The most annoying things in video games - Part II

Every single gamer, at one point in his life, said aloud or wondered incredulously : "Why/How is this thing/man not dead??" while he was playing a game. In some cases, it will be for a simple enemy you cribbled with bullets or sliced a half-dozen times with your katana, and other times it will be a boss you squashed with a train, made fall down a 50-stories high building while on fire. And he or it is still alive. And you're mad because it doesn't make a lick of sense.

And this has become a bigger problem lately, with all the emphasis put on graphical fidelity, realism and the slow death of hubs, energy bars and other increasingly old-school gaming concepts. You play a game where an enemy will react accordingly to where the bullet hits, you expect a couple bullets to the head to make him drop dead. But no! He or it doesn't die!

Obviously, in games like Fallout 3, Skyrim, other RPGs and many retro games, where damage and health is calculated in "points" via numbers or a health bar, this is not a problem because it's part of the structure of the game. But when I shoot a guy in the head twice while playing a "realistic" military shooter (online or offline), I don't expect the guy to continue living and acting as if he didn't have a bullet lodged in his brain. When I stab a guy twelve times in Assassin's Creed, I don't expect him to continue fighting as though nothing happened.When I shoot a random thug four times with a shotgun standing five feet away in GTA IV, I don't expect him to stand up and shoot me with ease.

When I throw a monster off a tall skyscraper, set him on fire AND run a freaking train over him, I don't expect it to be alive and transform for the fourth time into something even bigger and even MORE annoying. Yes, I'm looking at you, Resident Evil 6. It's stupid, it's annoying, it screams "Well we can't think of anything else, so let's put this guy again, just a bit bigger with more disgusting features. And again here. And again here. And again here."

Anyway, that sounded a bit like a rant, but as a gamer I hate to feel cheated by a game and I really dislike pointless repetition (fighting the same boss over and over again is repetition, no matter how much he has transformed). It ruins the fun, and fun is the main reason why anyone plays games.

Best Games I've Never Played - Part II

From 1998 up until 2008, I thought there was at least ONE universal truth in the gaming world : The best game of all-time was The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time. In my head, it wasn't even a debate, it was a fact. An undeniable, solid and widely known fact.

When I first started to participate in gaming forums in 2008, I learned that some people actually had different ideas of what the best game of all-time was, and I was confused and somewhat frustrated at times, because I thought they were all wrong and that Ocarina of Time was better than anything else, period. I'm actually exaggerating, I knew that different people had different opinions and it's all a matter of taste, but I was surprised at the number of games "contending" for that basically-impossible-to-determine title of the best game of all-time. And there was one game that kept being mentioned, quite possibly even more than Ocarina of Time itself.

That game was Final Fantasy VII. On that particular forum, it seemed like FFVII was popping out everywhere, but that's not all. While reading people's posts, it occurred to me that other titles in the Final Fantasy franchise were mentioned by my fellow gamers, most notable FFIII. (Quick side note, I was also surprised that another Zelda game kept popping up : A Link to the Past. It's a superb game too, so it makes a lot of sense...)

And then it hit me : I had never played a Final Fantasy game in my life !!! I always knew the series existed, I knew it was popular if they had released at least 12 of them (I had no idea there were spin-offs as well), but it never occurred to me that it was as important for some people as the Zelda games were in my life. Obviously this can be explained by the fact that, when I was younger, my parents paid for things I bought and I only bought a few games and never ventured past the known pastures of Mario, Zelda, anything Nintendo made and a few other popular games like Sonic, GoldenEye or Street Fighter. And it has to be said that I never owned a SNES before 2008 (Made the jump from NES to N64 via a Sega Genesis, for some weird reason...) nor did I ever own a PSOne or a PS2, so it's not THAT hard to see how I never had the opportunity to try a Final Fantasy game.

I eventually tried FFXIII on the PS3, but I never could get into the game. Some people tried to explain by saying how FFXIII was too linear and that it never was a "real" FF game. Anyway, I got bored an hour in, because I never really liked anything with turn-based combat other than Pokemon games and the first Paper Mario. I also tried FFV or FFIV on the Playstation Store, but when I died without saving or knowing how to save for basically 90 minutes, I never touched it again... I kinda liked the game, but even then I could never get that much into it.

Perhaps one day I'll have the patience and courage to start a Final Fantasy game again - and I want to, if only for the fact that they're a staple in the gaming world - but until that moment I can't say I've ever PLAYED a Final Fantasy game.

What I took away from E3

The title makes it seem like I actually went to Los Angeles and participated in the festivities. Sadly, nothing of the sort happened and I had to enjoy the experience via various video, livestreams and articles around the web to construct any sort of review/opinion on the matter.

First off, let's talk about the "new" hardware we've seen, the PS4. Let's just skip over the looks of the actual console, because while it does look good, a fine piece of design I'd say (I also liked the fact that they brought the mind behind the design on-stage. Nice touch), it hardly matters when you'll be putting a disc in and playing it. Anyway, the announcements that garnered the most applause from the audience were the "No Restriction on Used Games or on lending games whatsoever", the "No online verification needed to play", the "PS+ on all three PS3, PS4 and PSVita" and - the best part - the 399$ price tag. In that regard, Sony clearly knocked Microsoft out. Although rumors are circulating around the Internet about the fact that Sony's policy towards used games might not be as open as the conference led us to believe. But nothing has been confirmed yet, we'll see! Anyway, I was also excited at the number of indie developers Sony were getting along with, including Supergiant Games, of Bastion fame. The first-party exclusives (The Order : 1886 looks like an awesome steampunk game) in development also had me pretty pumped for the first year of this new console. Some multiplats were also showcased and looked quite appealing to me. Destiny looks and feels like a gigantic project undertaken by Bungie (read a good piece on it in EDGE lately) with amazing potential, while Ubi's Watch Dogs showed some spectacular depth in gameplay, a wildly interesting story setting (so far) and jaw-dropping graphics.

Overall, I was so happy during the conference I immediately pre-ordered the PS4 from two different places when it became available later that night.

I won't lie, I have a slight bias towards Sony's consoles. But to my defense, I went out of my way to try and defend Microsoft's position when talking to people. I'm not a big Microsoft fan, I work on a MacBook, my 360 is barely ever used at home and various stuff like that would make you think I hate Bill Gates' company. Which is not true. I try and be as objective as possible when arguing about consoles. I try not to fall in stupid, pointless arguments about the "better" choice and I will try to distantiate myself as much as possible from my subjective feelings when talking consoles.

Anyway, I haven't watched Microsoft's conference. I heard many negative things about it, except for the games which looked pretty impressive when I watched a few trailers. And when it's all said and done, for a gamer like me, Games should be and usually are the central focus of every discussion. If you have good games, your console will fare better. So that's why I went on and watched a few trailers, to get soaked in and better evaluate the console for the games it offers and not for some controversial marketing choices. Ryse : Son of Rome looks like promising take on a somewhat forgotten historical era (a least in video games) with visceral combat and tactical warfare, although I'm not sure how I feel about all the button prompts/QTEs... Games like The Witcher 3 and MGS V are no-brainer AAA titles. The only other one I saw was Titanfall, and I really liked what I saw there as well. It looks like a somewhat futuristic Battlefield with mechs and other neat concepts. So while everyone is shitting on the XBone for various reasons, they still had some very decent software to show for. And you can't go wrong with good games.

I haven't watched Nintendo's either, but I still took in a few trailers to see whether or not this console was worth it before the next Zelda game gets released. The trailer for Super Mario 3D World looked absolutely epic, everything you'd expect from a Mario game, like they've been doing at Nintendo for over two decades... just pure gold. Pretty much the same goes for Mario Kart 8, although I wish they had come up with a better name for it... I'm one of those who feels like "numbered" series are shooting themselves in the foot. Why? Not only you are saying to the audience you have no imagination, but you also make it seem like there was A LOT of games before it, which makes it seem like nothing more than a rehash of old ideas. Which is why, even if I'm far from being a Call of Duty fan, I appreciate their idea of not calling their games by the number since the first one. I know you'll find numbers like in MW3 or BOII, but at least we're not simply at CoD9 or something, which would make it even worse.

Anyway, back to Mario Kart 8, it seems to me like Nintendo could make 89 Mario Kart games and somehow still come up with new tracks, new concepts, new ideas. They're just THAT good. I'm not buying a Wii U for that game only, but holy crap it looks fun... The last thing I saw from Nintendo this week was The Legend of Zelda : Wind Waker HD. If I remember correctly, Wind Waker is in the top 10 of my favorite games of All-Time, amongst the legends of GoldenEye, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 4, Super Metroid and Bioshock. It tells you how much I loved this game. I think it's a great opportunity for the many who shunned the GameCube version for idiotic reasons like "It looks childish".

So I haven't been able to get through ALL the games yet, but I've seen enough to be excited about the next generation in gaming. Bring on the PS4!

What Am I Playing NOW - Part III

To tell you the truth, the short answer to that question for the past two months would be "Not much..." But of course, there's a (somewhat) longer answer. Yes, I haven't had the time to play as much as usual for various reasons : being quite busy at work since the end of the school year is approaching fast, some never-seen-before high temperatures in late april and early may which called for a lot of basket-ball outside, more activities planned with friends and family, etc. But I still finished two 2013 Game of The Year contenders and started two other good/great games.

The In-Between-Games Game
I always have some games that I play "during" other games, usually a racing game or a sports game because there's usually no storyline (or one so uninteresting that I simply don't care about) so I can play without mixing up plots or characters or whatever. Plus I can play those game on mute or with a very low volume, which is practical for someone like me who listens to many podcasts per week (sports related, all of them). So during those past two months I've been playing a lot of Forza Horizon and a bit of NBA 2K12 and Shift 2 Unleashed.

The Early Contenders
Earlier this year were released two superb games I had preordered ages ago : Tomb Raider & Bioshock Infinite. Both lived up to the hype and one could even argue that Tomb Raider exceeded it (although it has to be said it wasn't as hyped as Infinite). Anyhow, Tomb Raider proved to be as good as the so-called Tomb Raider clone, the Uncharted series. Perhaps the story or characters, besides Lara herself, weren't as developed as the Uncharted cast, but the gameplay was simply superb and I was glad the developer didn't copy Uncharted's infamous "everyone is shooting at me from everywhere even from places I've cleared 1.5 second ago" moments which kinda infuriated me at times (I'm not hating though, that trilogy is hall of fame worthy). Also, I liked how they  didn't feel obligated to follow Drake's globe-trotting expeditions and managed to exploit a small island and transform it into a semi-open world with tons of stuff to find, even the area to explore clearly was not that big. Great stuff!

As for Infinite, I was expecting sooo much out of Irrational's masterpiece it was practically unfair. But, amazingly, it lived up to the hype. I wasn't that fond of Booker for the first few hours, but that was mainly because I was speculating on the man's story. When you learn a bit more about him, you have to like him. As for Elizabeth, nothing wrong can be said about her. Charming, useful, deeply attaching, she's basically the best A.I. partner a video game has ever seen. You simply care for her, not unlike this new Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. The story is a bit hard to follow, especially the ending, which had me spending 30 minutes on the Internet to be sure I actually understood the right thing. But it's truly excellent, many developers have something to learn from Irrational for story-telling. I wish we would have seen more of the Songbird, but that's a small price to pay for such a superb game. The gameplay is perfect, the variety of actions you can do during combat is impressive and the set pieces very, very fun. The combat is harder than I would have expected, but nothing out of the ordinary. Anyway, it's a great, great game, clearly among the best I've played this generation.

I would have to talk about Assassin's Creed, but I have a piece coming on the series.

I first started writing this more than two weeks ago, but never had time to finish because of work and other obligations. Since that time, I've started XCOM : Enemy Unknown, finished Braid in a few hours (old, I know, but I had to finish it at one point) and my PS3 broke down for the third time. So I had to bring it to this repair man I know. Meanwhile I play more Vita and other consoles, but not that much since summer is starting at last and I can finally play basketball, tennis and other sports.

I'll try to do this more regularly in the next two months.

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.

Seventh Generation Review - The Best Franchise

With the seventh generation of video game consoles coming to a close this year (it actually started late 2012 with the Wii U), let's have a look back at the very best games of this past generation.

First, let's lay some guidelines. Only two, in fact. The franchise must have started on a current-gen console or on a PC during that era. Reboots aren't allowed (Prince of Persia or Medal of Honor) and franchises within franchises aren't allowed (Modern Warfare within Call of Duty). Then, to be considered a franchise, you obviously need more than a single game, so at least two different games.

Now, let's look at the best franchises of this generation. We'll start with a list, made off the top of my head, of all the worthwhile franchises born on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or Wii. I'll try and include PC as much as possible, even if my expertise in the matter is kinda limited. I read A LOT on PC gaming over the years anyway, so I have a pretty good idea what were the best rated games and user-appreciated gems in the past 7 or 8 years.

In no particular order :

- InFamous & InFamous 2
- Portal, Portal : Still Alive & Portal 2
- Uncharted : Drake's Fortune, Among Thieves & Drake's Deception
- Demon's Souls + Dark Souls I & II
- DiRT 1, 2 & 3 & DiRT : Showdown
- Gears of War 1, 2 & 3
- Bioshock, Bioshock 2 & Bioshock : Infinite
- Batman : Arkham City & Batman : Arkham Asylum
- Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3
- Borderlands 1 & 2
- Skate 1, 2 & 3
- Rock Band 1, 2, 3 & Bands (Green Day & The Beatles) & Multiple spinoffs
- Dragon Age I & II
- Crysis 1, 2 & 3 & Crysis : Warhead
- Assassin's Creed I, II (including Brotherhood & Revelations) & III & Multiple spinoffs
- Resistance 1, 2 & 3 + portable versions
- The Witcher & The Witcher 2 : Assassins of Kings
 
I realized that it is a LOT harder to compare whole franchises than it is to compare single games. Why? For a lot of reasons :

1. Franchises can evolve quickly, so games can have significant differences from one to another (Dragon Age II vs the first game).
2. Some entries can be a lot better than others.
3. The number of game varies (Can a franchise with two games like Borderlands 2 be "better" than a franchise with 7+ games like Assassin's Creed).

For example, if I think Mass Effect 2 is better than Borderlands, but that Borderlands 2 is better than Mass Effect 3. Which is the best series?

Anyway, after much debate within the One-man team (I actually started thinking about this a few weeks ago...), here are the results. From the fifth-best to the best.

5. Borderlands (2 games)

It's no secret for people who know me that I have a deep, deep love for the Borderlands universe. I absolutely loved the first game and the sequel, while a bit more "mainstream", was one of the most entertaining games of this generation.

4. Mass Effect (3 games)

Along with the Elder Scrolls & Fallout franchises, Mass Effect helped push the WRPG genre to new heights while basically owning the space/sci-fi fanbase. The compelling story and memorable characters make it a great, great experience.

3. Uncharted (3+1 games)

The closes thing to a Hollywood blockbuster the world of gaming has ever seen. Uncharted has insance production value and some of the most endearing characters ever created digitally.

1b. Portal (3 games)
1a. Bioshock (3 games)

I honestly can't say which franchise is better. I love both for different reasons. I love Portal for its outstanding gameplay, clever writing and world-class design. I love Bioshock for its extremely addictive atmoshpere, its philosophical implications and its storyline. So the debate isn't closed yet... And it has to be said that Bioshock : Infinite is right around the corner and looks poised to make a legitimate run at the "Best game of this generation" crown.

Best Games I've Never Played - Part I

According to a list I'm constantly updating, I've tried nearly 300 games in my "career" as a gamer which has spanned over more than two decades (and there's probably dozens I'm simply forgetting...). In this list you find a number of historic franchises (Zelda, Metroid, Diablo, Fallout, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Uncharted, Need for Speed, Mario, Mario Kart, Call of Duty, The Elder Scrolls) and outstanding titles (GoldenEye, Biochock, Journey, Yoshi's Island, Ico, Paper Mario, etc.). But even as I played through some of the most amazing games the industry ever offered, I missed many of the greatest titles, according to the Interwebs, the world has ever seen. Now is the time to come clean...

This past August I bought Counter-Strike : Global Offensive on the PlayStation Network, which is the latest installment in the long-running PC franchise. Amazingly, as I bought it, I came to the realization that I had NEVER played a Counter-Strike (CS) game before. Not the original one, not CS : 1.6 or even CS : Source. The funny thing is that most of my friends and even my brother (sometimes) played it (I'm talking here about the first one) and I really enjoyed sitting there and watching them play. But I never played or was even tempted to play. I can't pinpoint exactly why, but if I had to guess, I'd say that I was intimidated by the skills and speed of everyone playing. I didn't think I could perform, so I chose to sit and watch.

In fact, except for GoldenEye and Perfect Dark on my N64, I almost never played FPS games before the GameCube came out. Of course I tried some of the classic games (Duke Nukem, Doom, Turok, Allied Assault), but I would rather play action, adventure or platform games. When I got my GameCube I played more of them (Time Splitters 2, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 and Halo at my friends') but still not that much compared to other genres. In fact I played a LOT more FPS's since I got my PS3 in 2008 than I've ever played before. Now I can say that I like the genre, but it's getting harder and harder to find some innovation.

That's where CS : GO came in. I won't lie, I don't play THAT much, but I really appreciate how there's no leveling up, no XP, no "perks", no unlockable weapons or no clear advantage for veteran players (except sheer experience) over "newbies". Weirdly, it was a breath of fresh air, even if I'm not very good and I'm having a hard time adjusting to the gameplay.

Next up : Final Fantasy VII