Now I must confess, this is not the first time I have attempted to start a blog, but alas I am here again for a third time. Three's a charm, third time lucky and all that. I'm hoping that alone will help me avoid another epic fail when it comes to actually keeping the damn thing alive.
So to get back in the swing of things I've compiled a top-ten list of the games that will hopefully be sitting under my tree come Christmas morning.
Let's get one thing straight-I love The Legend of Zelda. Ok so I've never played a Link to the Past, which I have on Virtual Console by the way, but I've played Ocarina of Time onwards and hold the series in the highest regards. After finishing Twilight Princess however, I didn't feel that same magical feeling. I felt empty. It was good, but it felt like there were far too many rehashed ideas, and the dark world/light world theme was old and wasn't good the first time round. I was genuinely disappointed when Nintendo announced the then untitled Skyward Sword. I wanted a reboot but it looked like the same old Zelda.
Recently though I've had a change of heart. I eventually came to accept that even if it did use the same old formula, it would still be fantastic. I recently seen a presentation from Ninty legend, Shigeru Miyamoto, showcasing ten minutes of Skyward Sword gameplay, and it looked fantastic. I am genuinely more excited for this game than I have been for any game in a long time, and I'm confident that Nintendo have shaken the formula up somewhat, even if it isn't the reboot I wanted. I am now officially won over.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
It's been far too long since the last Elder Scrolls game, and let’s face it, a sequel is long overdue. That said, as much as I'm looking forward to Skyrim, there is a part of me that wishes Bethesda held off and made Skyrim for the next generation of consoles. I’m just being picky though, as I’m sure I’ll be spending countless hours knee deep in Skyrim goodness.
It took me quite some time to get to grips with Demon's Souls. In all honesty, I couldn't see myself getting very far with it. You need a lot of patience, which is something I don't have a lot of. What I do have a lot of though is persistence. I persisted and a thousand deaths later I found a deeply rewarding and satisfying RPG romp. I'm certain the spiritual sequel to Demon's Souls will be every bit as satisfying and probably twice as fucking hard.
Uncharted 2 surprised me a hell of a lot. The first Uncharted was good, but I was far from blown away. Uncharted 2 was a spectacular, globe-trotting thrill ride, with some of the most memorable set-pieces this gen. The cinematics usually draw most of the praise, but it’s the pulsating action and death-defying exploration that I'm looking forward to most.
I have to admit I really wasn't as impressed by Arkham Asylum as most of the gaming press were. Sure I enjoyed it; it was a well-crafted action game with a great story running through it. The Scarecrow sections in particular were fantastic, but in general I just thought it was a tad over-hyped. I've been concerned that it may have been a one-hit-pony and was sceptical that Rocksteady could match, let alone surpass their first effort. Everything I've read in the last week seems to tell me that I couldn't be more wrong.
I'm of a certain age where I can reminisce about the good old days to a certain point, but I'm not quite old enough to hold Id software close to my heart. I was more of a Duke Nukem guy to be honest. That said, Rage does look stupendously lovely, and the actual shooting aspects look extremely gratifying. I don't think it's going to be world-beating, but hopefully it will be an entertaining romp through post-apocalyptic hell.
Ok, so it's not a proper sequel and probably could have been released via DLC (despite what Capcom say).
But the bottom line is this, you can play as NEMESIS. End of discussion.
I've always wanted to be a fan of Team Ico, but having never actually played any of their games; it makes it a tad difficult. Thankfully I've been given a second chance with this glorious HD double pack. A little birdie tells me Shadow of the Colossus is still as breath-taking as it was back in 2005, whereas Ico hasn't aged quite so well. I can live with that.
No-one can deny just how stunning the promotional footage of Battlefield 3 looks. My gripe from the start though has been that those gorgeous visuals will not be replicated on consoles. I'd love to play Battlefield 3 on a PC, but mine just won't cut it, and I'm a console gamer through and through anyway. I'm still confident Battlefield 3 will be a fantastic online experience, just as Battlefield 2 was, but I will be surprised if it offers a superior all-round package to its fierce rival.
Having played the series since Call of Duty 2, you could say I'm somewhat of a fan-albeit a different breed to the type of fan the series has picked up post Modern Warfare. I don't eagerly anticipate the yearly release-though I did get swept up in the Moderns Warfare 2 hype,which I thought was brilliant by the way-but I buy them as they tend to be better than 90% of the shooters on the market. And for the record, I didn't think Black-Ops was shit. It featured some of the best moments in the series, though the plot did lack some of the finesse of previous efforts. The multi-player was finely-tuned, with some excellent new modes thrown into the mix. The gun game in particular is a fantastic addition. Modern Warfare 3 however could see the series take a turn for the worse. With a large mass of Infinity Ward's troops defecting to the enemy, it will be interesting to see how Activision's crown jewel will fare this year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment