I’ve been posting my Best Records of The Year for over a decade now. While 2012 was the weakest year in…well…over a decade, it still had some good stuff. So, in continuing the trend of listing the best of the best, I’ve given the coveted Album Of The Year title to Vintersorg’s Orkan. Read the whole article here.
I have high expectations for 2013, as I’ve already stated. However, until then, I’ll still have last year’s Vintersorg, Borknagar, Alcest and Module.
I had to cancel my GameFly subscription but I hope to re-start soon and begin playing all the new stuff set for 2013. 2012 was a good year for games, mostly thanks to GameFly! Now, with new hardware to come, and many titles not yet announced, this is clearly incomplete. AND, since I don’t have a 3DS or a Wii U, there are actually more things I’d like. However, we’ll keep it brief. Let’s see what’s coming this year, and, like my Metal Release List, it’ll be followed by a number (out of 10) ranking my excitement level. Kalmah’s new record on that list was clearly an 11!
02/12 – Aliens: Colonial Marines (10)
03/05 – Castlevania Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate (0 – No 3DS :()
03/12 – God Of War: Ascension (7 – b/c I don’t care about multiplayer)
03/19 – Gears Of War: Judgement (7 – Dunno why so low!)
03/26 – Army Of Two: Devil’s Cartel (8 – fun co-op!)
05/07 – The Last Of Us (10 – Naughty Dog!)
09/17 – Grand Theft Auto V (8)
No Date/Not Announced Yet
??/?? – Ys: Memories Of Celceta (10!)
??/?? – Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow 2 (8)
??/?? – The Walking Dead – Season 2 (10!)
Hardware
??/?? – Playstation 4 (10) – I love the PS1/2/3
??/?? – Xbox720 (9) – Love hardware, not MS as much tho!
There are some high-profile games not on my list – guess I just don’t care that much about them! Looking like a good year, not a great year…not yet. We’ll see how it goes!
As I work on my Best of 2012 article, I can tell last year was a weak year for metal. In looking around, it was evident that 2013 would crush last year’s offerings with an incredible listing of albums to come. In the very least, there’s a new Kalmah which alone should do the trick. However, I’m also terribly excited about a new October Tide and I’m curious about the Soilwork double album. And..Skeletonwitch is in the studio? Lantlôs?!?! Fuck yeah! So…let’s see what’s coming. Better than 2012? It has to be! What follows is the Date/Release/How Excited I Am (out of 10).
Out! – Helloween – Straight Out Of Hell (It’s quite good!)
02/27 – Soilwork – The Living Infinite (8)
03/19 – Anthrax – Anthems (6)
03/22 – Hypocrisy – End Of Disclosure (6)
03/25 – October Tide – Tunnel Of No Light (10)
03/25 – Finntroll – Blodsvept (6)
04/19 – Amorphis – Circle (9)
04/?? – Summoning – Old Mornings Dawn (9)
05/28 – Dark Tranquillity – Construct (7)
06/?? – The Black Dahlia Murder – Everblack (8)
09/?? – Solefald – Kosmopolis (6)
??/?? – Kalmah – ? (11)
??/?? – Lantlôs – Melting Sun (10)
??/?? – Skeletonwitch – ? (10)
??/?? – Amon Amarth – ? (8)
??/?? – My Dying Bride – The Manuscript (EP) (8)
??/?? – Children Of Bodom – ? (7)
??/?? – Down – Down IV Part II (5)
??/?? – Megadeth – Don’t really care (5)
I added a few I’m not too excited about…but still…this should be a pretty good year! Imagine Moonsorrow announced a new album too? Oh….just imagine!!!
After a few rough weeks, I’m glad to be back posting stuff here, even if no one reads this blog. I was thinking about the games I’ve completed this year and thought I’d write a few notes about them. How many have I finished? Well, these should be broken down into retail games and PSN games. Don’t think I got anything new on the 360, so that’s PSN and not XBL.
GameFly tells me I’ve rented the following this year:
Not a bad list and it really justifies the GameFly fee, seeing as how I’d not have purchased most of those. Of the 10 titles GF sent me over the course of 8 months, I only completed 4. But that’s not really bad seeing as how SFxT can’t truly be finished and my PS3 died before I could complete the fun Sniper Elite.
In addition, my friend and I love coop games, but both Ghost Recon and Binary Domain aren’t what we’re looking for (gotta pay for one, no campaign coop in the other), so I wouldn’t count either of those.
This leaves F.E.A.R. 3 which, by all measures, was pretty much crap. SSX just was absurd and I didn’t play that long before shipping that one back. It lost all the charm the old games had. Now, Skyrim is a big one, and I quite enjoyed what I played but I have yet to complete the campaign despite dumping scores of hours into it.
The games that I count are Rayman Origins which was a pleasurable platformer replete with collectibles and tons of replay value. Had I not been on vacation in the middle of nowhere (which is why I got the game to begin with, really), I would’ve written more about it. The handheld Uncharted was largely a success. In fact, it’s the best-looking handheld game I’ve ever played and it felt like Uncharted, itself a success!
Finally we have Portal 2. I’ve said it before and won’t hesitate to repeat it – Portal 2 is one of the most brilliant achievements in gaming history. Ingenious and clever and…well, no reason to do this again.
Now to PSN games. It looks like I’ve played the following this year:
I figured I must’ve beaten more than that…but I guess not. I’ve already professed my love for that game. As for Journey, I wasn’t entirely sure what I thought of it. The Little Riddle game was something fun to play with my wife, and The Walking Dead games…well, just read below. Playing through the three episodes was one of the of the most enticing gaming experiences ever.
I played, but haven’t finished:
I’d like to get back to Rochard. Batman…I didn’t love that as much as everyone suggested I would.
Verdict: So…let’s face it…the reason for this article was to figure out what the best game was that I completed. Well, first off, Borderlands 2 comes out in two weeks and Resident Evil 6 in four. Those could very well be high up on my list, but from what I’ve done so far, Uncharted, The Walking Dead were the highlights. Rayman and Outland were fun, visually-impressive titles, but Portal 2 was the best.
Let’s see how BL2 and RE6 fare against such a juggernaut!
I love me some Uncharted. I’ll go as far as to say it’s the best game this generation. It helps that I prefer 3rd person games. But there’s no disputing the level of care the four UC games have been given. The settings, voice acting, stories and gameplay are all polished and pristine.
When Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception came out in November, I was disappointed. It did a lot right, let’s clear the air there. However, when looking at its single-player experience, it was inferior to UC2. That’s not a surprise, really, as UC2 is the aforementioned best game of this generation. There was something more though…something more disappointing than the fact the game was disappointing. It failed to move forward in a lot of ways. It failed to make me care.
So, as I started to play Golden Abyss, I knew we were looking at a side entry into the series. They’re never as good. And, once again, to be clear, it is less grand in several ways.
The visuals are clearly not as fantastic as the third game. The controls are lacking both a second pair of shoulders and the clicking of L3/R3, that’s 4 buttons lost. This makes reloading more cumbersome and you cannot zoom in through most gun scopes. The touch-screen controls are totally unnecessary and add zero to the game’s value. And there are never as many enemies on screen as on the consoles, though the endless hordes towards the end of UC3 was apparently one of the only picking points to its stellar scores.
Spoilers To Come BTW!
With those basics out in the open, it appears (about 3/4 of the way through the game) Golden Abyss is better in almost every other way. The story in 3 may have been large, but like I mentioned, I didn’t care about Marlowe and Talbot. Cutter was a grunt and Chloe and Elena were barely in the game. I was really disappointed in the cast and settings of UC3. Right from the get-go, I felt passionate about Dante. He was slimy and deceitful from the outset and I disliked him greatly. However, you are tied with him, which makes you hate him more. Chase started out just so-so, but as I progressed, I actually cared about her search for her grandfather. The Chase/Nate chemistry is there too, replete with his trademark charm and tongue-in-cheek comments. Then…Sully!!! I really didn’t know he’d be in the game. His appearance is perfect. There is a ton of dialogue between him and Drake, the camaraderie and history is blatant. There are jokes about ‘that time when…’ and Nate picks on Sully’s age. It’s all just like it should be. It has virtually everything UC3 has.
We’re talking about a handheld game that is, through its story and gameplay just as good if not better than the huge-budget console brother! I am totally digging Golden Abyss. It is flawed but IMO not as flawed as UC3 was. It’s exciting and delivers a great story and explosive moments. Where UC3 gave me the ‘been-there, done-that’ feeling, this feels fresh and exciting. You may disagree with one being better than the other, but it’s hard to deny this is one of the biggest handheld adventures ever. I’d, once again, go as far as to say it’s the best portable game I’ve ever played. And I’m not even done yet! And, I’ve already thought about subsequent playthroughs.
I figured I’d share some more pics. I love the screenshot option and these sure are beauts.
I’ve got my sexy PSVita and have been enjoying it for quick, short games. My busy schedule lately hasn’t allowed for much dedicated time, but it is serving its purpose. That’s what I love about handhelds and the Vita has a lot of positives. The web browser, its multitasking capabilities allows me to pause and run other programs and I love that I can read messages from friends on either my PS3 or my Vita. However, it’s clear Sony launched this thing without it running at its full ability. There are some very basic things that will be added; I’m just not too patient about it. The fact is, these things should be there already. The hardware is fantastic. Like it’s PS3 brother, who launched without a very good store integration, no in-game XMB, etc. I’m excited about what is certainly to come. Let’s see…
1) PS1 Classics Compatibility
I don’t really know what happened here. I’m guessing it’s the software emulation. I figured that wouldn’t be a real big deal seeing as how it’s such old hardware and this *is* Sony. However, I have a few games on my PS3 hard drive that I’d love to play on-the-go. Symphony Of The Night is one of my favorite games ever. I’m hoping for full support before long.
Want More
2) PSP Compatibility
I know backwards compatibility is never an easy thing and I’m happy the Vita plays a ton of PSP games. There are a bunch not on the list though, and I’m really looking forward to playing Ys Chronicles on my Vita. How they’re going to roll out these updates, I’m unsure. Hopefully with each firmware update we’ll get more games added to the list and to the store.
Waiting...
3) Better Compatibility
Yeah, I realize…Three of the same category. However, this is what I’m looking for my Vita to do. When connecting to my PS3 to download videos I downloaded from the PSN, most don’t work. Wait…why? They are brand-new videos from the PSN! Nope. My videos? Nope. No WMV? I hate the codec, but playing videos on my gorgeous PSVita screen should be a breeze. Why it’s not is beyond me. Well, I can play videos I’ve downloaded. I just have to go through remote play. No…that’s not how it should be.
3) Better PSVita / PS3 Integration
Fighting piracy is no doubt one of Sony’s biggest goals and so I imagine the reason for this interface is just that. However, the Content Manager is a weak interface that is not smooth whatsoever. Copying files is not easy, the manager opens up the video and music programs individually (so why have the content manager?) and it’s all so very cumbersome. While waiting for wireless Vita/PS3 compatibility probably won’t happen (but should), I can’t stand the interface. Having to catalog everything on my PC so to use the same mediocre program is really annoying.
4) The Interface
Now, I quite like that we’ve moved away from the XMB. I loved that interface. I have a Sony Bravia, a PS3 and a PSP. It served its purpose but now with all touch-screen interfaces, I’m glad to be beyond that. While the new PSVita interface functions well, it’s awfully ugly. Will Sony ever change this a la the 360’s dashboard updates? I certainly hope so. There’s plenty that can be done to improve this. I can’t group games together, icons like the party icon look bad even for Nintendo Wii visuals and it’s not customizable at all. We know that Sony is fighting the smart phone market as well as the handheld. Getting the best of both worlds is not going to be easy but I’d love to have more abilities when it comes to tweaking the visuals.
Ug...Ly
5) More Apps
Again, this is a handheld gaming device, but it’s got Facebook and it should add more like YouTube support, etc. Walking that line between a smart phone and a handheld means it cannot be inundated with crap. However, I hope they support this like they do with the PS3 and add something. Specifically, I’d love to be able to detect media servers and to stream audio/video to the Vita. In fact, this is one of my biggest gripes/desires for the system.
I got Uncharted and beat it in about 8 hours. It was phenomenal. It was precisely what I love about games. So, when I got Uncharted 2, I had high expectations. UC2 stands as one of the best games I’ve ever played.
So, when Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception launched, the anticipation was enormous. It’s hard to follow such a huge game and while the reviews praised UC3 with near-unanimous perfect scores, it wasn’t perfect. In fact, it was inferior to UC2. Why? Well, that’s why I’m writing this now.
SPOILERS!!!
Six Reasons…
1) Elena
Elena’s character and interaction with Drake in the first game was charming, fun and light-hearted. I loved her in that game. She was rough, yet chill, the kind of girl you would want to hang out with. When Chloe was introduced in the second game, it gave the Drake/Elena relationship a new angle. It was still fun and exciting, and I wanted to see the two together at the end. The ending was great. It was fitting, silly and endearing. Perfect.
However, with UC3, their story was barely there. Now, I realize the purpose of the story was to flesh out the Sully/Drake companionship. But it lost the spark that made the first two entries so awesome. Sully is cool and all, but he’s no Elena.
UC2: Elena Rocks
I will say this though, if Naughty Dog did more of the same, they would’ve been criticized for that as well. I realize there’s no winning here. Speaking of…
2) Been There, Done That
I love, love, love games and stories that retell a tale. DoDon Pachi: Dai-Ou-Jou is essentially a remake of DoDon Pachi. GTA4 goes back to where GTA3 started it all. Homage to earlier days is fantastic. I just didn’t feel the magic in UC3. The ending sequence, where the floor is falling apart is the same thing as in UC2. It looks good, but it wasn’t as exciting because I already did the very same thing. Every time Nathan fell and hung on by one arm should’ve been WOW! and I just felt it was *Yawn*, I did this before.
That kinda sucks, because this game was exciting and well-crafted. It just didn’t excite me as much. One of the reasons…?
3) The Locales & The Treasures
The first Uncharted had me in lush environments with a deep, rich history. I was exploring areas that Sir Frances Drake visited, hundreds of years earlier! There was a WWII boat here, merging the old with the new, a strange but enchanting mix. There were green, vivid jungles, curious WWII scenes, a glorious background for a phenomenal story. What was grandiose in the first game was trumped by what may be the perfect game. A blend of jungles (once again), frozen Nepal, incredibly-detailed city streets, the monastery, each diverse and awesome. Both games made me feel I was walking into an ancient land occupied by the modern. Therefore, when I found a new treasure, it felt like it belonged there. The Mandala Thogchag actually sat there for years before I encountered it.
UC1: Such Awesome Locales
So, what’s wrong with #3? Well, the locations are diverse and all superbly detailed and well lit. There’s no question about the visuals. I just found the bar, Columbia and London’s subway system to be modern without that ancient feel. When you get to France, it’s cool, but again, loses the real mysticism. The same goes for the ship graveyard. The best stages are in Syria and the whole desert ending, but even they never quite made me feel like the first two games did. The treasures felt oddly located and out of place. Why was there an Ancient Minerva Pendant on the boat? An Ancient Gold and Coral Bracelet in a graveyard of rusting ships? I loved collecting treasures in the first two games. Now, it was a task. It wasn’t natural.
4) The Story & Cast
As with every sequel, more characters are added to keep the story moving. I usually prefer the originals, Shrek being a good example. The first is classic, quaint; this was before they added 25 characters and gave less and less time to each. UC2 was amazing though. Drake and Elena. Sully and Chloe. Perfect. The supporting cast did just enough and while the bad guy cast wasn’t super deep, Lazarevic and Flynn were fitting. I hated Flynn for betraying Nate (The subtitle Among Thieves explained right at the beginning) and was happy to see Lazarevic die at the end.
UC3? Drake’s Deception? Wait, what precisely WAS the deception again? Marlowe and Talbot were both weak characters for whom I felt completely indifferent. The outro fight with Talbot was so anticlimactic. I didn’t care! Cutter was OK. Chloe was barely there. The ending with Elena as OK but it lacked that sincerity of the second game. It all suffered from a lack of depth and passion.
UC3: Marlowe - Snore...
5) The Saving System
I REALLY hoped they’d fix this by now. I’m going to compare to the excellent Resident Evil 5 here. RE5 had one save game that kept track of which stages you’d beaten, treasures you’d collected, which difficulty you played on, how long it took, etc. Here, we’re stuck saving before we start any level, being forced to save when we leave a level (i.e. if you got the last treasure you’d needed), etc. It is all so cumbersome and totally unnecessary in 2011. It may be a small gripe, but as a gamer who wanted to go back to beat it on crushing, to collect the treasures, to relive the game, it was annoying.
6) All The Extras!!!
I understand that these were removed to keep the integrity of trophies and everything in place, but one of the best parts of the Uncharted series was lost. Level flips, no gravity, weapon select, fast/slow motion, these things really add the the replay value of a game. I may not be as die-hard a gamer as I once was; I have much less time to devote than I used to, but even I recognize the loss here. The single-player skins and movies were all awesome in the second game. I was rather disappointed to find out all this was lost.
What To Do In Uncharted 4
Listen, Uncharted 3 was great. It’s biggest downside was that Uncharted 2 was better. However, in order to make UC4 compare to the second game, it must fix a few things. Obviously the saving system must be addressed. In searching for a new, mythical story, I hope they go back to the mix of old and new as detailed above. While many may disagree, I would love for it to be a completely co-op game. Some of my favorite times with parts 2 and 3 were the co-op levels. Mat and I have sunk many hours into those modes and even they are better in 2 than 3.
And of course, extras should be added (but disable trophies). Since we know there will be an UC4, I do hope they can get back to what made 2 so great. I loved 3 but the entire time I felt it was lacking.