 The Orange Box
So you pay your £45 for a box with a compilation disc in it. How many full retail games would you expect it to have? Whilst you would expect to get a thoroughly normal 1 full, recent retail game on your nice new shiny disc, Valve took the seemingly unprecedented route of putting five (yes, five, cinco, cinq, fem or fünf, what ever you would like to call it), recent full retail games (Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episodes 1 & 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2) into a single package, thus making it the bargain of the decade.
And these games weren't a bunch of cheap games that had rushed development and promptly packaged together in the hope to making a quick chunk of money, these were top wrung, fully polished games of the highest caliber.
Valve were rightly praised for doing this, and gamers loved them for giving them so much for so relative little.
But unfortunately with the current economic climate, bargains such as this will probably never be seen again.
Pity, really.Apr 30, 2012, submitted by havoc of smeg (10371)
 Bulletstorm
Think games have lost their way? Find games boring? Do you yearn for some old school gaming in a new school world of gaming?
If you have answered 'yes' to any of those questions, then by Jove, this is for you!
From the outset, Bulletstorm's creators People Can Fly designed it to be, well, bonkers. And boy do they succeed, giving the player the ability some of gamings' most likable well crafted characters, a very entertaining skill point system and a distinct lack of both seriousness and political correctness.
In a world of FPS grind's and online games filled with abuse hurling pre pubescent kids, Bulletstorm's single player campaign is a refreshing blast of retro gaming fun, and a contender for 2011's game of the year.Mar 31, 2012, submitted by havoc of smeg (10371)
 CyberMage: Darklight Awakening
What happens if you take Doom, inject it with a bit of System Shock, and set it in a dark futuristic urban environment? Honestly, when I accidentally stumbled upon this game I simply could not believe it was a rather obscure and unknown title most people haven't heard about. Beautiful visuals, challenge, usage of supernatural powers along with a variety of weapons, an awesome RPG-like angle (your attributes may increase permanently after you kill an enemy) - this game is just one big pleasant surprise. Did I say Strife and Requiem were the two best FPSs you've never played? Well, make some place for the third member, guys.Feb 29, 2012, submitted by Unicorn Lynx  (132665)
The Precursors
After Xenus II Deep Shadows ventured into sci-fi territory, delivering an even more ambitious project: first-person shooter, RPG, driving, and a bit of space simulation in one game. If you liked the idea of Mass Effect but thought those games were too linear and limited, you should definitely check out Precursors. None of its components will blow you away if taken separately; but together, they result in an immersive, addictive experience. Unfortunately, the awful English translation severely damaged the game: the original Russian script is well-written, and voice acting more than adequate.
Deep Shadows continues to develop ambitious, fascinating games. Precursors is not perfect, but it is engrossing, daring and rewarding. People who like freedom and exploration in their shooters and RPGs should not miss this one.Feb 01, 2012, submitted by Unicorn Lynx (132665) |
 Boiling Point: Road to Hell
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. meets GTA in Latin America - that's Boiling Point in a nutshell. Beneath the rough exterior lies an immersive experience that has no equals in ambition and scope. Challenging and unforgiving, the game is not for the impatient; but once you learn how to play by its rules, you become addicted to it. The freedom, the detail, and the amount of non-obligatory missions is simply astounding. You become part of a fascinating world and gradually find your own place in it. This is open-world gaming at its best.
Buggy initial release prevented many players from properly enjoying this gem of a game. Don't miss it now - upgrade to version 2.0, and you'll find it hard to leave Realia. Jan 01, 2012, submitted by Unicorn Lynx (132665)
 Xenus II: White Gold
Boiling Point was a very interesting game plagued by many problems. The prequel gets rid of the bugs; pays more attention to balance; and, above all, offers a more detailed and interesting world to explore. Ukrainian developers know how to make good shooters, and they know how to combine them with free-roaming environments (S.T.A.L.K.E.R.). Xenus II goes further: it has a much more developed RPG angle, driving, and surprisingly well-written (at least in the original Russian version), detailed conversations. Deep Shadows delivered a fun, immersive game here; while certainly not devoid of flaws, it impresses with its scope, ambition, and entertaining gameplay.Dec 01, 2011, submitted by Unicorn Lynx (132665)
 L.A. Noire
For the first time Rockstar puts you on the good side of the law. Sure, you're not perfect, but you're catching criminals, not being one. Beside adding the story that gives a whole new experience and gameplay over GTA and RDR games, this game improves a lot of bad elements from its predecessor.
There is no more pointless driving across the entire town just to get to the last mission you failed and try again, instead, upon failing a current mission, game will put you just a block away from giving it another go, and that even entails side-missions that aren't part of the story. That was one of the most time-consuming and pointless part in GTA4 which featured apartments as respawning points.
Another improved thing is that you won't try to kill yourself in order to shoot from the car while chasing a suspect like in GTA4, especially since there is no slow-motion aiming like in RDR. Instead, you will always be with your partner who will do the shooting and try to aim at the driver or the tires. That way you can focus on driving and not trying to cope with 15 functions at once.
On the graphical side, GTA4, RDR, and this game are all beauties to look at, every car scratch or dent, every surrounding, it's all great, and being an officer of the law you can use car siren to warn pedestrians and make other drivers clear the road, so there is no reason for branding this game as brutal, it is noir and fine one at that.
Saving the best for last, facial details are unbelievable. Not only can you recognize the actors, but also their way of acting. It is amazing to look at it, and use it as something to find out if someone is lying or hiding something. While some companies claim they are using even better technology to capture motion and face detail at the same time, the fact is that right now there is nothing better out there, and this game was the first to deliver uncanny level of facial realism.Nov 01, 2011, submitted by MAT (46901)
 Illusion City - Gen'ei Toshi
Originating on the MSX computer (with a subsequent port to Mega CD that added some audio tracks and a few enhancements), Illusion City is arguably the best Japanese RPG you've never played. It is one of the very few purely "urban" representatives of the genre: the entire game takes place in a huge city where each district is bigger than most towns you'd see in comparable games. The graphical detail and the smooth animations are nothing short of amazing; the superb moody soundtrack brings the unusual "Chinese cyberpunk" setting to life. Vast, complex dungeons, absence of random enemies (!), interesting and varied weapons (including firearms and different types of bullets), and enjoyable combat confirm the fact that Illusion City is an overlooked gem. The Mega CD version is the best, but those who can't read Japanese might be interested in the English translation of the MSX version floating on the net.Oct 01, 2011, submitted by Unicorn Lynx (132665) |
 The Simpsons Game
What? The Simpsons Game? How can it be good? It's a licensed game! Everyone knows they make those games for those jerks who'll buy them just because of the license! Those idiots!! Hahahaaahahaa!! Anyway, so I bought it. D'oh! Doesn't mean I'm an idiot... I'd better eat some chocolate... Mmmm.... chocolate... Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, right. So, I still decided to try it at work, when Mr. Burns wasn't watching. And I didn't even fall asleep! I was surprised to discover it was really fun to play! You can have all those funny abilities, like me eating food, becoming fat and destroying stuff... Mmmm... food... D'oh! I've got to concentrate! Yeah, so it was great! So many parodies of video games, like Medal of Homer. Medal of Homer! Haaaa-hahahahahaa!!... Yes, anyway... And the writing was great! Like in a really good Simpsons episode! So, it turned out to be funny AND fun! So go play it already, why you little!!...Sep 01, 2011, submitted by Unicorn Lynx (132665)
 Tengai Makyō: Ziria
The historical achievement of being the first role-playing game released on a CD (which allowed voice acting for all the cutscenes) is far from being the main reason for this game's place in the Hall of Fame of Japanese RPGs. Tengai Makyō: Ziria is remarkable for doing so many things right, despite the early stage of the genre's development. It was the first humorous RPG in history, but it also had endearing characters who by far surpassed anyone seen in a JRPG before. It had great gameplay touches such as the necessity to find magic instead of automatically learning it; full restoration of a character at level up; ability to swap magic spells between characters; unique battle abilities and "limit breaks", and so on. But above all, it was perfectly executed, had great balance, was challenging but not frustrating, and the constant humor refreshed the experience such as never before. Today, Ziria hasn't lost its appeal, and arguably remains the most playable and enjoyable Japanese RPG of the early era.Aug 01, 2011, submitted by Unicorn Lynx (132665)
Power Shovel
In a world of generic FPS games and 40 hour RPG epics, it's nice to know that some developers still feel that imaginative game design is still worth something.
Power Shovel is something as unique as an excavator simulator arcade game with a complex control setup and "throw you straight into the action" gameplay. Interested yet? Bandai really went all out with this one, and after you get over the small hurdle that is actually learning to control your Komatsu digger you'll have hours of fun doing all kinds of random things you didn't know was possible with machinery of this kind. You'll end up knocking down houses, digging holes, wrecking cars, serving 100 liter portions of curry and much, much more...
Digging a hole in the ground has never been this much fun!Jul 01, 2011, submitted by Parf (6018)
 There's a moment in every game where you know for certain that you've stumbled on something special, something unique. For Sacboy's first travel across the patchwork landscape, Stephen Fry's pitch perfect narration in tow, that very moment was spread out across every piece of artwork, every musical jingle, and every fan made level that came out long after its launch.
With an official sequel on the way, why not take a quick look back at where it all began with the original
LittleBigPlanet.Jun 01, 2011, submitted by Kartanym (10835) |
