We're about 3 weeks away from a brand new year in 2014 and many games have arrived on the scene this year to say the least, some good, some bad. Here's the topic for discussing the highlights and lowlights out of the games that arrived on the scene this year:
THE PROPS GO TO:
- Bioshock Infinite was lent to me by a certain Magpie on these forums and I have to say it was a brilliantly-made game from beginning to end. Very nice, colourful visuals, an immersive world with brilliant detail, always something happening in it even outside of combat scenes, the gameplay was a blend of FPS and spellcasting with the vigors that worked very well with each other, overall the game was just a brilliant combination of immersion and gameplay that just flowed really well. It's kind-of hard to describe why Bioshock Infinite is so good beyond "it just is, you'll just have to take my word for it" (and considering I usually do nothing but bash every game I play, compliments from me mean a LOT) but with the only notable flaw in the game being how short it is I'd recommend Bioshock Infinite to anyone looking for something random to play or is a fan of the FPS genre. To me, this game is the FPS version of what Dishonoured should have been (and the less said about that log of shit the better...)
- I was a bit skeptical about how this game would fare in comparison to the PC version, and I was fully expecting it to be an inferior port. After playing it through to completion I can quite comfortably say that the console version of Diablo III is much more fun for me than the PC version ever was. Although the console version was a lot easier than the PC version was to a rather disappointing degree (although the Master difficulty settings can adjust the monster strength to match the PC version difficulty) I found the game a lot more comfortable to play with the Xbox controller than the keyboard and mouse to my surprise, and the vastly improved loot drops throughout the game ensure you're not saddled constantly with loot drops that aren't for your class. Although I was a bit disappointed that they nerfed the "That One Boss" (fuck TVTropes) of the PC version, Belial, for the console port, they made up for it by drastically improving Azmodan from his insultingly easy PC version battle, the console version of Diablo III was a purchase well worth every penny I spent on it and I can safely say I'll never be looking back at the PC version ever again now.
- The props of the year have to go to - credit where it's due - Game Freak for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. All the issues of previous generations gone, a Pokemon game with graphics that finally look good as opposed to the pixellated and dated look the previous generations had for their time, a ton of new stuff added to the series... you've heard it all before and probably experienced it all from playing these two games but it has to be said: Gen VI is fucking awesome so far. Granted, I always expect to enjoy the main series games, but I don't usually expect them to be the best games I play in the year and X and Y proved to me that Game Freak have stepped their game up this time around and I can't wait to see what the rest of this generation has in store for us all.
Yeah, I know I'm shit at complimenting stuff, so here's what you really came for, the games so horrible they suck shit out of a moose's anus...
THE FLOPS:
- I'm a cynical gamer, I don't usually expect a lot of games recommended to me by others so why the holy fuck I expected Dota 2 to be any good is beyond me. Honestly I should have known better when the only reason Dota fantards could come up with as to why this MOBA is better than LoL is "it's harder," but everyone knows I'm a schmuck for shit games and here we go (do note that by this logic, Daikatana is better than Quake II - think about that for a moment.) The big, overarching issue I have with Dota 2 is that, quite simply, it looks and plays like it should have been released about 10 years ago. The graphics just look like mud-coloured ass, and I know I'm not THAT colourblind, the gameplay feels clunky and outdated especially when compared to the sequence of "quality of life" changes League had several months before Dota 2's release, the whole game just feels old and outdated in pretty much the same way Duke Nukem Forever felt old and outdated the day it came out. Why people not only like this game, but claim it's the best MOBA out there is completely beyond me, because this isn't just a bad MOBA, it's a fucking awful game in general. The saddest thing about Dota 2 is that it's a Valve game - I expected Half-Life and got Daikatana. Speaking of which...
- Now, I know this game was released in 2000, but it arrived on Steam in 2013 so as far as I'm concerned it still counts purely on the grounds that it's so horrible a game it has to be mentioned: Daikatana is fucking atrocious. I thought the videos showing off the awful, irritating, glitchy gameplay and hideous graphics showcased this game's abysmal nature perfectly... but they only scratched the surface. This game is ten times worse than anything you've ever heard about it; the gameplay only ever veers between mind-numbingly boring (seriously, shooting frogs and mosquitos in the fucking jungle, really John?) and utterly infuriating (all of Level 3... just Level 3) and the worst thing about all of it is that Daikatana had a lot of genuinely clever ideas, especially for the time development for it started in the late 90s. A ton of potential never truly realized, and the end result of it all is one of the worst games I've ever played in my life. THANKS JOHN!
As stated in a previous thread, Metroid Other M's shittyness transcends time, so it is the worst game of 2013 naturally, but we won't count it here for the sake of fairness.
THE PROPS GO TO:
- Bioshock Infinite was lent to me by a certain Magpie on these forums and I have to say it was a brilliantly-made game from beginning to end. Very nice, colourful visuals, an immersive world with brilliant detail, always something happening in it even outside of combat scenes, the gameplay was a blend of FPS and spellcasting with the vigors that worked very well with each other, overall the game was just a brilliant combination of immersion and gameplay that just flowed really well. It's kind-of hard to describe why Bioshock Infinite is so good beyond "it just is, you'll just have to take my word for it" (and considering I usually do nothing but bash every game I play, compliments from me mean a LOT) but with the only notable flaw in the game being how short it is I'd recommend Bioshock Infinite to anyone looking for something random to play or is a fan of the FPS genre. To me, this game is the FPS version of what Dishonoured should have been (and the less said about that log of shit the better...)
- I was a bit skeptical about how this game would fare in comparison to the PC version, and I was fully expecting it to be an inferior port. After playing it through to completion I can quite comfortably say that the console version of Diablo III is much more fun for me than the PC version ever was. Although the console version was a lot easier than the PC version was to a rather disappointing degree (although the Master difficulty settings can adjust the monster strength to match the PC version difficulty) I found the game a lot more comfortable to play with the Xbox controller than the keyboard and mouse to my surprise, and the vastly improved loot drops throughout the game ensure you're not saddled constantly with loot drops that aren't for your class. Although I was a bit disappointed that they nerfed the "That One Boss" (fuck TVTropes) of the PC version, Belial, for the console port, they made up for it by drastically improving Azmodan from his insultingly easy PC version battle, the console version of Diablo III was a purchase well worth every penny I spent on it and I can safely say I'll never be looking back at the PC version ever again now.
- The props of the year have to go to - credit where it's due - Game Freak for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. All the issues of previous generations gone, a Pokemon game with graphics that finally look good as opposed to the pixellated and dated look the previous generations had for their time, a ton of new stuff added to the series... you've heard it all before and probably experienced it all from playing these two games but it has to be said: Gen VI is fucking awesome so far. Granted, I always expect to enjoy the main series games, but I don't usually expect them to be the best games I play in the year and X and Y proved to me that Game Freak have stepped their game up this time around and I can't wait to see what the rest of this generation has in store for us all.
Yeah, I know I'm shit at complimenting stuff, so here's what you really came for, the games so horrible they suck shit out of a moose's anus...
THE FLOPS:
- I'm a cynical gamer, I don't usually expect a lot of games recommended to me by others so why the holy fuck I expected Dota 2 to be any good is beyond me. Honestly I should have known better when the only reason Dota fantards could come up with as to why this MOBA is better than LoL is "it's harder," but everyone knows I'm a schmuck for shit games and here we go (do note that by this logic, Daikatana is better than Quake II - think about that for a moment.) The big, overarching issue I have with Dota 2 is that, quite simply, it looks and plays like it should have been released about 10 years ago. The graphics just look like mud-coloured ass, and I know I'm not THAT colourblind, the gameplay feels clunky and outdated especially when compared to the sequence of "quality of life" changes League had several months before Dota 2's release, the whole game just feels old and outdated in pretty much the same way Duke Nukem Forever felt old and outdated the day it came out. Why people not only like this game, but claim it's the best MOBA out there is completely beyond me, because this isn't just a bad MOBA, it's a fucking awful game in general. The saddest thing about Dota 2 is that it's a Valve game - I expected Half-Life and got Daikatana. Speaking of which...
- Now, I know this game was released in 2000, but it arrived on Steam in 2013 so as far as I'm concerned it still counts purely on the grounds that it's so horrible a game it has to be mentioned: Daikatana is fucking atrocious. I thought the videos showing off the awful, irritating, glitchy gameplay and hideous graphics showcased this game's abysmal nature perfectly... but they only scratched the surface. This game is ten times worse than anything you've ever heard about it; the gameplay only ever veers between mind-numbingly boring (seriously, shooting frogs and mosquitos in the fucking jungle, really John?) and utterly infuriating (all of Level 3... just Level 3) and the worst thing about all of it is that Daikatana had a lot of genuinely clever ideas, especially for the time development for it started in the late 90s. A ton of potential never truly realized, and the end result of it all is one of the worst games I've ever played in my life. THANKS JOHN!
As stated in a previous thread, Metroid Other M's shittyness transcends time, so it is the worst game of 2013 naturally, but we won't count it here for the sake of fairness.