What Am I Playing NOW - Part VII

Considering the flurry of new titles released in the past 2 months, you might expect someone "running" a gaming blog must have played most, if not all, of the noteworthy titles. In most cases, you'd be 100% right. However, in my case, it most certainly wasn't the case. For various reasons (No free time, because I have a 3 months old daughter, and no money, because I have a shitty job that doesn't pay well enough for a man to take care of his wife, baby, rent, car AND gaming hobby. Sometimes you have to pick something to sacrifice. In this case the choice was pretty obvious!), I haven't played a more recent title than Destiny. I actually own an even more recent title in Borderlands : The Pre-Sequel! (pre-ordered with the E3 deal), but I haven't even opened it yet since I'm still not done with all Borderlands 2 DLCs. I also should mention that I played more recent games given away for free with the PS+ subscription.

The Sequel before the Pre-Sequel

Let's begin with Borderlands 2. Since my PS3 died last year and that, for some unknown reason, my saves weren't being uploaded to the PS+ cloud, I had to restart a character in Borderlands 2. I usually play as Zer0 (like I did Mordecai in the first game), but I wanted to try something different. Very different. I went with the Mechromancer, Gaige. I kinda regretted it at firt because I really liked Zer0's skills, but now I'me getting more used to her, it's not that bad. Anyway, I'm nearly done with the main game, after which I'll do the 2 DLCs (Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt and Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep) I didn't have time to play before my PS3 died. I loved the first two DLCs, so I'm glad I'll finally get to try the last two. Eventually. Hopefully before Christmas (I was not kidding when I said that I have no free time).

Destiny, still

It seems, when I listen to gaming podcasts, that everyone was done with this game 2 months ago. Not me! I'm level 15 and I did, if I remember correctly, only one story mission on Mars. It's a very fun game, although the story is very lacking. Uninteresting, to be exact. But the gameplay is so freaking solid. And I haven't unlocked all the abilities of the one class (out of three) I have tried. Looks like many hours of fun are still ahead of me.

South Park

I started South Park : The Stick of Truth about a month ago. Played it a bunch during a weekend when my wife and baby were away. It's a very, very funny game. It really feels like a South Park episode. The combat system is pretty basic and can get a little repetitive. But you don't play South Park for its innovative gameplay, you play it because it's freaking South Park. Because you get to hang out with Princess Kenny, Cartman, Butters and the likes.

No time = small and/or portable games

The subtitles says it all. I don't have much free time, so I often resort to quick little sessions of games you can start quickly and, especially, quit at a moment's notice without losing (too much) progress. Obviously portable games are perfect in that case. I've played a bit of Vita games, especially Dragon's Crown (though even after 4-5 hours, I can't "get" into the game that much) and other smaller titles like Luftrausers and Pix the Cat. But I've played a lot more 3DS during that time, most notably Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time 3D and Mario Tennis Open. To my surprise, the former isn't quite a great as I expected. Don't get me wrong, it IS a good game, but the controls aren't as intuitive and sharp as I would have hoped. Anyone who has ever played a core Mario title knows the controls, essential to the platforming genre, have always been stellar. Here, they're not bad, but they're not stellar. Otherwise, the levels are short and sweet, perfect for short gaming sessions.

There's not much to say about Ocarina of Time. It still is the greatest game ever, no matter the format or number of screens. Mario Tennis Open, on the other hand, is disappointing. I absolutely loved the Mario Tennis game for GameCube, it was pretty much perfect. I used to turn off the special/power shots most of the time to get a truer tennis experience. The special shots are fun at times, but in the long run, the mini-cutscenes before each one become tedious. In this one, you CAN'T turn them off. Seriously? That really sucks. It's a stupid choice by Nintendo, as far as I'm concerned. The minigames are still fun and the gameplay, other than the special shots, is still very solid. But man. That's a bummer...

Anyway, let's hope next time I'll have a newer game to write about!

Seventh Generation Review - Most memorable moments

The 8th generation has - mostly - arrived and it's time to look back at the rather excellent Seventh Generation slowly leaving us. Last time I reviewed what I perceived to be the best franchises of this generation, and Bioshock took the proverbial cake in a very, very close fight with Portal. This time around I'll look back at the most memorable moments of the 7th gen. There will be mainly in-game moments, obviously, but there will also be a few industry-related events which captured my attention and deserve to be mentioned here. There will be no rankings involved, although some will definitely be more "important" than others.

The Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare campaign
Regardless of the general feelings towards what the Call of Duty franchise represents today, no one can argue the importance Modern Warfare had. Much has been said and written about the now-omnipresent multiplayer feature, so I'll skip over that. What I'll remember most about it is the campaign, which is still the best I've ever played in a military FPS (and that's saying something). I specifically remember, as most everyone who played this game will, three moments.

• The first one is the "All Ghillied Up" mission, which had me holding my breath from A to Z. As I was crawling around listening to Captain McMillan, I was constantly thinking : "I can't believe I'm doing this, how the f*** did they achieve this?" And basically every military FPS has tried to emulate this mission since, including all the other Call of Duty games I've played. It shows how important it really was.
• The second one is your character dying when the nuclear bomb hits. As I was witnessing Sgt Jackson slowly agonizing, I kept thinking what games had taught me for the past 15+ years : Your character never dies. So obviously something was going to happen soon to save me. But nothing happened. You simply died. 
• The last one, while not as epic as the first two, was one of the most enjoyable and captivating missions ever designed. I can't remember the name, but you're in the AC-130 raining death upon your enemy via your black-and-white screen while receiving orders through radio. It's pretty darn amazing and copied 19748927 times since. It's no wonder CoD4 stands tall as one of the most important games of all-time.

The PSN "outage"
I don't know what to call that "event" exactly. I've read terms like "Security breach", "Intrusion", "Hack" among others. No matter how you call it, it was a big mess, as Sony acknowledged sincerely. Since I wasn't (and still isn't) much of an online gamer, it didn't affect my playing time on a day-to-day basis, but it was still a bit freaky that a company as large, as powerful and as seemingly untouchable as Sony could be hit like that. While it didn't affect me personally (apart of hooking me on PS+, which they offered for a sizable discount after the outage), it did beg the question of personal information security in this new day and age.

The Bioshock : Infinite reveal
Rarely - if ever - have I been more hyped for a game. And it all started with this trailer and this gameplay video. Still epic years later.

The first platinum trophy
Some people will likely remember their first achievement or first trophy (depending on which console you preferred at that moment. For me though I had to log on to psnprofiles.com to remember which trophy was my first (2x multiplier from LittleBigPlanet), but I really didn't need it to identify my first platinum. It was the Fallout 3 platinum trophy. I have to admit I needed help (from the Internet) for a few of them, notably the one where you have to find and defeat the 5 Super Mutant Behemoths in the game, but I loved the game so much I didn't really care about extra hours spent roaming around. And it has to be said I only have 12 platinums, so I kinda remember all of them a little bit. But the first one was extra special.

The LittleBigPlanet introduction
Opinions might differ on LBP's real worth in the gaming industry (I personally think it's an awesome piece of work), but few - if any - can deny the quality of the game's introduction. It's such a happy moment, I couldn't help but smile, amazed by the beauty and happiness of it all. Obviously, the narrator himself, Stephen Fry, played a large part in its charm - the British accent does help. Anyway, while I was guided through the main features of the game, I once thought something along the lines of "Hey, this intro will soon end. No! I don't want it to. It's way too much fun. Don't end!" And that says it all.

The Bioshock "plot twist"
I won't go into too many details in case someone still hasn't played the game - and if that's the case, close this window and go play it now - and plans on playing it. Bioshock is one of the most beautifully crafted adventures ever conceived. And, for me, it all starts with the storyline, exquisitely written mysterious. When you reach the confrontation with Andrew Ryan and discover the true meaning of your presence in Rapture, you probably won't believe your eyes nor your ears. I clearly remember being frozen, jaw on the floor and not knowing what to do or think. Remarkably executed.

Telltale's The Walking Dead
All of it. Every single second of it was just amazing. The most amazing part is, I went in thinking : "Oh this thing was free (1st episode) on PS+, let's try it" with absolutely no knowledge of the game, the comic books or the TV Series. I finished Episode One in a flash and immediately purchased the rest. I just couldn't wait. I'm the kind of gamer who usually - meaning 90% of the time - doesn't play for more than an hour at the time. But playing this, I just HAD to finish the episode if I started it. I finished it in about a week and it won my Game of the Year award for 2012 over games like Borderlands 2, Dishonored and Journey. All of which were pretty epic. Anyway, now I have started the Comic book series and it's yet another very enjoyable experience.

Metal Gear Solid 4's ending
Truth be told, I never played a Metal Gear Solid game before I got my hands on my PS3. In fact, the PS3 model I bought was a Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle, so I kinda had no choice but to play it. And I have to admit I was intrigued because that website I used to visit in 2008 gave it a very rare (for that website) 10 out of 10. Anyway, MGS4 bamboozled me for a while because the story was extremely hard to understand (at least for me), but the end stuck in my mind for some reason. I particularly remember when Old Snake had to go through a tunnel filled with some sort of microwaves burning through his suit and his flesh. As he slowly crawled for what seemed like hours, I felt very uncomfortable watching this old man suffer like this and all I could do was press "X" infinitely. After witnessing that, you had no choice but feel emotionally attached with Snake. The following fist fight with Liquid was beyond unexpected and the hour-long ending cinematic confused me even more, but it sealed what I consider to be a very important game of the Seventh-Generation.

Bloodwing's death in Borderlands 2
In last year's awards, I pointed out how fond I was of Bloodwing following the superb original Borderlands and how actually pissed I was when he was killed by Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2. Anyhow, as painful and sad as it was, I have to say it was a powerful - and memorable - moment.

Many, many things in The Last of Us
This game was as close to perfection as any this last generation. I'm not going to say anything here you haven't read anywhere on the Internet or in magazines, as it was widely acclaimed by critics and gamers alike. But damn... it is a fantastic piece of work. You could point out more than a few very powerful moments, like the perfect ending or Ellie savagely killing David in the burning restaurant, but I found that the game and the characters felt more alive and real in the small details. The conversations, the one-liner, the way Ellie sits somewhere when you try to figure out something, all the little things together make for a fantastic, epic game.

Fus Ro Dah!
Fus Ro Dah, a Dragon Shout acquired in Skyrim which can be translated by "Unrelenting Force", is one of the most satisfying thing ever put in a video game. Most of us grew with Dragon Ball's Kamehameha as the ultimate attack, yelling it hundreds of time because it was such a thrilling thing to imagine, blasting people off with pure energy. I think, in a way, the Dragonborn's Fus Ro Dah enabled us gamers to experience the closest thing to a Kamehameha yet. When you finally get the whole shout, you can't wait to try it on people, animals, enemies, anyone! It's so powerful and savage, and now I want to play Skyrim all over again. Which I probably will...

First time going around the Nürburgring in Gran Turismo 5

Top Gear (UK, not that terrible US version) transformed me from someone who didn't care about cars to someone who reads EVO and Top Gear every month. And when you talk about exotic cars, sports cars or basically any car with any sense of speed, the Nürburgring is a must. So in Gran Turismo 5 I was pretty anxious to try it out. But it wasn't available from the start of the game, you had to unlock it by completing a challenge. And I didn't complete that challenge until much later. Therefore, the first time I "drove" on the Nürburgring was in A-Spec in a VW Polo race. Sure, a 100hp-or-so car doesn't sound as enticing as a Ferrari F40, but it worked for me just fine. Since the car wasn't extremely fast and very easy to handle, I could enjoy my ride around the world's most famous track. And it was a blast. I enjoyed it like I couldn't believe what I had just did. The track is so tricky, so long and so intense. Eventually I went around in other cars (GT-R, SLS, etc.), but that first time was unforgettable.

The M95 Sniper in Battlefield : Bad Company 2
In my many years of gaming, I've yet to come across a Sniper Rifle half as satisfying as the M95 was in BC2. I don't know if it's the "best" or the most powerful one in the game and frankly, I don't even care. Just hear the sound this thing makes. It's so violent, so powerful, so freaking manly, it feels like it could pierce through a meter of concrete without even slowing down one iota. As youtuber nickbunyun once said, I'm pretty sure you can hear it from other servers. Not only that, but using that sniper in BC2's multiplayer made me actually a decent Recon soldier. I'm usually not a sniping type of player in online shooters, I'm always a tenth too slow. With most gun types, it doesn't matter, but with a sniper, it makes a HUGE difference. In BC2, I was actually not bad with the M95, I even managed a few solid kill streaks. Sure, I was still way better as an engineer or assault, but that gun made me decent at something I was bad at... and that sound.

Bara_Chat' 2012 Game of the Year awards

So it's been a very busy three months for me, with Christmas, work (hundreds of exams to prepare and correct), having many cats at home as my wife has a cat shelter thing going on, etc. Anyway, I had to do a Game of the Year entry sooner or later, so here goes!

Most impressive graphics (artistic AND/OR technical)
Instead of having two "graphics" categories, I'll have just one for the most impressive graphics. Now this is a very subjective assessment of a game's graphical achievements, because I'm not a huge "Best graphics" gamer like some people who won't play a game if it's not good looking (cannot for the life of me figure out how that thinking works). But sometimes you have to give credit where it's due.

• Journey (PS3)
• Far Cry 3 (PS3) - WINNER!
• Forza Horizon (X360)
• Dishonored (PS3)
• Okami HD (PSN)

Far Cry 3's beautifully detailed island was a joy to behold during all 20+ hours of gameplay. There's not much else to say, really.

Best story/writing

• Dishonored (PS3)
• Mass Effect 3 (PS3)
• The Walking Dead (PSN) - WINNER!
• Max Payne 3 (PS3)
• Diablo III (PC/Mac)

I think this was the easiest award for 2012. At first I considered Mass Effect 3 as a contender, but the more I played The Walking Dead, the more it appeared to me that this game is a serious contender for the best writing in a video game since, well, forever. It's just that epic.

Most memorable gaming moment (MAJOR SPOILERS!! MAJOR SPOILERS!!)

• Bloodwing getting killed by Handsome Jack - Borderlands 2 - WINNER!
• Loyalists betray Corvo - Dishonored
• Burning weed crops mission - Far Cry 3
• Squad-synchronized quadruple headshot - Ghost Recon : Future Soldier
• Collapsing on the snow mountain - Journey
• Deckard Cain dies - Diablo III
• Ending - The Walking Dead

In the first Borderlands, I played almost exclusively with Mordecai, completing the game twice with that same character. Obviously, I got used to using Bloodwing a lot and kinda got attached to it as it was so freaking useful.

Best sound design (including voice acting)

• The Walking Dead (PSN)
• Mass Effect 3 (PS3)
• Borderlands 2 (PS3)
• Dishonored (PS3)
• Sound Shapes (PSVita) - WINNER !

You know a game will have epic sound design when the word "sound" is actually part of the name. Sound Shapes would look a peculiar platforming game to most gamers, but it's actually a lot more than that. The harmony between the levels and the music behind it is pitch perfect (pun galore!) and the level creation tool is epic.

Best game I haven't tried yet (According to GameRankings.com)

• Persona 4 Golden (PSVita) - 93.94%
• Xenoblades Chronicles (Wii) - 91.78%
• Trials Evolution HD (XBLA) - 91.58%
• Mark of The Ninja (XBLA) - 90.44%
• Guild Wars 2 (PC) - 90.26%
• Fez (XBLA) - 89.41%
• XCOM : Enemy unknown (Multi) - 89.22% for PC - WINNER!
• Pinball FX2 : Marvel Pinball - Avengers Chronicles - 88.80%
• LittleBigPlanet PS Vita (VITA) - 88.65%
• Torchlight II (PC) - 88.55%

Logically, the game with the highest score would win this category. But I'm not always a logical man. So I took the 10 highest scoring games on GameRankings.com that I hadn't played in 2012, and chose the one which I would like to try the most. I was both surprised and happy to see that "big-budget" games like Black Ops II and Assassin's Creed III weren't there.

Anyway, I almost bought XCOM last week. I was very intrigued when the clerk let me try it in the store and explained a bit how it played. I have to say that I'd like to try Torchlight II and Guild Wars 2 if I had a gaming PC and that I loved the first Trials HD on XBLA.

Most surprisingly good game

• The Walking Dead (PSN) - WINNER!
• Kingdom of Amalur : Reckoning (PS3)
• Mutants Blobs Attack (VITA)
• Gotham City Impostors (PSN)

I've never watched the famous TV show The Walking Dead, although I know, surfing the Internet as much as I do, that it's insanely popular with young adults and gamers alike. I don't know what the story actually is or whatever goes on in that show except that it's about zombies or "walking deads". But I heard many great things about the game from critics, it even won a few GoTY awards here and there, even if didn't even know what type of game it was. I tried the first episode, which was free via PS+, and I was hooked instantly, finishing it in basically one sitting (I stopped to eat at one point). I have yet to try the other episodes, but I'm sure they're as good as the first.

Most disappointing game

• SSX (PS3) - WINNER! (or LOSER!)
• Resistance : Burning Skies (VITA)
• Uncharted : Golden Abyss (VITA)
• Resident Evil 6 (PS3)
• BONUS!! Far Cry 3's cooperative mode (PS3)

I was hyped for SSX months before it was released last winter. Except for a bit of Amped on the original Xbox at my friend's, I hadn't really played a snowboarding game since 1080 on the N64. At first I was happy they wanted to make a more grisly and realistic game (The whole Deadly Descents thing), then was a bit sad they came back to over-the-top action. Nonetheless, I bought it and thought it was pretty entertaining for the first few hours. Then it got extremely annoying, especially with those freaking bottomless pits you often can't see until you are actually falling inside of them. The game does offer you a rewind feature (in most descents types) to help you finish the ride, but in a conventional race you lose so much time the other guys/gals have taken an insurmountable lead. Not only that, but in a tricks battle the points you lose actually add up in your combo and can make you lose HUGE amounts of points. For example, say you're currently on a 13x2450 points run and you fall into a pit, use rewind, which costs 6500 or something, and now you're on 13x-4050, basically minus 50k points or so. Seriously? And since those bottomless pits are everywhere and often impossible to predict, it ruins the experience completely.

Game of The Year 2012

• Mass Effect 3 (PS3)
• Journey (PSN)
• Borderlands 2 (PS3)
• Dishonored (PS3)
• The Walking Dead (PSN) - WINNER!

Until I played The Walking Dead in the past few weeks, this was going to be a tough battle between Dishonored and Journey. But the I completed the five episodes of The Walking Dead, not really knowing what to expect of this game (Though I have to admit I was influenced by GamesRadar's GoTY nod to actually try it). It really is a fantastic game with probably the most gripping storyline and most endearing characters since... I don't even know. It's now right up there with Bioshock, Fallout 3 and Super Mario Galaxy as the best games of this seventh-generation. I can't wait for a second season, I NEED to find out what happens to Clementine.

Sequels, hype and disappointment

In exactly 5 days*, Gearbox Software's Borderlands 2 will be released, and masses of gamers will flock game shops and websites to get their hands on a copy. In a way, I'll be one of them, since I've pre-ordered it back in June, when Canadian electronic store Future Shop had a E3 sale (4 E3-showcased games for the price of 3). However, as much hype as I have for Borderlands 2 - and I have a lot, since I love Borderlands so much it has a spot deeper in my gamer heart than any game this generation, even better ones - I couldn't help but think about the other over-hyped sequels of the past few years and get worried a bit.

Why? Because developers know sequels usually have a lot to live up to, and often try very hard (too hard?) to live up to their expectations and, even worse, gamers' expectations. And even when the critics applaud the sequel, giving it the same grade - or better - than the prequel, I usually find the original better.

The usual route for a sequel is "Bigger is better" where more explosions/guns/missions/treachery/quests/bigger boss fights/maps/powers/monsters/characters/fights/etc. means the game will likely be better. It is clearly not that simple.

Take, for example, inFamous, the 2009 PS3-exclusive open-world title where you play Cole McGrath, riddled with electric superpowers and has to choose whether he'll be good or evil towards citizens of Empire City while completing his missions. When inFamous 2 hit in 2011, with huge bosses, more powers, allies with other types of power (Ice & Fire), more varied enemies and less repetitive missions, most people thought it was a LOT better than the original. I didn't. Of course it had objectively more to offer, but more isn't necessarily better. I felt somewhat connected to the dark, unenthusiastic Cole of the first game, clearly not happy with the situation he was stuck in. The enemy, Kesler, was also a lot more interesting than "The Beast".

The same thing could be said of a lot of sequels. Only this generation, I thought Modern Warfare was vastly superior to both its sequels and Assassin's Creed II a lot better than Brotherhood (haven't tried Revelations). I also liked Arkham Asylum more than Arkham City (although City is objectively a superior game that I loved), enjoyed LittleBigPlanet more than LBP2 (still excellent though), Bioshock more than Bioshock 2 (superb as well), etc. And in some cases the sequel impossibly proved equal to the original, as we have seen with Portal 2 or Super Mario Galaxy 2. But in most cases, the original retains the new-IP "naïve" and "true" feeling of the game.

Why? I think it's because the first game usually has a LOT less expectations, and developers work almost without pressure (from the publisher, from the fans, from the critics and journalists, etc.) and put together a product closer to what they actually wanted to make. It will sound clichéd, but the original game seemingly comes from the heart and not the brain. Whereas there's too much "brain" in the sequels, and the final product often looks like an uneven mix of players' expectations and media pressure.

And I'm pretty sure that, in some cases, the sequel wasn't planned when the first game hit the shelves. And it shows. A lot more than what the developers were probably hoping. It seems like many of them decided to make a second game just because the first one worked, and not because the story or universe was meant to be continued or otherwise exploited.

*NOTE : This was actually written - almost all of it - 5 days before BL2 came out. It has been out for a week, I've played it for a few hours and really enjoyed it. More on that soon!

Bara_Chat's most anticipated games of 2012

1. Bioshock Infinite : The obvious choice for the most anticipated game of the year. By far. Bioshock was the best game of this generation, in my opinion, and Infinite looks to be the one to knock it off its podium. Just look at one of its video trailers if you're not convinced.

2. Diablo III : Diablo II is far and away my most-played video game of all-time, thanks to its exceedingly addictive Battle.net feature. The series is so legendary it has its own "Diablo clones" a bit like GTA has spawned a enormous amount of "GTA-likes" in the past decade. This game alone might force me to buy a new computer if my Mac can't run it.

3. Borderlands 2 : Borderlands is the one game I fell in love with this generation. The kind of game I loved so much I didn't even see its flaws. It was unconditional mother-child love. It's also the first game for which I bought DLCs. It's not perfect, but I don't give a s***. There will be better games in 2012, but something inside me wishes to play Borderlands 2 above all else. (Then why it's third, because when I fell back to Earth, I realized Diablo III and Infinite will very likely be better games in every single way, and I'll enjoy them as much as BL2).

4. The Last of Us : I honestly don't know much about this game, but the trailer alone convinced me that I will undoubtedly love it. Of course I've always been a huge fan of post-apocalyptic related entertainment products like Fallout 3, Rage, Borderlands (not exactly post-apocalyptic, but similar feeling), Enslaved, New Vegas, I Am Legend, The Book of Eli, The Road, etc. Well, you get the point.


5. The Last Guardian : Granted, we have no release date announced for this game and, given that Team Ico seemingly (and rightfully so) doesn't care about any sort of outside (read : media and gamers) pressure to release the game soon, it's highly possible we won't see it until next year. Still I have hope.

6. Mass Effect 3 : I played Mass Effect 2 last year in probably the worst circumstances possible. At that time I was playing through 4 or 5 games at the same time (or so it seemed) so I "rushed" through games instead of taking time to really experience and enjoy them. It still took over 30 hours to finish this game, but I'm pretty damn sure I've missed many, many things in my playthrough. Anyway, the story was pretty interesting, so I'm very curious of what will happen next.

7.  Far Cry 3 : That my first taste of the Far Cry franchise was the second opus might make a few people facepalm in unison. The fact that I've never even played the original Far Cry will likely make people. I know the second game of the series didn't please the masses as the first one did. But anyway, I really liked FC2 and I'm really looking forward to it.

8. Prey 2 : This game could actually be higher on this list if I had only a few more info on it. I only saw the jaw-dropping trailer last year and I was amazed. Although you have to learn that trailers are purposedly made with the intention to amaze. Indeed, in the past, the final product has already been less impressive than the damn trailer itself.


9. Metal Gear Rising : Revengeance : Now I must admit, I only discovered (not the existence, but the experience of playing the games) the Metal Gear series in 2008 when I bought the PS3 MGS4 bundle. While I didn't understand a lot of what the hell what actually going on, I thought the gameplay was extremely solid and the attention to details staggering. Since then I've played MGS, MGS2 and started MGS3 and I must this is a very solid (oh, haha) franchise. And Revengeance does look pretty amazing.

10. SSX : The last snowboarding game I played was Amped nearly 10 years ago (I'm not kidding) and before that it was 1080 Snowboarding on N64. Let's just say I'm due for a new snowboarding game, and there's really nothing on the market right now (Shaun White's games are basically horrible if you're to trust any game critic in the world. And from the trailers, you have to say it looks pretty damn cool.

11. Resident Evil 6 : Another franchise I'm a big fan of, so it's impossible to leave this off the list. I explained why in a earlier blog post.


12. Tomb Raider : I simply like where the franchise is heading with this reboot. The gameplay shown at E3 really impressed me. And Lara Croft is one fine-looking lady. What's not to love?

That's it for this year's list.