you can easily heal those injuries instantaneously by ingesting one of these magical meat buns. Nor does it matter that you found it in a vase; just eat it.
Glorious as it must be to vanquish a thousand foes without ever breaking a sweat, that's easier for me to grasp than a meat bun healing all your wounds in an instant. At least, though, they had the decency to put the food in pots for the soldiers.
Assorted wildlife
Found in: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Believability: 10/10
Probably the most plausible of the bunch, MGS3 thrusts Snake into the wilderness, where he must prey on local fauna in order to survive. I don't know about you, but eating a spider just to get through it all sounds tough. No thwacking a wall to discover a six-course banquet here; Snake's the real deal.
Fruit and ghosts
Found in: Pac-Man
Believability: 4/10
The classic circular character gobbles away at all sorts of things, including whatever those energy pebbles are, but what really gets him going is the various fruit bouncing about the map. Fruits that somehow have the ability to move downright scares me, but at least Pac-Man follows Donkey Kong's lead and understands what's good for him. That is, until he goes berserk and starts attacking the ghosts floating around his domain. I'm right there with you, Pac-Man; I don't want people trespassing on my property either, but to eat them?
The fruit stuff is perfectly fine, as it helps maintain a healthy lifestyle for the little man. However, eating ghosts? Not so much. How does that even work? You know, let's just forget about the whole thing.
Bonus: Souls
Found in: Soul Reaver
Believability: 0/10
Raziel, you can't just go around killing people and using their souls as nourishment. I mean, there are rules that need considering. Try something normal for once. Grab a bowl of cereal or someth... woah, woah, woah! Get away you devil demon! You can't...
Yeah, right.
Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, Christmas Season 2011, Feature
It's over. It's finished, man. It's done - that's it.
Skyrim and Assassin's Creed are out, and with them arrive the bitterly cold winds of change; we stand on the brink of 2012, a brand new year brimming with adventure and intrigue. And another Call of Duty. With Star Wars: The Old Republic and Rocksmith bringing up the rear and probably being too late to be included in most Game Of The Year lists, you can turn your mind back to a year that saw Libya Liberated, Osama Obama-nated, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 single-handedly ruin everything I hold dear.
Unless Postal III pulls a stunner (spoiler: it won't), that's pretty much it for 2011, so we're compiling the most notable games you've played over the past twelve months and shamelessly judging them based on our incredibly poor recollections. Portal 2 is the one about the Italian plumber, right? Good.
Note: if you can't tell by now, the following list isn't to be taken very seriously.
Dead Space 2
It was kind of like Dead Space, except...Nope. I've got nothing. Basically, you ran about and shot zombie-alien things and there was a lot of blood. While it's hardly original, Dead Space 2 was actually a resounding success; the dismemberment was a grotesquely gleeful as ever, the characters were believable and well-rounded, and the story had enough hooks and twists to keep you blasting on. It's going to take a lot longer than a year for us to forget that needle-to-eye scene.
Why it might win GOTY:
A more refined, polished Dead Space that still haunts our dreams, the buckets of atmosphere and flashy set-pieces (complete with severed baby faces) make it a heart-stopping thriller.Why it might not win GOTY:
The multiplayer was a giant alien sack of balls, and it came out in January. January. I'm pretty sure the British Empire was still intact back then.Dragon Age II
You were called Hawke. Now, call me biased, but that's basically the best name in the world. If I could come up with a fake name, it would be Hawke. Luckily, I don't have to. I'm one of the lucky ones. The chosen ones.
Oh, the game? I don't know. I think it had something about violence in it, I forget...
Why it might win GOTY:
Building on the success of the original, what could possibly go wrong?Why it might not win GOTY:
Quite a lot. Fans were perturbed, to use on overly fancy word, at the shoddy control system, the confusing story and general lack of ingenuity or originality. Plus, we have Skyrim now. Dragon Age II can only look on in wonder.Homefront
Ha! Just kidding.
Crysis 2
Probably the most visually impressive game on this list - so long as you've got a high-end PC. As this PC poster boy shifted onto the consoles, many worried the Nanosuit would be dumbed down; and while the set-pieces were epic, the story exciting, and the graphics one-of-a-kind, the series had lost some of its charm; no longer were we allowed to wreak havoc in a sandbox paradise, but instead tied down in a tightly scripted, linear, shoot-em-up.
Why it might win GOTY:
It's got the looks. When you boil it down, Crysis 2 is basically an entire series based upon being pixel-perfect, and as shallow as that is; cor. Look at them explosions!Why it might not win GOTY:
The stealth mechanics are to fiddly and slippery to be a long-term strategy, and the straight-up-shooting is just a bit bland. Crysis 2 might be a jack of all trades, but a master of none.Portal 2
It was actually funny. Which surprised me - the original Portal was so fleeting, experimental and unexpected that it took everyone by surprise and was allowed to be itself. But when shoved on a standalone stage and told to perform for ten hours, there was a worry that GLADoS would lose her charm, the mechanics would become stale, and it would all be a little bit disappointing. But with the excellent Merchant at the helm, Portal 2 managed to be legitimately hilarious (with as little nerd-humour as possible) and keep a strong pace. Wait - did someone say pace?
Why it might win GOTY:
Cute, funny and thought-provoking, with a solid co-op mode and tonnes of little secrets. There's not another game as unique as Portal 2 out there.Why it might not win GOTY:
If you pushed through the campaign in a matter of days, the endless portal-shooting and gel-jumping do start to wear thin. Also, it might not be the best critique of a game, but...it's just not Portal 1, is it?L.A. Noire
Hang on - did I say there wasn't a unique game like Portal 2 out there? Excuse me - I must have forgotten about the game where you solve crimes around a perfectly-recreated 1940s Los Angeles. And accuse old ladies of being killers. L.A. Noire made up for what it lacked in freedom with a mature, developed plot, involving some superbly crafted characters, rich dialogue, and a whole lot of picking up cigarette packets. And drawing. And racism.
Why it might win GOTY:
It's a Rockstar game.Why it might not win GOTY:
It's a Rockstar game shrouded in modern-day slavery court-cases. And did Cole Phelps put on a flamethrower at the end of the game? Like, for real?Infamous 2
While a lot of games on this list are criticised for the fact they lose the charm of their predecessor, Infamous 2 is the exception. It's messy and repetitive and shoddy and slightly creepy (why the hell is this city so quiet?!), but it's such a beautiful game when it all comes together. The progression, the powers, the freedom of movement and the powerful-as-a-lighting-storm ending; it may not be perfect, but it sure as hell tries.
Why it might win GOTY:
It should win just for this scene only. (Big spoiler)Why it might not win GOTY:
While they're easy to forgive, you can't quite overlook the plethora of AI issues, graphical slip-ups, and repetitive missions forever.Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I never asked for this.
Forza Motorsport 4
Since Gran Turismo 6 won't come out until we all get hovercars and the game becomes outdated before its even released, Forza Motorsport 4 is left to hold high the torch of virtual racing. And fanboyism. It's beautiful, it's fast, and it's flashy.
Why it might win GOTY:
Enough simulation to be realistic, but enough arcade to be masses of fun.Why it might not win GOTY:
Racing games never win Game Of The Year. Ever.Battlefield 3
64 players tearing the French Metro to shreds, bombing it across the crisp blue skies of the Caspian Boarder and commanding tanks in the dusty plains of Iran? Forget the rubbish single-player; Battlefield 3 is all about the multiplayer, and with a slew of grand maps, an endless array of weaponry, and a multiplayer shooter that's NOT Call of Duty, Battlefield 3 has a real shout.
Why it might win GOTY:
It's big, loud and a visual stunner. EA's plugged everything they've got into making this a real winner, and they'll be livid if it doesn't come out on top.Why it might not win GOTY:
The game is certainly not without its problems, with countless issues abound on forums everywhere. These things mount up, y'know.Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Serious undertones of paedophilia. That's what I remember most about Uncharted 3; you're a ten-year-old orphan getting chased around by an old man with a moustache. I think there was a lot of other stuff about spiders and adventure and treasure, but I basically zoned out after that and expect Chris Hansen to turn up at my doorstep any minute.
Why it might win GOTY:
As someone who thinks Uncharted 2 was massively overrated, Drake's Deception pumped a lot of my faith back into the series - it's got swagger, ambition and oomph. And when you're reduced to using onomatopoeia to describe a video game, you know you've got something special.Why it might not win GOTY:
While it's the strongest first two-thirds of any Uncharted yet, it pulls its punches at the end - there's no big revelation or seismic shift for the series, but just another 'sunset and banter' fade-out.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Why it might win GOTY:
It's a brand new Call of Duty!Why it might not win GOTY:
It's exactly like Call Of Duty 4. Again.The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I'm not even going to talk about the game here. Instead, I'm going to ask you to look at Dead End Thrills. You'll see why.
Driver: San Francisco
Why it might win GOTY:
Best interracial back-and-forth of 2011.There you have it folks. We'll know soon enough which of these games will come out on top, in the meantime, troll us below with your picks.
Labels: 2011, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Crysis 2, Dead Space 2, Dragon Age II, Driver, Forza Motorsport 4, Game of the year, Homefront, L.A. Noire, Portal 2, Skyrim, Uncharted 3
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