Top 10: Best Games of 2013

Honourable Mention: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

A swashbuckling return to form for the series following the disappointing previous entry.

Honourable Mention: Forza Motorsport 5

One of the best looking and most engaging driving games in quite a while. Currently the best game on Xbox One.

Honourable Mention: Knack

A tough but endearing platformer that gets unfair criticism on account of its old school nature.

10. Battlefield 4

A visceral shooting experience with a scale of battle that blows others out of the water.

9. DmC: Devil May Cry

A new twist on my favourite series in gaming. 'DmC: Devil May Cry' has its fair share of letdowns for a fan like me but it gets one important thing right: the combat.

8. Splinter Cell: Blacklist

A thoroughly enjoyable globetrotting stealth adventure. 'Splinter Cell: Blacklist' may be getting further and further from the hardcore sneaking of the original but it delivers an almost unparalleled mix of fun and tactical combat.

7. Tomb Raider

A much needed reinvention for the series that defined its genre. 'Tomb Raider' has a by the numbers story but great gameplay and a satisfying upgrade system.

6. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

A nostalgic return to the era of 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past', this game features the great gameplay you would expect from the series. The best Zelda game in years.

5. Gone Home

A turning point for games in general, 'Gone Home' tells a story so personal and uses the tropes of video games so well that it seems unbelievable it had never been done before. If ever a game was worth your time, this is it.

4. Grand Theft Auto V

Yet another content packed and excellently crafted release from Rockstar. 'Grand Theft Auto V' has so much to do its a little intimidating and its story is as lacklustre as it gets but let's be honest, story is not why you buy a Grand Theft Auto game.

3. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

The JRPG I've been waiting so long for, 'Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch' perfectly matches pokemon inspired gameplay with a touching and beautifully animated story from the great Studio Ghibli.

2. Bioshock Infinite

A thrilling adventure set in a fascinating world. This game manages to do what I thought was impossible, best the original 'Bioshock'. Thanks to its stunning story and hectic combat 'Bioshock Infinite' is one of my favourite games of all-time.

1. The Last of Us

The best game Naughty Dog have yet created 'The Last of Us' is impeccable on all fronts. Staggering performances from Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson bring the characters of Joel and Ellie to life in this tense and gripping post-apocalyptic story. 'The Last of Us' is not just my favourite game of 2013 but also my favourite of the entire generation. It is an absolute masterpiece.

Game Review: Deadpool

Deadpool is one of the most popular comic characters around, and yet nobody outside of the medium knows who he is really. He’s one of those characters whose unique brand of humour combined with exciting action has endeared him to fans, Ryan Reynolds’ brief appearance in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ as Deadpool the wider world was given a glimpse into what this anti-hero is all about. Now with the release of his own game Deadpool finally has his moment in the spotlight to show non-comic readers how he has gained such a devoted following over the years.

‘Deadpool’ arrived at a perfect time for me, I had just recently finished up with ‘The Last of Us’, a true masterpiece in gaming and what I would consider the game of this generation. In an unlikely turnout ‘Deadpool’ proved to be a very compatible companion for ‘The Last of Us’, both have a mature audience in mind and are unflinching the places they will go to tell their story. This doesn’t mean ‘Deadpool’ is a drama however, it is entirely the opposite, ‘Deadpool’ is the perfect palate cleanser for someone who has just finished playing an emotionally devastating and engaging drama, thanks to all the humour brought to the table by the “merc with a mouth” I found myself laughing my way through the game as a kind of cathartic therapy for the post traumatic stress of ‘The Last of Us’.

If you don't find this at least at little funny then you definitely won't enjoy this game.

This brings me to one of the most important things to consider before even approaching this game; you should understand that it is one hundred percent totally a game. Everything from the generic third-person action to the frequent interactive button prompts just screams “This is a game!” to the player, so if you came to this expecting immersion of any kind then I can tell you now, you are going to be disappointed. ‘Deadpool’ certainly doesn’t take itself seriously which allows for some immersion into the character himself and somewhat into the Marvel lore but the flimsy story here serves little purpose other than giving Deadpool a playground to go crazy in.

A character like Deadpool is almost perfectly suited for a game adaption as his powers and abilities cover the most common video game tropes such as regenerative health and dual wielding blades and guns but when it comes to gameplay ‘Deadpool’ is incredibly disappointing. With such a generic combat system it honestly drains away some of the flair of originality present in the game’s script, frankly there isn’t anything here that you haven’t seen dozens of times before, and better executed at that. There isn’t a lack of enjoyment in the gameplay but in a formula that has been done to death as much as this third-person action adventure has it’s hard to effectively get into it. Add to that a broken stealth mechanic, which infuriatingly is mandatory in a section of the game, and an awkward camera that often locks closer to Deadpool than you want it to and you’ll find your dislike of the gameplay affecting your enjoyment of the comedy. Aside from all that you’re faced with trawling through bland, repetitive environments and battling a tediously unvaried army of goons. Sometimes not even Deadpool’s screwball clowning is enough to stave off the boredom.

The combat in 'Deadpool' is adequate but certainly not impressive.

Thankfully rescuing this game from its shameful gameplay is the true epicentre of its appeal, the humour, this is something that I feel will certainly divide people right down the middle into love it or hate it camps. Personally I loved it. The bulk of the congratulations on this front must go to Nolan North who has finally been given the opportunity (aside from his work as Nathan Drake) to break free from his “everyman hero” chains and show just how capable an actor he really is. North demonstrates particular range in his voice acting through his distinct voices for each of Wade’s split personalities. ‘Deadpool’ takes every opportunity available to poke fun at and satirise the medium of video games whether it be a level controlled in an iconic side-scrolling fashion or a quick quip from Deadpool himself about the artificial intelligence of a particular enemy. One of the funniest and most surprising moments in the game that I can recall is during a cut scene where Deadpool meets up with Cable. Cable informs Deadpool of some very critical information but the player is not privy to this information as Wade’s utter boredom brings forth his schizophrenic hallucinations such as him riding in a children’s coin operated rocket ship and turning his glove into a puppet. This scene culminates in a button prompt to the player, “Press R1 to make it stop”, which remains on the screen as Deadpool pleads in apparent agony for the player to press it, once pressed he immediately pulls his gun out and shoots himself in the head, Cable can only frustratingly shout “Dammit Wade!”

All I can say is that ‘Deadpool’ is very much like the eponymous character himself. Often very funny, entertaining, and most definitely an acquired taste.

Game Review: Goldeneye 007: Reloaded

It is often said that ‘Goldeneye’ for the Nintendo 64 is the greatest shooter of all time. So how difficult would it be for the studio to release a slightly updated version of the original for players to enjoy on their next gen systems? Well apparently as it turns out, it’s incredibly difficult.

This game is labeled as an updated version of the original ‘Goldeneye’ for the Nintendo 64 however this is very misrepresentative of the final product because there is almost nothing reminiscent of or familiar from the original game present here besides the story. The levels are almost complete redesigns of the originals, the gadgets are vastly altered and not even a scrap of the original music remains. If by updated they meant “updated to today’s standard of shooters which almost solely features waves of enemies attacking the player in dark warehouses or rainy streets” then I suppose they’ve been accurate but honestly it’s a disgrace that they used the “Goldeneye” name knowing full well that fans of the iconic shooter would hastily buy this game in search of the same fun and excitement they had with the original. They certainly will not.

What I soon realised about ‘Goldeneye 007: Reloaded’ was that it was just like a remake of a great movie, a bad remake. The roles are recast, the pacing is altered and even the script is somewhat unrecognizable to the original. Instead of remaking a flawed original, the developers have rehashed a great game and taken away most if not all of what in my opinion were the greatest elements of ‘Goldeneye.’

There is a complete abandonment of what made the original game great. The lack of Pierce Brosnan in the role of Bond is forgivable from the standpoint that Daniel Craig is currently playing the character and it would make sense for him to play the role in any bond games released, however ‘Goldeneye’ was the film where Brosnan truly became the legendary agent and his absence instantly makes this remake feel empty.

Daniel Craig replaces Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.

Now all the problems concerning the difference between this and the original aside, ‘Goldeneye 007: Reloaded’ still fails on its most important aspect and that is how it matches up if it were an original title without the Bond mantle. Unfortunately by today’s standards this game would simply another mediocre shooter trying to emulate the likes of ‘Call of Duty’. It isn’t a wholly awful game to play if it were its own title but for a bond game of which the last I played was ‘Quantam of Solace’ and, whilst being flawed itself, it is much superior to this sorry rehash.

Getting back to the subject of comparison between this game and the original. It is clear that the original ‘Goldeneye’ had its faults (despite what many would have you believe) and perhaps the reason it seems so superior is simply down to nostalgia but for my money if they had simply updated the graphics of the original whilst leaving all else alone I firmly believe it would have yielded a vastly better game than this “update”.

Whilst the graphical update is pleasant to look at it still is no replacement for the original's great design.

I know I’ve ranted quite a bit about the same topic and it has probably been boring. What I need you to understand though is that ‘Goldeneye’ is such an important game to me, it is one of the first games I truly became engrossed in and I always look back fondly upon my time with it. This is why it disgusts me that developers would dig it up only to give it a shoddy facelift in order to make a quick buck. They call it an update on the original but this is like updating from Windows XP to Windows Vista, save your fond memories and avoid this garbage.

Game Review: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

In a world filled with bland and repetitive shooters like Call of Duty and (sometimes) Battlefield, the Ghost Recon series has always stood out from the rest due to its cerebral aspect of battle. The series has forever been on the cutting edge of military technology whilst combining it with refined and satisfying gameplay. ‘Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’ takes the formula of previous entries in the series and subtly improves and adjusts it to deliver a more cinematic game with a clearer focus in combat. Simply put, it is tactical warfare at its finest.

After a Ghost team is eliminated whilst attempting to recover a nuclear warhead the US government dispatches another team to track down their murderers and the warhead. Facing rising odds and the threat of other covert agencies the Ghosts race to prevent the launch of the weapon as well as uncover hidden conspiracies.

The story is well thought out and interesting but the method of storytelling used is not very effective as through all the jumping about to different areas any coherence in the plot is soon lost. As the game bears the Tom Clancy name its plot is typically a political thriller, it certainly isn’t the best story with the Clancy name but in certain moments it does provide scope that truly helps its storytelling. A particular highlight is a scene depicting a missile container strike upon London, the carnage is shown through video camera footage from a tourist, the destruction in this scene is very well executed through its showing of the glass raining down onto the streets from a shattered building. Throughout the entirety of the game I was never sure which character I was playing as, very seldom did the game give me any indication that the Ghost I was playing as was an individual and not simply a tool for the player to use. The real problem with this game’s plot is that it just isn’t interesting enough, it has done very little to shake-up the warfare storyline endlessly repeated in titles like ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Battlefield’ and ‘Medal of Honor’, at this point it’s definitely time for something in new in relation to story for modern day war shooters.

The Ghosts prepare for a door breach.

Luckily the gameplay in ‘Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’ is fantastic. Featuring state of the art teammate AI this game really delivers a visceral experience of the battlefield and methodical warfare. You certainly won’t get away with running and gunning here as any moment where you are not totally aware of your surroundings or have not mapped out your plan of action, you’ll be decimated by enemy forces. The numerous scenarios within the game are fantastic, you have to think about each route you could take to complete any given challenge effectively. Do you hang back and mark targets for your teammates to silently execute? Do you proceed on ahead and stealth kill each soldier in your path whilst your team provide backup? Or do you wage a war upon a host of enemies by utilizing a surprise attack? The possibilities are endless, there’s no doubt in my mind that the intelligent gameplay is what makes this game compelling.

Whilst the variety available to handle situations is impressive it is sometimes completely ignored and instead the player has to contend with a forced gunfight where they have no option to employ stealth. I found this extremely disappointing; it made it as if the stealth gameplay was not truly a part of the game but rather something that could only be performed in certain areas much like a novelty weapon. This demonstrates where the developers have gone wrong in their design of this game; they resulted to common gaming missteps by disregarding a key aspect to the game, its stealth. This doesn’t even make sense in a story perspective, the Ghosts would most certainly not risk a gunfight when stealth is available, the whole point of their unit after all is that their very existence in enemy headquarters cannot be proved.

One of the most standout missions in the game has the player infiltrate a prison without their team, stealth is paramount here as if discovered the enemy would quickly kill the player. The mission’s gameplay and the stealth is executed excellently, it even reminded me of playing what is widely considered the king of stealth action games, ‘Metal Gear Solid’.

The incredibly detailed customisation options.

The level of immersion felt in the game is staggering. Each enemy is quick to judge inconsistencies in their surroundings including everything from a shimmering in the air that just may be humanoid to a comrade who is late with their patrol, it really feels like the enemies are thinking rather than just following routines until they are taken out by the player. A great example of the level of immersion this game provides is during a level involving a covert assault on a Russian airfield. Towards the end of the mission the Ghosts find themselves heavily outmanned and thanks to the addition of an enemy tank, outgunned. The panic I felt as my team fell wounded around me was palpable, the rapid gunfire coming from all angles only added to the fear building up. Throughout this time the Ghosts had been radioing back and forth to base requesting support. At the moment when I thought all was lost and enemy soldiers would swarm me, an airstrike prompt appeared and once ordered I was given a first person control of a guided missile to dive-bomb into a tank. The explosion brought the end of the mission and a real sense of victory.

The great variety of technology available in the game can sometimes be to its detriment when some missions feel more akin to tutorials set-up to train the player how to use a new weapon rather than a fully fleshed out level. This overabundance of gadgets also makes the customization options within the game very intimidating, to a veteran of technical shooters the feature is perfect since it allows you to essentially build your firearm from scratch choosing minute details such as types of triggers. For more novice players though and even for those who are fans but not as invested in the series as others, they will find the system a little off-putting when they are asked to configure things such as the under barrel of their gun.

‘Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’ is an extremely solid game but as a story its unmemorable and often dull. In every point where the gameplay excels the story drags on the player and calls a halt to the action for drawn out cut scenes. This game may not impress you with its plot but damn does it play well.