GOTY 2012 #02 - Max Payne 3

Max is a one of the most celebrated modern characters in the industry.

So close now! What game just fell narrowly short of being crowned the best game of 2012? Well that title belongs to none other than Rockstar’s Max Payne 3.

When I heard Max Payne was being remade my ears perked up and I was ready to listen – I was intrigued, I wanted to know what was going to happen to one of my most beloved childhood franchises. Upon learning that Rockstar took development under their wing I immediately felt a sigh of relief and I did nothing more than wait for what was undoubtedly going to be a special game in 2012.

Battling his demons and kicking ass, all in a days work.

So what made Max Payne 3 so special that it sits higher than so many games on this list? Let’s begin by looking at the story and narrative, something that traditionally Rockstar are renown for. When someone asks me “what was the best video game story of 2012?” my immediate response is Max Payne 3. Rockstar did the most incredible job bringing a thought provoking and intriguing story to life as Max Payne battled his demons and overcame the hardships of his past life. You’re literally put into the shoes of Max, seeing what he sees and listening to what he thinks about the people around him and the society they live in. His prehistoric look on modern society is amusing and simultaneously sad as you feel like an aging dinosaur is no longer welcome in this modern world.

Fortunately things go from bad to well, downright terrible for Max and the chaos is where unfortunately he finds himself most at home. When the action begins and the boozing stops, Max goes on a hunt for revenge that slowly re-awakens the demons Max was trying so desperately to hide. This unraveling story is a joy to behold and even more fun to experience first-hand. Rockstar wanted this to be a new chapter in Max Payne’s life and the first hour or so almost have you believing that despite the alcoholism, Max is living in the present with his new job far away from New York City, however when trouble comes knocking, Max simply can’t stay away.

Is there anything more fun than Bullet Time?

In typical Rockstar fashion, this phenomenal storyline is intertwined with fantastic third-person shooting action that sees Max acquire a host of cool weapons and blast his way through hordes of enemies. Bullet Time makes a triumphant return giving Max an edge on the battlefield where he constantly finds himself outmanned and outgunned. Some fantastic set-piece scenarios are spread across an engaging and challenging campaign mode that will certainly provide hours of entertainment and fun.

I think ultimately it’s just a testament to how good Rockstar are as a development team. Their games are of the highest quality and it wouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist to at least guess Max Payne 3 was going to be at minimum, a very good game. What we didn’t see coming was an almost perfect combination of story-telling and gameplay that merged together to form 2012’s most engaging narrative, one that was almost impossible to stop playing through. Let Max Payne 3 reel you in because you’ll be in for an absolute treat. Max Payne 3 is deservedly the second best game of 2012. 

Nostalgia overload.

GOTY 2012 #05 - Journey

A unique experience in the video game industry.

The illustrious top 5 titles of 2012 – how exciting! This year has seen some very impressive technical achievements flourish in the video game industry, but the next 5 games shone above the rest and are each in their own way, innovators moving this mode of entertainment to new heights previously unexplored in gaming.

Look how beautiful this is, I mean just, wow.

The PlayStation Network exclusive Journey starts our top 5 countdown, providing a unique, emotional and thought provoking experience unlike any other this year. Journey tells the silent tale of a mysterious traveler as they try and reach a beautiful mountaintop in the distance. Providing little in terms of gameplay or story, Journey was intended by the developers Thatgamecompany to “evoke in the player a sense of smallness and wonder, and to forge an emotional connection between them and the anonymous players they meet along the way.”

Indeed those of you who have not played Journey may be asking, “what kind of game is it?”, and truth be told, that’s a very difficult question to answer. If you broke it down Journey is a puzzle exploration game but it’s impossible not to experience the deeper levels of this mesmerizing title as you meet other players along your journey and explore some of the most beautiful environments the industry has ever seen.

A mysterious and majestic lead character.

Coupled with stunning visuals Journey’s story is told through the medium of music. A beautiful ballad follows your character as you move deeper and deeper into the heart of the desert while communication between yourself and players is limited to serene singing. Somehow without any form of direct communication, players establish partnerships and help each other complete objectives without once ever doing anymore than whistling a tune or performing a jig – a truly magical feeling that you must experience.

Some have complained that Journey has a severe lack of gameplay and should be defined as an artistic venture as opposed to a video game. While this is to an extent a reasonable comment to make for those expecting more interaction, it would also be fair to retort by stating that Thatgamecompany never intended to create that type of game and what they were trying to achieve had to be performed through this artistic medium. Whatever side of the fence you choose to sit on, it’s absolutely undeniable that Journey is visually stunning, blissful on the ears and a joy to experience. This is unlike anything you’ve played this year and as a result, thoroughly deserves praise as one of 2012’s absolute finest title. 

Explore a wonderful world with a silent friend -- a vivid and surreal experience.

GOTY 2012 #10 - Resident Evil 6

Capcom captivate some and disappoint others with Resident Evil 6.

Hello and welcome as I once again count down the video game industry’s best achievements this year. Spread across the next 10 days I will be revealing what I consider to be 2012’s finest, culminating in my Game of the Year 2012. I would of course LOVE to hear all your thoughts about the following choices and do debate, argue and ramble on our social network feeds to let me know whether you agree or disagree.

2 leading characters return alongside a new protagonist.

In at number 10 I have chosen Resident Evil 6, a title that received very mixed reviews globally. I personally felt that the negative reception was totally unjust and obviously some reviewers just woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

Resident Evil 6 evolved Capcom’s iconic series further down the line of Action Adventure Horror – which seemed to be most people’s biggest problem. Once you make your peace with the fact Resident Evil 6 is not a Survival Horror title, you find an action-packed adventure spread across 4 fantastic campaigns.

Resident Evil 6 refined the gameplay formula too, making this a much more fast-paced shooter, with plenty of run-and-gun moments and larger than life set-piece battles. Each campaign provided a strong sense of varied gameplay and it was clear that there was no weak link between them.

This, isn't survival horror?!

Saying all of this, I have to acknowledge that Resident Evil 6 did have some consistency and pacing issues. It wasn’t the most balanced game with ammo constantly being on the low side, enemies proving to be very cheap on harder difficulty levels and some disconnection between certain areas of the game. This perhaps can be blamed on the large development team behind the title but it’s no real excuse, especially considering how important the story is to Resident Evil 6.

Nevertheless, the offline split-screen cooperative mode as well as online functionality allowed gamers to experience this thrilling ride with a buddy, or go through it solo with an AI partner. If that’s not enough the infamous Mercenaries mode made a triumphant return as you attempted to climb up the leaderboard and achieve ultimate Resident Evil greatness.

While having some issues Resident Evil 6 still stood out as one of 2012’s finest, leaving me with a satisfying grin on my face after every single campaign. With plenty of replay value alongside the relatively large initial story, this is an absolute must have for action adventure and horror hybrid lovers. Zombies may be on the down but Leon and Chris’s battle against Umbrella is really just beginning. 

An iconic scene for the video game industry.

CeX Review - Hitman: Absolution

Click here to read my review.

CeX Review - Halo 4

Click here to read my review.

CeX Review - Borderlands 2

Click here to read my review.

CeX Review - Sorcery

Click here to read my review.

CeX Review - The Amazing Spider-Man

Click here to read my review.

MCM Expo London--Eat your heart out Comic-Con!

You may or may not have been aware that one of the most iconic video game, anime, manga, comic and movie conventions was in London's ExCel Center last weekend where an astonishing 55,000 + people got their nerd on! Yes Comic-Con, eat your heart out because it can be done just as well across the pond and boy was it an absolute blast!

GameSpot UK Crew @ MCM Expo!

I was fortunate enough to get back together with the GameSpot UK team and man their booth (as the muscle) across the weekend, with front row seats to their excellent stage show and all the weird and wonderful action of the Expo around me. My partners in crime were the lovely Lauren Wainwright and Capcom's Daria Gerasimova, who are both super happy fun time people and need your love on Twitter!



So I thought I'd drop this blog to give a little run-down of what was present, the GameSpot UK booth, stage-show and whatever else I managed to catch a glimpse of amidst all the carnage.

The GameSpot UK booth was right at the heart of the arena, which made sense considering the amount of space needed for the stage, audience and the booth itself. This was a prime location as it seemed everyone was buzzing around us, waiting to see what goodies we were showing off, and giving away.

The picture says it all doesn't it?

Across the weekend we show-cased Child of Eden (Kinect), Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (360), Shadows of the Damned (360), Red Faction: Armageddon (360), DiRT 3 (360), Mortal Kombat (PS3), Virtua Tennis 4 (PS3) and some old school classic arcade games. Endless amounts of people flooded through our confines, played games, talked to us, signed up for our awesome competition and had a great time. It was obvious the exclusives were getting more attention than other games, but nothing was ever free, so we were kept busy.

The gang recording a podcast with the guys from Red Faction: Armageddon

The awesome stage show was really the highlight for GameSpot UK, with a plethora of content, special guest speakers, a live podcast and lots of cool games, I don't remember a free chair all weekend. The stage saw Europe's first exclusive look at Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition with Capcom's lead PR Leo Tang leading the presentation, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Child of Eden, Red Faction: Armageddon, Earth Defence Force and a host of other titles throughout the weekend. Fantastic work from our team up on stage ensured everyone was kept entertained and every presentation ran smoothly.

Lion Man busy promoting his awesome lion wrestling abilities.

When I wasn't playing security for our booth, I had a chance to wonder around and take in and awe at everything around me. Needless to say, every single person was dressed in cosplay--you couldn't walk from one booth to another without stumbling into a Batman or Cloud Strife. Highlights for me included 2K's fantastic Duke Nukem courtesy of their PR team, Darth Vadar, Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit and a female Predator. I also totally met the Lion Man from the hit show on Sky 1--no idea what he was doing there but super stoked regardless!!!

Hail to the King baby!

There was plenty of other amazing stuff across the arena--aside from all the little shops selling memorabilia and the countless tables set up for card games, I had a chance to check out the other video game booths. Nintendo were in attendance showing off The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. I tried to get a quick go but was quickly told to turn round and look at the 200 man line waiting to play--needless to say my VIP badge was not getting me on that console any quicker. Epic Studios had a wicked 5 on 5 LAN Gears of War 3 station that showed off essentially the Beta that came out not too long ago. F3AR and Mortal Kombat also had their own booths and Red Faction: Armageddon was sitting near by too. I think Capcom had the most popularity across the weekend as they held Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournaments. Every time I wondered over there the place was rammed and it was super cool that they had arcade sticks for the more hardcore gamers.

So that's about it from what I remember, the weekend was just so hectic that I may have forgotten bits and pieces but I will add things as they come back to me. This would of course be an appropriate time to thank the GameSpot UK team for inviting me to work with them again, always an absolute pleasure. For those of you guys who want to see all the amazing photos we took over the weekend, you can do so right here on the GameSpot UK website.

The next expo is in October once again at the ExCel Center London, you'd be crazy to miss out it is truly one of the best experiences! See you guys there! Hit me up on Twitter: @ss4Igor

L.A. Noire - work of art, not a video game.

With the release of L.A. Noire imminent all I see on every social media site is the countless hype and praise for the next instalment in Rockstar’s repertoire. I personally, have not fallen in love with the aforementioned--unlike literally everyone else out there. I would like to pose a video-game hypothesis if I may:

"L.A. Noire is a technical masterpiece--a work of art, but not a great video game."

I will of course purchase L.A. Noire, but not because I'm so absorbed by the magic spell that Rockstar seems to have everyone mesmerised with, rather I'm curious to see if my hypothesis will hold true in my own mind first, and then whether people will slowly join my ranks and agree with me.

Let me first go through why I am personally not looking forward to L.A. Noire:

• The idea of playing the most elaborate point-and-click adventure does not appeal to me. From what we know, it is apparent that L.A. Noire's crime-scene investigating is extensive, thorough, long-winded and boring. The idea of rummaging for a cigarette butt in a side street is not my idea of an exciting video game. 

• I am not looking forward to the stereotypical GTA-style driving. They say it has been improved since GTAIV--but it's not difficult to improve on absolute god-awful. 

• I am not in the least bit excited about the GTA-style gunfights. It doesn’t matter how many times they do it, Rockstar’s sandbox games do not ever have enjoyable third-person shooting mechanics. 

• A game where I quote from the developers "the diary will be your most important tool," does not scream excitement to me. The constant need to refer to a diary and the games apparent pacing problems I know will frustrate me beyond any measure. 

I feel that those of you who have played Heavy Rain will be able to sympathise with me. I really enjoyed HR and argued that it too was a piece of technical brilliance and a work of art. But it was very hard in my mind to call it a video game. My feelings are mirrored here with the release of L.A. Noire I struggle to justify defining it as a video game. There is absolutely no denying that what Rockstar have accomplished is brilliant, the incredible facial-construction, brilliant narrative and absorbing story, all blend together to make a fascinating experience--but that's exactly what it is, an interactive experience, not a video game. I feel the true definition of a video game has been lost with the creation of titles such as L.A. Noire.

I will return to this topic once I run through L.A. Noire but I have a strong feeling that my opinion won't change. 

I'd love to hear from you guys, add me on Twitter @ss4Igor.

Edit//

After doing my usual roam around Twitter and other social media sites, I'm beginning to find some great tweets about LA Noire.

Adrian Chmielarz (Director of Bulletstorm)

 

"LA Noire is experience evolved, gameplay devolved - but I couldn't care less. My name is Adrian and I am an LA Noire addict."