I haven’t been blogging for various reasons. Most of them have to do with me being an unhappy and depressed little piece of crap unable to get my head out of my own ass in order to do something therapeutic and entertaining. Y’know, like blogging. However, it is time I end that. After all, the end of the year is coming up, and with that comes the requisite “best of blah-de-blooh” that every games writer, amateur or professional, must write for some reason.

Unfortunately, so much time has passed that I can’t really give a detailed account on most of these games. It’s all cluttered together, minor details have escaped my brain, and the mood to discuss them has long since passed. So instead of tackling them one at a time, then, I shall instead group them together in one long ass post.

Enjoy!

GEARS OF WAR 3

“The first person shooter is dead!” my overly enthusiastic self from 2006 declared. “This is the future of shooters!”

Fast forward to myself in 2011, asking “Why am I still doing this?”

Gears of War 3 is a lot more like Return of the Gears, much like Gears of War 2 was The Two Gearsers to Gears of War’s Fellowship of the Gears. It’s not really a sequel, it’s a continuation. The changes are small, mostly tweaks and fixes to the original system, with some graphical improvements and some new additions to enemy and weapon rosters. In truth, if you played Gears of War, then you’ve pretty much played Gears of War 3.

Of course, I’d dare say that Gears of War 3 is actually the worst of the series due to the Lambent. Epic’s new foe is nothing short of annoying to fight against. While the Lambent Stalks, which allow the enemy to infinitely spawn, is similar on paper to the emergence holes in the first two games, they cannot be taken out as easily as with a well-aimed grenade toss. No, you have to be in just the right spot in order to take down these stalks, sometimes having to cross right into enemy territory in order to keep them from spawning. It makes for frustrating times rather than fun ones. It is only when you’re back to fighting the Locust that you’ll recall why you are playing this game to begin with, which means the first hour or two will be enough to drive you back to GameStop for the rip-off trade-in credit.

The one thing that Epic does right, however, is Horde mode. For those of us that could care less about competitive multiplayer, Epic has taken the idea of building perimeter defenses players developed in the previous game and expanded upon it. You’re still fending off wave after wave of foes, but now you have defenses in place to help slow them down or even kill them early. It allows for the waves to become much more hectic while also increasing strategic play. The Beast mode, which allows you to play as Locust, is a similar idea from the opposite side. You and some pals will instead bust through Human defenses in order to kill them all.

In the end, there are only two reasons to play Gears of War 3. Okay, three. The retro lancer, Horde and Beast modes, and if you really care, to see the series end.

That is, until the inevitable spin-off Gears of War Wars.

inFAMOUS 2

So uh, you remember my review for the first inFamous? Kind of like that.

It really sells the game short to compare it to the first, as there is a definite adjustment between the two. inFamous 2 feels a bit different from its predecessor, where navigating the world is smoother while certain powers feel a bit nerfed (such as the basic shock attack). You won’t feel like the same bad ass you started the last game as, but by the end, you’ll have a new assortment of abilities that will make you feel like an even stronger super hero.

But this isn’t the best part about the game. I don’t know if I could justify $60 on a slightly better version of inFamous. However, where the first game tripped face-first in its narrative, inFamous 2 runs the entire field and scores a touch down. Cinematic cut-scenes allow the characters to actually develop more personality than giving orders over radio and what Cole describes in cut-scenes. While his new voice is jarring at first, it allows him to feel like more than just a “grim and gritty” 90’s action hero. He feels like a person, and so does everyone else in the game.

The cinematic set-pieces, the plot twists, and the final choice at the end of the game all come together in one of the most fine experiences seen in gaming this year. This alone makes inFamous 2 worth visiting, and if you don’t have a PS3, then this series is the reason to buy yourself one.

STAR FOX 64 3D

It may seem silly to review a game that’s more than ten years old… oh, who are we kidding? It even reached the point where IGN was starting to go back and review old NES games and crap. People will review anything, as if somehow there’s something new to say. Instead, you pretty much just lean towards nostalgic biases, or take the “controversial” stance that the game wasn’t all that great to begin with.

Fortunately, I never actually owned a copy of Star Fox 64, so playing Star Fox 64 3D was a mostly new experience for me. I never played much of the campaign, my friends instead choosing to reveal just how proficient I was at sucking at the game’s versus mode. So while Star Fox 64 3D was a sort of blast to the past, it was more the joy of a time when Nintendo knew just what made Star Fox so fun. It’s a rail shooter that allows slightly more freedom, with a more arcade style to the combat. Power-ups, bosses and hidden pathways to new worlds all packed in a game that can be played in one sitting.

The best part is, it continues to be fun each subsequent play through. It’s a bit frustrating that you can’t choose an easy, normal or hard path like the original, but this also allows you to “customize” what levels you wish to play. If you find certain planets annoying, choose the path that will take you away from it.

Sure, it’s a port, but it’s a port of a fun game, and most importantly a port of the last truly good Star Fox game.

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY

If you jump into Arkham City right after playing through Asylum, you’ll have a slight advantage to those who hadn’t. Rocksteady didn’t just try and take the original game and throw some extra toys in. This isn’t Gears of War. This is taking the engine and deciding to throw Batman into a different genre, almost.

Okay, maybe a lot of that is hyperbole, but the truth is that the two games are different. Asylum has a lot more in common with Metroid or Resident Evil (the first one), where you are exploring a single location while unlocking new abilities. City is a lot more like Assassin’s Creed or inFamous, where your powers are used to make navigating the city faster and easier. The entire city is almost completely open to you from the start, with only a few locations inaccessible. So while the basic controls of combat, gliding and other simple mechanics remain the same, the way you play will be very different.

That Rocksteady chose to leave just about all your original abilities in tact does hinder the game a bit. All the new abilities are still useful, but they gave it a “more is more” mentality. Most players won’t use all the abilities, and a lot of the new tactics and skills available aren’t even introduced in a clear manner. In some ways, the game is too big, and is most suited for people that will only be playing Arkham City for a while. This isn’t too bad, as there’s a lot of side quests and a ton of Riddler trophies to collect, but at some point all you’ll be doing is collecting trophies. The city is interesting and the story is great, but it’s not that interesting or long.

EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: INSECT ARMAGEDDON

I’m still not quite sure what I feel about this game, other than it’s the closest thing to 2017 being playable online. Yet sitting down with a friend of mine and playing 2017 right after a solo game of Insect Armageddon, well, it feels like Vicious Cycle lost sight a bit of what made the original game so great.

They still tried to keep with some of the game’s original over-the-top old-skool sci-fi tone, but none of the robots or monsters are cheesy enough. They don’t move in that cheap, stop-motion or in-a-rubber-suit fashion. You aren’t grabbing weapon pick-ups left and right, instead only getting them occasionally and after defeating a more powerful foe. Even then, you need to purchase the weapon! Instead of building levels to be quick five minute affairs, they’ve tried to create actual objectives that can change. This means longer levels, sure, but a lack of check-points drives it to be more annoying than anything. This is nothing to say of how short the game is in comparison to the first.

What really bites, though, is the ending. I know I shouldn’t be playing a game like this for the story, but it has to be one of the worst, most lame attempts at a game ending ever.

This isn’t to say the game hasn’t improved upon any of the original’s features. The engine, in particular, is a lot more smooth and vehicles aren’t completely worthless. Yet the little things that people played 2017 for are either toned down or harder to get to in Insect Armageddon.

SUPER MARIO 3D LAND

3D Platformers have never been as fun to me as their side-scrolling counter-parts. I was never able to really get into games like Mario Galaxy because of this, despite the creative levels and excellent design. Metroid: Other M was the first game that fused both 3D and the side-scrolling style that allowed freedom of movement while keeping the player on a consistent path. I loved the style and nature of the game, and it seemed to me a potential way to pave the side-scroller into the three-dimensional future without having to rely on retro nostalgia.

Super Mario 3D Land is another excellent proof of concept. I haven’t enjoyed a Mario game so much since Super Mario World. It takes the simple fun of the old side-scroller games, particularly Mario Bros. 3, and marries them with the 3D environments of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy. In the end, you have one of the best titles in the series, marrying the best of both worlds together.

The game seems easy and short at first, but in truth the game is twice as long as you imagine. Once you reach that halfway point, you’ll be introduced to the truly difficult levels that test the mettle of any experienced gamer. The only thing the game is really missing is the actual “world” aspect. Super Mario World took the over-world aspect of Mario Bros. 3 and expanded upon it, allowing players to find tons of secret pathways, optional yet secret levels and tons of shortcuts throughout the game. It gave the game a sense of a setting, even more so than was found in Super Mario Bros. 3. Yet that has been missing ever since.

I doubt it will ever return, but if it does, maybe it’ll be in the sequel. As it is, Super Mario 3D Land is reason enough to get a Nintendo 3DS for Christmas this year.