So now that every single game worth owning this year is out….
Originally published at shanefitzsimmons.com. You can comment here or there.
This has been one insane year for gaming. At least a dozen extremely anticipated games have come out this year, most of them in the past two months. With Left 4 Dead out today, I can’t think of a single game coming out after this that’s actually worth owning. This is a good thing, and my wallet plans on thanking me, but not until I buy a second copy of Left 4 Dead for myself (I already have the PC version but I’m buying the 360 version) and a third copy for Colin (his birthday’s next week). But after that, my bank account will get a break.
There are probably a couple of games you might be thinking of that won’t be on my list of impressions below that maybe should be. Games like Fable 2. Well, the reason for this is pretty simple: Those games aren’t worth owning. Sorry, it is what it is! Let’s move on….
Mirror’s Edge: This is the game loosely based on Parkour, but only in spirit and far less so in technique, I think. I mean, the game lets you pull off some pretty impressive slides and jumps and stuff, but I don’t really feel like that big of a badass when I’m doing it. It is cool though, and it’s pretty fun. This is a first person shooter that almost never uses guns, and only slightly more frequently actually has you doing battle. Most of the time you’re just running an obstacle course through and on top of buildings. It’s very linear, though you can come up with multiple ways to get to the same point, but this doesn’t make it feel any less linear. It’s mostly just a bunch of jumping puzzles, like in oldschool Nintendo days, except it’s in 3D and much flashier. The controls aren’t the most responsive either, which definitely adds to the level of frustration, though your friends will probably just tell you that you suck when you explain this to them. Oh well. It’s a good game. Not a must buy, but a good game all the same.
Fallout 3: This game is a spin-off trying to pretend to be a direct sequel to the best cRPG franchise ever created. Fallout 1 and 2 still stand as my all-time favorite RPG’s ever, and this game doesn’t really do much to change my position on it. That said, this game is very, very good, and is definitely a must buy. If you’ve played Oblivion, then you’ve played Fallout 3 already, and if you hated Oblivion there’s no reason to think that you’ll like this game any better. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the previous Fallouts. If you liked them, there’s absolutely no reason to think you’d like fallout 3, and if you hated them, you still might love Fallout 3. The writing is shit compared to the previous games, but this is because Bethesda, the people behind Oblivion, bought the rights to the Fallout franchise from Interplay, so they weren’t the original people to work on it. They do a pretty good job of making the world seem bleak and there are times that the game definitely feels like it’s nailed the spirit of the previous games down, but it never even comes close to reaching their greatness, it does come close to reaching Oblivion’s greatness, but falls short in many ways.
First of all, Fallout 3 seems to lack a point. The developers seemingly have put a lot of work into building this world and trying to make it feel like the Fallouts of old, but they never fleshed these areas out or given point or purpose to any of it. It all just sort of is what it is, almost like it’s been built specifically for you, which it has, but part of the illusion is supposed to cover that shit up.
Now I’m bitching a lot, but Fallout 3 really is a great game. I wish they’d put more work into it to make it as deep as Oblivion, and I wish they’d have hired better writers to make the dialogue and story better, but it’s still a very worthwhile game and a must buy for anyone who likes, well, any type of games.
Gears of War 2: By far the best looking game I’ve ever played. It’s everything the first game was, but more Epic (hahaha). I can’t really think of anything specific to say about it. It’s a third-person shooter, and you really need to play it co-op over an internet connection with a friend. That’s how I’m doing it and it’s spectacular this way. The developers really do a good job of making the experience unique for both players, as you’ll frequently be split up, such as being put on two separate building roofs, but you’ll still be able to affect and help each other. It’s a very well designed, and beautiful game, and should be a must buy for anyone who likes shooters. The multiplayer game Hoarde is kind of a waste of time though.
Left 4 Dead: This game just came out today, so I haven’t played it yet. I have played the demo, which was good, but not great. My anticipation for this game is probably the biggest of all the games on this list, so I suppose it’s fitting that it came out last. It’s a zombie horror/action shooter made by the people who made Half-Life and Team Fortress 2. It’s very polished and spectacular from what I’ve heard, which is standard of games made by the company Valve. A must buy for everyone.
Saints Row 2: This game is like Grand Theft Auto IV, except always fun. Grand Theft Auto IV was kind of a big disappointment to me, despite still being awesome. This game is mindless fun, and has absolutely no point, but that’s its brilliance. You’ll never have more fun doing basically nothing in a game. And you can play it co-op, and the whole world is open to you when you do so, which is something GTA IV sadly lacks. It’s a must buy if you have friends you can play co-op with. If you don’t have that the game loses a lot of its value, but it’s still better than GTA IV, if you ask me.
STALKER: Clear Sky: Buggy, more focus is put on action, and despite the significant upgrades to the engine and graphics it is somehow more buggy than the first, and lacks the spectacularly unique atmosphere of the first. It’s not completely worthless, and I’m sure I’ll go back and try to play it again at some point, but it’s at the bottom of my list. I’ll probably finish GTAIV before I finish this one.
Dead Space: Good game. It’s a third person shooter that’s a science fiction/horror game. It’s not terribly unique, though it does have a couple of unique mechanics associated with it, such as requiring you to blow off the limbs of your opponents to kill them, rather than simply shooting them in the head or torso repeatedly (though that will also work, it takes significantly longer). It’s everything DOOM III should have been and more.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: This is an okay game. Everybody’s masturbating to the story, and while it’s definitely a step up from the prequels, it’s pretty basic and is probably a lot more impressive to the fanboys who prematurely blow their wad every time a new Star Wars anything comes out. I enjoyed it, and I beat it, but it’s short, unimpressive, and forgettable.
Braid: This is a really fun game out for XBOX LIVE! It’s like 15 bucks I think, and definitely worth it. Some people like it a lot more than me, but I think it’s a great game when you play it, but becomes very forgettable very quickly. Or at least that’s been my experience with it.
Crysis Warhead: This is a semi-sequel, semi-add-on to the original Crysis. It’s basically identical to Crysis except it gives you the 20+ hours of gameplay Crysis did in about 4-5 hours. Almost everything you did in Crysis you’ll do in Crysis Warhead, it just won’t last nearly as long. Seriously, I think I was running around in the jungle in the original Crysis for 15 hours before the aliens turned everything into snow. In Crysis Warhead I was in the jungle for maybe 45 minutes before this happened, and the rest of the game was basically covered in ice after this. It was entertaining, and easily finishable, which is probably its best quality. It’s not a very spectacular game, but it’s over so fast you don’t really have time to notice. If you can find it cheap, and you liked the original, get it, otherwise, you can pass and won’t be missing out on anything.
Grand Theft Auto IV: How this game got a perfect score on so many review sites is beyond me. It’s good, not great, at best. There’s less to do in this game than there was in San Andreas by a long shot, and while I like the story, I hate having to babysit all of your friendly NPC’s, who call all too frequently. I could make a huge post about the problems with this game, but I think the bulk of my disappointment comes from how much anticipation there was for this game, and how I just don’t feel like it lived up to most of it.