Best Visuals (Technical) of 2011
Best Visuals (Artistic) of 2011
Best Story of 2011
Best Original Score of 2011
Best Original Theme of 2011
Best Sound Design of 2011
Best Voice Acting of 2011
Best Online of 2011
Best Moment in a Game 2011
Best Character of 2011

BEST VISUALS  (TECHNICAL) OF 2011
Winner: Battlefield 3
Runner-up: Uncharted 3 – Drake’s Deception

DICE have done it with Battlefield 3, the PC version has the best visuals you’ll see this year (or at least in my opinion, hence me awarding it to this game). Everything about the technical prowess in the highly anticipated first-person shooter is stunning. If you own a top-end PC, then you owe it to yourself to pick this up. The effects and the scale just leave your jaw on the ground for most of the game, and then you get them in multiplayer with sixty-four players. Brilliant. Granted the console versions drop the bar significantly, but when it comes to PC it is hard to look beyond it.

The PlayStation 3 is still a power-house, Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 3 really proved that point once again. Uncharted 3 managed to add just the right amount of shine to the already impressive engine that powered Drake’s second outing, and with such varied locales we got a lot of eye candy throughout this game. From escaping eye-poppingly gorgeous chateaus to navigating carefully across a wonderful detailed (and capsizing) ship, the stuff that Naughty Dog have made Sony’s console do is plain downright impressive, earning this game a worthy runner-up.

BEST VISUALS (ARTISTIC) OF 2011
Winner: Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword
Runner-up: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – Fate of Two Worlds

Personally, I was in love with the artistic flair of Link’s latest outing the moment it was revealed at E3. It called my mind back to the eye-candy that was Wind Waker but also added in a pinch of the Twilight Princess inspiration to the mix, making for a wonderful combination. The game bought a world of colour to life right in front of my eyes, and did so impressively considering it was only a Wii title. The water-colour-like art style never got tiresome to me, and I think that it nearly edged out Wind Waker as the most visually impressive Zelda I’ve seen. It will definitely date better than it’s predecessor did for me.

Capcom’s cross-over with Marvel was also going to have a fair kick to the visuals, but Marvel vs. Capcom 3 still blew me away. The way they worked the comic style that Marvel brings to the table and made it gel so well with Capcom’s video game roots was just plain astounding. There is always so much happening on the screen that sometimes my eyes feel over stimulated by the flashes of purple, pink, yellow, etc. People may complain about the overall quality of this release, but there is no doubting the visuals are beautiful to behold.

BEST STORY OF 2011
Winner: Deus Ex – Human Revolution
Runner-up: Xenoblade Chronicles

What’s this? Eidos managed to bring back Deus Ex without making a completely pathetic story. The franchise returned to form with Adam Jensen and his journey to take down some terrorists who have attacked the company that he works as head of security for. What follows is a tale of one man’s choice, who do you trust? Who will you side with? Is the human race ready for the progression that Sarif Industries are offering or should they be shielded from the potential that is offered? I found myself lost in Eidos’ cyberpunk world and the story really won the year for me.

Xenoblade Chronicles was a sign that the Japanese role-playing genre wasn’t quite dead, despite previous efforts trying to show the opposite. In fact, the story itself was a particular point of interest. It starts out in a traditional manner, before kicking up the intensity with a wonderfully paced story that rises and falls at all the right times. It was something that I had missed from the JRPG. Sure, some of the characters were less than interesting, but the overall story really satisfied my narrative-driven needs. Well done, Monolith.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE OF 2011
Winner: Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword
Runner-up: L.A. Noire

After years and years of waiting we were finally lucky enough to let our ears feast upon an orchestrated Legend of Zelda score. It hit every note perfectly and now I don’t think I can ever go back to having a MIDI soundtrack. The score carries you through a plethora of new music mixed in with hints of old classics here and there, making for a wonderful audio journey through new and old. I talked about my love for this game’s score in my review, but from the moment we discovered that the Ballad of the Goddess was Zelda’s Lullaby in reverse I think we all knew this score would stand above almost every other soundtrack from 2011’s offerings.

Hear me out. I’m a sucker for period drama. I’m also a sucker for anything set in a certain period (for example say… the 1940’s) and correctly creates an authentic world. This love also extends to music, and the score to L.A. Noire was spot-on. Jazz was the flavour of this soundtrack, as it was the flavour of the era. Composers, Simon and Andrew Hale, really did a fantastic job going that extra mile in dragging you into the period this game brings to life. The vocal tracks are also amazing, I could listen to this soundtrack all day and just be mellow.

BEST ORIGINAL THEME OF 2011
Winner: ‘Icarus (Main Theme)’ – Michael McCann
Runner-up: ‘Dragonborn’ – Jeremy Soule and Julian Soule

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF 2011
Winner: Battlefield 3
Runner-up: Dead Space 2

Yes. Once again a Battlefield title runs away with my ‘Best Sound Design’ award, and honestly it is pretty much for all the same reasons. Last year I talked about how the amazing sound really immersed you into the heart-pounding combat. Bullets, explosions, reloading, jets, everything sounded so crisp and realistic. I can only imagine how it’d sound if you were using surround sound, may as well be in a warzone. DICE are the masters of sound design in the first-person shooter genre, and this year they once again crafted the most breath-taking audio atmosphere for simulating a warzone. Nothing quite matches crawling through the grass, bullets whizzing overhead, the grass crunching softly under your weight, everything is as it should be.

You remember Dead Space 2, right? It was the game that jumped the gun on 2011 by releasing in early January. Visceral Games went above and beyond to make sure you felt as uncomfortable as possible as you guided poor Isaac through Sprawl. Necromorph’s scrapping, wheelchair wheels squeaking, far-off voices whispering horrifying nothings to deceased friends or work-mates. This game set a new standard for scary atmospheres, harkening back to the uneasiness of curling up with a classic Silent Hill game.

BEST VOICE ACTING OF 2011
Winner: Uncharted 3 – Drake’s Deception
Runner-up: L.A. Noire

I had some issues with some aspects of Uncharted 3, the voice-acting was still top-notch. The entire cast once again bought their A-game to the table. Nolan, Richard, Emily and Claudia were all top notch once again. And the new characters fit right in with the best, Kathrine Marlowe, Talbot, etc. Considering this time around the story involved a bit more drama than the usual action-packed Drake adventure it was great to see some of the voice actors push themselves that little bit extra. There were some wonderful scenes between Drake and Sullivan and Sullivan and Kathrine, etc. Definitely the strongest voice acting that gaming saw this year.

Thank god Team Bondi assembled a good voice cast for their period noire mystery game. It helped that a lot of the actors had actual acting experience, allowing them to take full advantage of the facial capture and maximise their performance. Aaron Staton was a real stand-out as Cole Phelps, he showed a whole new side of himself in his performance to what I had seen from him in AMC’s Mad Men.

BEST ONLINE OF 2011
Winner: Battlefield 3
Runner-up: Assassin’s Creed – Revelations

Despite some teething problems at launch, DICE’s first-person shooter flowered as the months progressed. If you have some patience then you’ll find countless hours of fun here, with friends or random players. I know some people prefer Mordern Warfare 3, but that doesn’t quite sit well with me. I tip the advantage to Battlefield 3 with vehicles and just the flow of the gameplay. Like Bad Company 2 previously you’ll always enjoy teaming up with three other squad-mates co-ordinating attacks and formulating strategies to hold key points on the battlefield. Don’t let the necessity for Origin scare you off, it is worth enduring for.

I remember shaking my head at the addition of multiplayer in Assassin’s Creed – Brotherhood, but I’m happy to admit I was wrong. It was edged out by some other games last year, but Revelations really was a smoothed-out multiplayer experience. Whilst the single-player lacked a lot of energy, the multiplayer kept me satisfied. Adrenaline pumps as you silently pursue your target through the streets, hoping that someone else doesn’t steal the kill and reset your mark. It makes for some hectic moments, especially as the matches reach their climax.

BEST MOMENT IN A GAME 2011 [SPOILERS]
Winner: Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword
Runner-up: The Elder Scrolls V – Skyrim

Considering that Skyward Sword’s place in the muddled Zelda timeline, it was naturally going to snag my favourite moments award. There were so many moments throughout this game where my cold, cynical gaming heart was warmed to its very core. Some of them are pretty spoiler-heavy, so honestly it is hard to dive too deeply into why this game won me over. But if you are a fan of Zelda’s questionable continuity then you’ll find a lot to love here. Guiding Link to become the hero he was destined to be is a pretty significant moment inside itself though, collecting everything along the way and piecing together a vague history of Hyrule along the way was just a delight.

Bethesda’s Skyrim scoops up the runner-up honours in this categories for being built of so many moments of gawking at the game and going ‘Woooooow’ or ‘Did I just do that?’ Bethesda knows how to build an open world game (though they may not know how to bug test them to the same capacity) and thus it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Skyrim is full of moments you’ll never forget. Anyone who has spent time with this game will likely agree, taking down your first Dragon, running like a sissy away from Giants, exploring the numerous dungeons and labyrinths. This game is built on over one hundred hours of moments, and honestly I’ll probably remember them for many years to come.

BEST CHARACTER OF 2011
Winner: Wheatley (Portal 2)
Runner-up: Narrator (Bastion)

GLaDOS stole a lot of hearts when the original Portal was released several years ago with her sadistic insanity. Fast forward to 2011 and we were introduced to a new AI friend in the form of Wheatley. While he initially provides us with many laughs throughout the first half of the game he ends up becoming quite an interesting character in the second half of the game. Definitely a surprise when all I was really expecting was some more Portal puzzles with some classic GLaDOS moments. Wheatley definitely sticks out as 2011’s best new character.

You have probably played Bastion, if you haven’t played Bastion then you have most likely heard of it at least, which means that you probably know about the Narrator. The way his voice helps pave the path you walk on in Bastion was absolutely brilliant.\A role this important needs a strong voice, and they really nailed it with their choice. Honestly, I could play Bastion and just listen to him talk as I explored new areas as he describes what was happening to me. He may not be as deep of a character as Cole Phelps (L.A. Noire) or interesting as Vincent (Catherine) he was still a worthy runner-up in this category.

First of all, here is the Resident Evil 6 trailer for those who haven’t seen it:

Okay, so without further delay it is time to talk Resident Evil 5, I will happily admit that I am still bitterly disappointed with Capcom for their recent neglect of the ‘horror’ part of their long-running survival-horror franchise but recently I’ve been at ease with it because let’s face… Resident Evil is an action game now. This is the first thing that bothered me about Resident Evil 5, you could probably draw a graph and mark the game’s inevitable descent into mindless action and stupidly plotted out combat. The game starts out fine, with a similar tone to the previous entry (Resident Evil 4, which I enjoyed) but it soon hits the brakes and goes a completely different direction. By the end of the game I found myself taking cover and having gun fights with some random enemies, to me this felt completely out of place in a game that is typically about escaping slow-witted zombies. I accepted Las Plagas to start off, I mean a parasite that allows the host to be controlled? Fine! But gun combat does not belong in this franchise unless and that was one of my biggest pet peeves that I could never shake off after completing the atrocity that was Resident Evil 5. As I previously mentioned, I was more accepting with Resident Evil 4 because Capcom really nailed the balance! For every action scene there was a delightfully spooky quiet hallway or eerie environment to explore. Resident Evil 5 didn’t perform quite as strongly in this area, instead featuring some nice and spooky environments to start off with and in the end just leaving a big mess on the carpet. Sure, it is petty of me to hold this against the, arguable, evolution of Capcom’s franchise in an attempt to keep it fresh but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the roots from which you sprouted.

The next thing that really irritated me endlessly: the controls. So you pick up your controller and start shooting the weird Las-Plagas-zombie-things, bam! No problem. However, you find yourself pretty overwhelmed in latter portions of the game and suddenly you begin to become frustrated with the control layout, and you most likely become frustrated for a single reason: stationary gun use. That’s right, this game wants you to get absorbed into the action it is throwing all over your face and you can’t even navigate around whilst shooting off your attackers. Why is this? I’ve heard people say that it was Capcom’s way of keeping some tension and fear present in the game, but guess what… it was plain frustrating. The game was too much an ill-conceived hybrid, half of it wanted to keep you scared and the other half wanted you to blow half of the god-damn world up with your ridiculous arsenal of rocket lauchers, grenade launchers and other such weaponry. The fact that it could never decide at any one time what it wanted to be came across as too awkward and convoluted. I believe this can be fixed as well, but Capcom need to take notes from Visceral’s incredible Dead Space franchise. Yes, it pretty much only exists because of Resident Evil 4 but it managed to beat Capcom’s efforts with relative ease. It had a better and far creepier atmosphere, it had a better balance of action and the controls were not as awkward (as in, they knew what they wanted the game to be). I found the Necromorph’s induced significantly larger amounts of fear in me than any of the Las Plagas infested people I found myself facing in Resident Evil 5, and a lot of what makes a game scary is made up of what exactly you are facing. Dead Space 2 also found a way to balance an even larger focus on the action with plenty of creepy-as-hell moments as well, Capcom could learn a thing or two from Visceral.

Finally, the story. Resident Evil titles are notorious for their bad storyline and poorly written dialogue, Resident Evil 5 made absolutely no effort to change this. The game tries to wrap up events with Umbrella whilst introducing a new, and ultimately underwhelming threat, in the form of Tricell. I can only assume Tricell will have a large part to play in Resident Evil 6 but can they go back to basics. At the same time though I fear the damage may be done. The franchise has branched into government conspiracies and secret organisations dealing in biological warfare now, and with the main man (Wesker) now currently unaccounted for who exactly will Capcom create to play the part of an imposing figure at the head of all this. I’m not a magnificent writer, but I’m sure I could have pieced together a better ending than Resident Evil 5‘s stitched together mess. I feel that they should also try not so hard to include a (air-quote) big plot twist (end air-quote) such as they did with Wesker’s little helper, who I think most people instantly picked as Jill Valentine from the first time they were shown, just go back to basics guys. Somewhere in here there is a story that could be enjoyable, but you have blown everything out of proportion. Considering that Resident Evil 6 is taking us around the globe… expect an atomic explosion blow-out of a story, with so much unnecessary fluff and complications that you just stop caring (if you already haven’t, which I had started doing about halfway through Resident Evil 5).

I may be bitching about Resident Evil 5 more than it deserves, the game had moments here and there. But in the end it didn’t have enough to save itself from the mess that it became. Ultimately, Capcom don’t need to start from scratch to fix this franchise, they only need to be a bit more willing to stretch outside of their comfort zone instead of getting an arm out and suddenly realising, “Oh crap, what do I do now?” Come on guys, you can do this!!

Having said all of this… I will be purchasing a copy of Resident Evil 6 at launch, because at the very least I have enjoyed the Leon Kennedy games even if he is bringing ol’ melon arms along with him this time.

Click here to read the full review.

I think the problem is as deep-rooted as lot of things, perhaps it is just me but I know there are others who’d be guilty of the same thing. Essentially it all comes back to being comfortable with the classics. Whether it is an old flame who you know and understand or an old movie that you know and love, it is always easier to go back to something you already know you like. But the question burns: is that the right thing to do? On the one hand the timeless classic is always going to be just that but what about the new thing you have the chance to try? Shadows of the Damned offers a new intellectual property that is just begging for my attention but I can’t help but lose myself in Ocarina of Time all over again.

We are all guilty of doing this in some areas, and whilst in video games it is a lot more natural (heck, why buy a new game when you can just pick up another Call of Duty) it is definitely something we need to look at in ourselves. Every few months new I.P’s step out into the world and more often than not are shunned into the abyss as sequels and franchises sell more than ever. But the blame lies with many as opposed to the few, but who will blame them? You buy a game in a franchise because there is a high probability that it will be something you enjoy because things rarely change too much between entries.

There are people out there striving for something greater than a franchise. Developers who want to bring new ideas into the industry. Jenova Chen (along with thatgamecompany) is bringing us something beautiful and refreshing in Journey. You’ve got the guys at Team ICO helping us realise our imaginations over again with The Last Guardian. You’ve got the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto trying to innovate and create new properties (see: Pikmin). Last year Playdead took the world by storm with their unique new title Limbo. And there are many more if you go hunting, but don’t be fooled… not all brilliant new ideas are born on the App Store.

Of course, it is easy enough to say this is the problem, it is coming up with a solution that begins to make things tricky. Fighting against comforting nostalgia is difficult. Especially when you might be taking a chance on something new that could inevitably suck outright. But without taking these chances, things will never innovate. Imagine if Nintendo had never created the Super Mario I.P all those years ago? What would you be playing now? Would you be even playing video games? Not every franchise was born a franchise, they all started somewhere and the continued ignorance directed to a lot of new properties is going to continue to destroy the industry we know and love. So next time you look at a game on the shelves like Shadows of the Damned or the upcoming Catherine, don’t simply write it off.  Pick it up, take it for a spin, at the very least you tried and know for yourself how it is and won’t need to rely on the opinions of others to make the decision. Same goes for everything in life, it never hurts to step out of that comfort zone.

That risk could pay dividends one day when you look at a game and reminisce about how you gambled on it, much like I do with The World Ends With You.

Gaming Memories

Sounds pretty average, and honestly it probably is. But basically all it will be is a monthly piece in which I’ll recall a moment in gaming that means something more to me than just a game. Whether it is a childhood moment that I’ll never forget or a memory I shared with someone recently, it’ll be me re-visiting moments in gaming that will always have a place in my heart and furthermore who I am as a person. I’ll be going pretty far back for some of these as well, I’m hoping it is fun to write and it showcase just how important gaming is to me as well as how gaming is more than just something that you play, it is about who you play them with and the good memories that you form.

Lazy Video Reviews

Inspired by my internet idol, Toby Turner (and probably other vloggers out there), I plan on recording short video log reviews of games that I complete. It won’t be anything fancy or exciting, hence the lazy title, it’ll just be me talking about a game that I have completed. I figure it’ll be a good way to get my views on a game out faster. I’ll still write my usual word-heavy reviews but this will be a more efficient way to get my views out.

So yeah, expect posts when I get closer to substantiating something.

One of these things was good, the other was not so good. Need any clues?

I won’t recap all of the E3 happenings, you can find all the news over at the website I write for (vgZero) but I will touch on the highlights for me. First of all, everything that was shown for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Mass Effect 3 looked incredible. I am so god damn excited for those games!! Sony knocked me off my feet with the PlayStation Vita’s incredibly attractive price and Nintendo left me confused when they announced the Wii U. Overall it was a typical E3, it blew me away with new announcements and got me excited for the games I already knew about. I’ll do a report card like feature for each of the big three over the coming days when I’m done with the King.

Which thankfully brings me onto my next topic: the King. Duke Nukem Forever is the game that no one thought they’d ever get to play. It has been 14 years in the making (originally announced in 1997 by 3D Realms) and has only just now been released in 2011 (thanks to Gearbox). So how is it? Well, I’m only about halfway through it so far and so far it is pretty average. That shouldn’t come as news to anyone because the game’s concept is essentially 14 years old and horribly outdated. Duke’s jokes barely stay fresh and the mechanics can be all over the place at times. However, there are moments where the game really has a ‘heart’ of sorts and it makes think that Duke can still live in this fancy modern age of gaming… he just needs a new title with a 3 year development cycle because as it stands there are better macho-shooters than this one (Bulletstorm, Serious Sam) and it would be a shame to not see Duke Nukem get another chance with a new game.

I guess we’ll see how popular this is, but there is still some profit to be made from the Duke Nukem IP… just not from a 14 year old title that doesn’t have the pace to match modern games.

Check back for my full review in a few days.

Expectations are high this year for Nintendo. Once again they are the ones holding all the cards, they have new hardware to announce, they need to reinvigorate interest in the Nintendo 3DS and also need to prove that the Wii can survive in market long enough until the successor is ready for launch. Nintendo will also be look invest some time in talking about the 3DS, considering how the device has sold we might be safe from seeing sales figures, thankfully. Expect them to maybe show off Ocarina of Time 3D one more time before it launches (in fact, don’t rule out a bundle). As well as the fan-favourite Zelda, we’ll most likely see a release date for several key 3DS titles such as Starfox 64 3D, Metal Gear Solid 3DS: Snake Eater, Animal Crossing 3D, Professor Layton & the Mask of Miracles, Kid Icarus: Uprising and Mario Kart 3D. Hopefully some more light will be shed on Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright as well. Apart from that it probably isn’t too much to think that we might see some new 3DS titles at the show. High Voltage are hard at work on The Conduit 3DS, there is a chance Nintendo might show us a trailer or at least name-drop it. Maybe Konami will grace the handheld with another side-scrolling Castlevania title, the franchise does celebrate its 25th anniversary soon and it has been several years since Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was released. More than likely we’ll see a video reel featuring upcoming and new announcements. It will also be interesting to see if Nintendo will confirm any new features for the 3DS, we know the eShop is launching on the day of their conference but the line-up for that has already been revealed. But Nintendo might drop some breadcrumbs about future 3D Classics titles or even confirm the addition of the Game Boy Advance library gracing the Handheld Virtual Console. Before we forget, I believe the DS will also get a few new names dropped for it to show continued support, it is still selling after all. They’ll date Professor Layton & the Last Specter for later this year, might sneak out a Pokémon spin-off.

They will be on the offensive to show that the Wii has what it needs to survive on the market until the unnamed Project Cafe is released. The safe bet is that Zelda: Skyward Sword will get another stage demo to hopefully make up for last year’s effort, as well as that you can probably expect a release date for later this year (around Christmas seems to make sense) but Nintendo isn’t one to do special editions so don’t hold your breath there. As well as that I think that Nintendo will confirm all the chatter of the western localisations for The Last Story and Xenoblade Chronicles (which is definitely coming to Europe), however I fear that Pandora’s Tower may get left in the cold. The biggest wild card could end up being Pikmin 3, we know the game has been in development for several years but Nintendo is yet to show anyone anything. It was previously believed to be a Wii title, but chances are high that development could have jumped over to Cafe to show off the hardware or could even have been shifted to 3DS. Retailer listings have been popping up for a New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2, so don’t be surprised if that gets announced. Nintendo could use that and Pikmin 3 to give the Wii a final first party hurrah into 2012 once Zelda is done.

Speaking of Cafe, it’ll be interesting to see what exactly is shown with that. Nintendo have confirmed it will be playable in some form on the show floor so this means there must be some titles ready for it. It is impossible to tell what they will be though, it is doubtful that Zelda or Metroid will get a look in, and with the Mario team busy on Super Mario 3DS a Mario isn’t looking likely either. Perhaps Nintendo will turn to their B-list franchises such as Starfox, F-Zero or Fire Emblem to show off the Cafe. If any game has a good chance of representing the A-list franchises it could be Super Smash Bros. 4. Now, before you start calling me crazy (or also a Smash fanboy, because I am one) just hear me out. Way back when Nintendo announced the Nintendo Gamecube it was showcased with Super Smash Bros. Melee and when they announced the Wii they also announced Super Smash Bros. Brawl behind closed doors. You can feel free to accuse me of grasping at straws but there is every chance this could happen. If Kid Icarus: Uprising hits later this year then Team Sora will be free to work on a new project, and what could be more appealing than a new Smash on a new console? There also seems to be a reasonable amount of hype around a playable build of Mario Kart for Cafe showing itself at the briefing. As well as that, we’ll hopefully see Nintendo shed some light on Retro Studios mystery project, hard to say what’ll be. It could be Donkey Kong Country Returns 2, a F-Zero title, who knows… but it is definitely not a Metroid game. It’ll also be interesting to see if 3rd parties have anything to show, rumours have been working overtime saying that Grand Theft Auto V is in development for it and that several key 3rd parties have had development kits for a while. Expect a splash screen full of franchise logo’s that are coming to the Cafe to get some hype rolling (Call of Duty, Resident Evil, etc.). It is difficult to predict what will happen there, typically the 3rd party support for Nintendo has been weak however finally having a HD console that is up to scratch with the other two might open some doors for them. Provided that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 stick around beyond the late 2012 period then the Cafe can probably at least pick up some multiplatform releases, which will help them substantially. The biggest piece of the puzzle is going to be the controller, much like the Wii Remote was for the Wii. We have heaps of rumours buzzing around saying things like touch-screen, traditional controller, etc but what will it look like? And you can guarantee there’ll be a gimmick built in there. It’ll also be nice to see what the Cafe will be capable of and what sort of hardware it has inside of it.

But if I had to make one single wild prediction for what I’d most like to see announced at Nintendo’s E3 event? I’d love to see a new Ōkami title announced for Nintendo’s Project Cafe. Ōkami found a second home when it was re-released on Wii, and Ōkamiden is one of the best Nintendo DS titles ever released so I would love to see a new one. Another wild dream I’d love to see come to life is Square Enix announce a sequel for the wonderful The World Ends With You, whether it was for Cafe or 3DS I wouldn’t mind, that game needs more love.

It’ll be interesting to see how Nintendo handles this, four platforms to support and a skeptical audience to win back, personally I cannot wait til their media briefing.

Title:

Every once and a while a game comes along that demands your attention. It could be a blockbuster sequel, or a new intellectual property from a development team that has produced brilliant games in the past. However, there is a third kind, the dark horse in gaming where a new studio takes the world by surprise. Team Bondi can lay claim to this title with their debut masterpiece, L.A. Noire. Much like Heavy Rain did last year, this game requires a little more attention that your average narrative-driven title. Team Bondi have created a wonderful 1940’s-styled Los Angeles and you are the LAPD officer rising through the ranks and solving mysteries as you go along. But is the game any good? Well, my glowing introduction may have given you an idea but if you are still in doubt then keep reading.

Click here to read the full review.

I’m typing this up as I’m at the halfway point, and I god damn love it.

The world that these guys have created is absolutely brilliant, even though you won’t find yourself having the freedom that you usually have in a typical Rockstar game (such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption) but that is because this isn’t that type of game. Sure, it has the open world that they have but this doesn’t concern itself with your out of control antics. You are a member of the LAPD, and that position carries a fair bit of weight with how you behave. If you try hard enough to can run people down, but you’ll suffer in the case ratings if you do this.

I suppose the biggest reason this game is so amazing is definitely the motion capture. I remember David Cage seemingly dismissing it recently, which was interesting because I really loved Heavy Rain‘s work but this just bests it with little trouble. Even the slightest twitch in a person’s face can be picked up, making the ability to pick up on whether someone is lying  a very important skill. As you progress through the game you’ll get better, but every person acts differently and this game re-enforces that knowledge. You’ll pick up on subtle improvements with your investigative and interrogation abilities as you progress from case to case and it is just a little thing that is nice to see. Every actor gives a top notch performance in this title, and sometimes half the fun is sitting there trying to pick where you know each actor from and there are quite a few that will ring bells for most gamers.

I could go on for paragraphs about things I love about this game, and I will when I write my review this weekend but until then I need to get back into that game, put my hat back on and solve mysteries.

If you haven’t played L.A. Noire then you really are punishing yourself for no reason.

I also picked up Brink for PS3, the new parkour-inspired first-person shooter. That description alone inspires only great thoughts but unfortunately the execution of the concept falls horribly short. Between bland stage designs, underused parkour mechanics and pretty average shooting mechanics the game really fails to stand above any of the other FPS competition on the market right now. I plan on reviewing that after LA Noire this week (WHICH I’M FUCKING EXCITED FOR!!!)

And of course, the biggest thing is the return of the PSN. That’s right, it is back. No doubt there will still be plenty of bitching and moaning but as it stands we have our online back. We are still waiting on a few services to return but I’d rather Sony take their time and get them running perfectly before we get our hands back on them again. I’m working on a piece on vgZero about the aftermath that I’m expecting to unfold as a result of this downtime and how I think Sony would be best of recovering. Rest assured I expect they’ll have some juicy stuff at E3 to win back supporters after all the unfortunate bad press that they have been on the receiving end of over the last few weeks.

Anyway, I have work tomorrow and need to try and get some sleep in my sleepless-filled nights.

See you next mission.