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"The 2012 Game Awards - by Sonic Chris"

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Sat 29/12/12 at 15:42
Regular
"How Ironic"
Posts: 4,312
Most Disappointing Game
Guild Wars 2
This game promised so much over the years. Finally, there would be a MMORPG to rival WoW, not only that, but it would be subscription free! The pre-release materials looked great. Five races to choose from, each with a characteristic home world, 8 professions, standard stuff I'm sure. But with exciting new features, such as dynamic events, this was one to watch.

I stopped watching after I'd 'completed' after one week, well the story anyway. I am a person who has never maxed a character on any MMORPG. This game was incredibly easy to max out, and after the story, there's little else to do. Crafting is boring and exploration takes little time once you've padded yourself out with some equipment. Dungeons become repetitive after doing them for the 10th time in a row, and players become more and more arrogant as you level up.

Guild Wars 2 could have been game of the year. Instead, it entertained for a few weeks, and is now barren.

Underrated Game of the Year
Far Cry 3
After Far Cry 2, I didn't even think about Far Cry 3. I didn't want to be drawn in by amazing gameplay videos only to be disappointed. Far Cry 2 was too complicated for it's own good. I had no idea who I was supposed to kill and who I wasn't, where I was on the map or what I was even supposed to do in the game.

Far Cry 3 however has taken Far Cry 2's best bits (amazing graphics, great fire physics and decent AI) and mixed it with the classic jungle warfare of the original Far Cry. What do you get? An amazing combination. Far Cry 3 is what Far Cry 2 could've been. It's obvious who your enemies are now. Blue good. Red bad. It's that simple, and that's how I like it. I don't want fancy stuff like dynamic weather and environments, I just want a aesthetically pleasing jungle that's a pleasure to drive around.

Mixed with MMORPG elements such as skill upgrades and character growth, and stupid features like 'weapon rotting' left out, Far Cry 3 took me by surprise, and I think a lot of people have overlooked it. Much more hype was made about Borderlands 2 which doesn't even compare to this great game.

Exactly what we expected
FIFA 13
It's starting to become fairly obvious what future FIFA games will look like. EA seem to choose one feature to add on each year, which adds to previous additions and makes the game slightly better than the last. I've no doubt EA could make a superb football game one year, but what would they do the next? It's all about the money.

FIFA 13 however is still a great game. Plenty of gameplay to keep you entertained with familiar modes like manager mode, be a pro and ultimate team. It's more of the same, but the game seems more challenging than it used to. This years apparent addition was better movement up front, which I haven't really noticed. Players have always made runs up the top in FIFA games, and defenders always seem to keep up. You get the rare occasion when space opens up, but I guess that's just realism for you.


The one you may not have thought about
Lucius
I stumbled upon a trailer for Lucius a few months back and was excited. I like subtle games, such as Assassin's Creed and Hitman, were you get the gore, but unlike block-headed FPS games, you actually have to think.

Lucius is pretty much the game for the film The Omen. You take on the role of Lucius, and the goal of the game is to kill the entire household using your evil powers without arousing suspicion. The game is less open play than I would've hoped, but it is a bit of evil fun nonetheless.

Game of the Year
Assassin's Creed 3
Assassin's Creed in my opinion is the most successful franchise on the next-gen consoles. A few years after it's first release, and it has multiple expansions and sequels released as well as a massive following. It's storyline is also intriguing and the idea was very original. It also does something very rare in these times, and that is better it's predecessor. Every Assassin's Creed game has moved the series along in more than one sense.

Assassin's Creed 3 has yet again excelled what 2 delivered, and for that reason, I think it is the game of the year. If it's killing for fun in your spare time, or completing missions related to the story, AC3 is the epitome of what a game should be, and I can't think of many others that even come close to having had the same impact this year.
Fri 04/01/13 at 12:55
Regular
Posts: 791
My favourite game of the year was Journey on the PSN. Only £10 and utterly brilliant.
Fri 04/01/13 at 12:41
Staff Moderator
"Freeola Ltd"
Posts: 3,299
Feel like wading in here to give my 2 cents.

MMO
------
I haven't played GW2 yet, but the hype was massive and the release quite abysmal. AION springs to mind, so I steered very, very clear.

What I have enjoyed however is Star Wars TOR. It's actually pretty decent, if not brilliant. It's just like old WoW, which is fine by me. Free-to-play is a bit of a gimmick more than an actual possibility IMO, but you can still do most of the questing/levelling F2P. Well worth giving a go, purely because it can be free.

Underrated
---------------
I know you said Far Cry 3 was in the 'Underated game of year' but it's actually massively popular isn't it? At least Reddit won't shut up about it.

Binary Domain is the true underrated here. Not heard of it? Well it is the underrated section. Check it out, Seriously.

Overrated
-------------
FIFA 13. Enough already! I completely skipped it, and will continue to do so from this point on. I might pick it up every two years or something, when they have done enough to justify the £49.99 price tag.

The one you really have never heard of
-----------------------------------
The Legend of Grimrock. Legendary old school style RPG, dungeon crawling goodness.

Although many Indie games has done well this year. 2012 was the year of the Indie.

Game of the year
-----------------------
XCOM, without a doubt for me.
Thu 03/01/13 at 19:45
Regular
"Going nowhere fast"
Posts: 6,574
I think you are being a little harsh to GW2 but then I never saw any hype for this game, just got dragged off D3 to play it. A subscription free game of this type to rival WoW? I simply cannot see that happening.

I'm still playing it 4 months down the line and I'm still enjoying it immensely. I find solving the Vista bits fun, and the exploring, and the level 80 areas still scare me to death unless I drag a warrior friend along to farm with me. I love that I can take part in events without having to join a party (one aspect of WoW that I never liked was the PuGs) and, probably because of this play style, I haven't met one impolite player on this game either.

I know, each to their own :)
Thu 03/01/13 at 12:56
Staff Moderator
"Meh..."
Posts: 1,474
Doom 3 BFG Edition; not strictly a new release, more of a "re-run", but nonetheless a worthy addition to anyone's gaming schedule. If you haven't played Doom 3 before, you should, and if you have played it before, BFG just gives you more.

1080P graphics, enhanced and cleaner, along with the Resurrection of Evil expansion, Doom and Doom 2 complete collections and the Lost Missions; brand new levels for Doom 3 that are done in the somewhat more up-front style of the earlier Doom games (less sneaking, more shooting).

In my mind, it's still THE first person shooter series that all others should tip their hats to.

Well worth the stupidly low price, and should keep any Doom fan busy until Doom 4...
Sat 29/12/12 at 19:43
Regular
"How Ironic"
Posts: 4,312
Definitely Far Cry 3 over Absolution. Have played both quite a bit, Far Cry 3 is the game with more depth, you'll enjoy it for a lot longer. Absolution is one to pick up when it's £10-12 next year on TheHut and the likes.

In saying that, I'd be getting Blood Money if you still haven't played that, but that's just me, it's a bit dated if you started it now. However, if you did choose Absolution, I would recommend at least reading up on the story from the previous games, otherwise you will be completely lost. The story is such a big part of the franchise.

*EDIT* Oh and everyone should try LEGO LOTR. Best LEGO game out there right now :-)
Sat 29/12/12 at 19:33
Regular
"Feather edged ..."
Posts: 8,536
pete_21 wrote:
Chris, bearing in mind that I've never played a Far Cry or Hitman game, if I do decide to succumb to picking up one of the many bargain games around at the moment which should I go for Far Cry 3 or Hitman Absolution?

Wouldn't bother with Hitman ... reviews are poor. Better stick with FarCry3, as I will, when I can afford it :¬)
Sat 29/12/12 at 19:26
Regular
"I like turtles"
Posts: 5,368
Chris, bearing in mind that I've never played a Far Cry or Hitman game, if I do decide to succumb to picking up one of the many bargain games around at the moment which should I go for Far Cry 3 or Hitman Absolution?

FWIW, my faves of 2012:

Trials Evolution: Great fun but I totally suck at it.

Dead Or Alive 5: Great graphics, superb fighting mechanics, balanced gameplay and surprisingly noob friendly. Can pick it up for around £15 now, unmissable for beat em up fans at this price IMO.

Call Of Duty Black Ops 2: Hardly going to be a popular choice around these parts but Treyarch's decision to mess around a little bit with a tried and tested formula has worked wonders IMO. Campers get nowhere fast, map design is top notch, new game modes are fun and there seems to be a much lower number of the usual tools who plague these games playing it online. Does seem to have split the COD fans probably due to being ridiculously unrealistic but I actually prefer the fact that it doesn't attempt to pass itself off as a 'serious' FPS. It's fast, furious and most of all fun, does exactly what it says on the tin IMO.

Lego Batman 2 would have probably made my list but the fact that it felt half baked at times and was riddled with bugs let it down for me. Autosave worked when it felt like, A.I. was rubbish as ever and I didn't really care for it's open world set up either. It was still good fun but it could have been better IMO.
Sat 29/12/12 at 19:16
Regular
"How Ironic"
Posts: 4,312
Points well made DL lol ;-)
Sat 29/12/12 at 19:10
Regular
"Feather edged ..."
Posts: 8,536
Good read SC and well delivered ... however

SP Shooter

Dishonored

MP Shooter

Planetside 2

MMO 2012

Guild Wars2

Mod of 2012

DAYZ

Game of the Year

Mass Effect3

Well there you go. Back to BF3 CQ and AM ;¬)
Sat 29/12/12 at 15:42
Regular
"How Ironic"
Posts: 4,312
Most Disappointing Game
Guild Wars 2
This game promised so much over the years. Finally, there would be a MMORPG to rival WoW, not only that, but it would be subscription free! The pre-release materials looked great. Five races to choose from, each with a characteristic home world, 8 professions, standard stuff I'm sure. But with exciting new features, such as dynamic events, this was one to watch.

I stopped watching after I'd 'completed' after one week, well the story anyway. I am a person who has never maxed a character on any MMORPG. This game was incredibly easy to max out, and after the story, there's little else to do. Crafting is boring and exploration takes little time once you've padded yourself out with some equipment. Dungeons become repetitive after doing them for the 10th time in a row, and players become more and more arrogant as you level up.

Guild Wars 2 could have been game of the year. Instead, it entertained for a few weeks, and is now barren.

Underrated Game of the Year
Far Cry 3
After Far Cry 2, I didn't even think about Far Cry 3. I didn't want to be drawn in by amazing gameplay videos only to be disappointed. Far Cry 2 was too complicated for it's own good. I had no idea who I was supposed to kill and who I wasn't, where I was on the map or what I was even supposed to do in the game.

Far Cry 3 however has taken Far Cry 2's best bits (amazing graphics, great fire physics and decent AI) and mixed it with the classic jungle warfare of the original Far Cry. What do you get? An amazing combination. Far Cry 3 is what Far Cry 2 could've been. It's obvious who your enemies are now. Blue good. Red bad. It's that simple, and that's how I like it. I don't want fancy stuff like dynamic weather and environments, I just want a aesthetically pleasing jungle that's a pleasure to drive around.

Mixed with MMORPG elements such as skill upgrades and character growth, and stupid features like 'weapon rotting' left out, Far Cry 3 took me by surprise, and I think a lot of people have overlooked it. Much more hype was made about Borderlands 2 which doesn't even compare to this great game.

Exactly what we expected
FIFA 13
It's starting to become fairly obvious what future FIFA games will look like. EA seem to choose one feature to add on each year, which adds to previous additions and makes the game slightly better than the last. I've no doubt EA could make a superb football game one year, but what would they do the next? It's all about the money.

FIFA 13 however is still a great game. Plenty of gameplay to keep you entertained with familiar modes like manager mode, be a pro and ultimate team. It's more of the same, but the game seems more challenging than it used to. This years apparent addition was better movement up front, which I haven't really noticed. Players have always made runs up the top in FIFA games, and defenders always seem to keep up. You get the rare occasion when space opens up, but I guess that's just realism for you.


The one you may not have thought about
Lucius
I stumbled upon a trailer for Lucius a few months back and was excited. I like subtle games, such as Assassin's Creed and Hitman, were you get the gore, but unlike block-headed FPS games, you actually have to think.

Lucius is pretty much the game for the film The Omen. You take on the role of Lucius, and the goal of the game is to kill the entire household using your evil powers without arousing suspicion. The game is less open play than I would've hoped, but it is a bit of evil fun nonetheless.

Game of the Year
Assassin's Creed 3
Assassin's Creed in my opinion is the most successful franchise on the next-gen consoles. A few years after it's first release, and it has multiple expansions and sequels released as well as a massive following. It's storyline is also intriguing and the idea was very original. It also does something very rare in these times, and that is better it's predecessor. Every Assassin's Creed game has moved the series along in more than one sense.

Assassin's Creed 3 has yet again excelled what 2 delivered, and for that reason, I think it is the game of the year. If it's killing for fun in your spare time, or completing missions related to the story, AC3 is the epitome of what a game should be, and I can't think of many others that even come close to having had the same impact this year.

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