DuncanR2N's Awesome Gaming Memories for 2011

When I started to work on my 2011 GOTY post, I started to realize that I don't really like boiling down my gameplay into a single set of games and then pronouncing that one game is definitively better than another. 

So I decided to go a different route and I came up with my top 10 favorite moments in gaming for 2011.   This could be a single event in a single game or an overarching feeling from a set of games.   Basically, there are no rules which gives me a bit more freedom to talk about the highlights of 2011, which I shall dub, the DAGMs (Duncan's Awesome Gaming Memories)

DAGM #10: Plants vs. Zombies

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As many of you may know, I've been a fan of Tower Defense ever since I played the Tower Defense level in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.   Since then I've played and loved PixelJunk Monsters, Defense Grid, Comet Crash, Army of Darkness Defense and of course Plants vs. Zombies.  I initially got this on PSN and loved it so much, that I decided I ought to get it for the iPhone for my mobile enjoyment and it has probably had the most hours logged of any game on my iPhone.  It's just fun, and I still play it, as I work on getting all the achievements (Zen Garden I hate you).

DAGM #9: L.A. Noire

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L.A. Noire was an interesting game.   It clearly has roots in the GTA camp, but it tried to extend beyond that and created a fairly realistic representation of 1940s Los Angeles and drop you in it as a beat cop.  The game actually fell short of its potential in few a respects, but what it brought to the table in terms of the interaction and facial recognition tech was fantastic.

John Noble and his virtual doppleganger

Unlike most video games, all of voice actors in the game didn't just lend their voices, but also their likeness to the game.   As each actor would voice their lines, the developers used a technology dubbed MotionScan to capture the actor's head and digitize it for the game.

The effect was quite good and in more than one instance I'd see a character and think, "Oh, that's the guy from such-and-such".

As a result, one of the big selling points was the interrogation mode where you would ask witnesses and suspects questions and would have to read their faces and body language to determine if they were lying or not.   It worked great, but where the game fell short was that even if you screwed up the interrogations, the game played out exactly the same way, which was, in my opinion, a lost opportunity.

There were other issues with the game, such as the police dispatcher badgering me with calls (Do they really need a detective who's investigating a murder to respond to a domestic violence call on the other side of the city? Certainly there's a black and white that is closer), but overall, the game was really fun and, more importantly, has a huge amount of potential.   You could go prohibition-era Chicago, 70's Streets of San Francisco, Miami Vice it with 80s Miami, or any number of eras and cities.

Unfortunately, Team Bondi, the devs behind L.A. Noire are no more.  However, Rockstar owns the IP, so hopefully they won't let it die.


DAGM #8: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

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Until this year I had never played and beaten a Zelda game.   I've played the original Zelda, and Ocarina of Time but for whatever reason, I've never finished one.

Zelda then is my #8 choice for two reasons.   It fills a hole in my gaming repertoire that has been bugging me for quite a long time, and it was actually a really fun game.

First off, let me say that I loved the art.  I loved the 2D simplicity.  The gameplay was straightforward and easy to grasp while at the same time presenting one heck of a dungeon crawler.

I should mention that there is another game, 3D Dot Game Heroes which is a fantastic homage to Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and is, in some respects, the reason that I even played A Link to the Past as I had a lot of fun with 3D Dot Game Heroes and figured that I ought to give the game that it is giving tribute to a try.

And I'm glad I did.  I'll definitely play another Zelda game in 2012, most likely Ocarina of Time, unless I can get a hold of a copy of Link's Awakening DX soon.

DAGM #7: The Harry Potter Marathon

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In honor of the release of the last Harry Potter movie I decided to do a Harry Potter marathon and play through all 8 Harry Potter games, back to back.  I started on June 20th and finished all 8 games on the July 19th.

And I loved it.   The fun thing with the games is that they include some elements from the books that aren't in the movies and the games themselves evolved and changed genres.   From platformers to action/adventure to sandbox to shooters.

Sure the games have their problems, but they also have some great moments, like catching the slugs that Ron vomits, being chased by a dragon, or going down the Chamber of Secrets to get a basilisk fang.

I don't know if EA figured that someone like me might do this, but when all was said and done, and I'm sitting back getting ready for the credits to roll, I was treated to a short little video that recapped moments from all 8 games, and, having just played them all, well, it was kinda neat for me.

Now all I need is a fully realized Harry Potter RPG!

DAGM #6: Portal 2

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I won't spend a lot of time here on this mostly because I think everyone else in the industry had really made it clear that the Portal games are two of the most unique games on the market.   The first portal was fantastic and the second one was even better.   I would have ranked it higher but there were a few spots that I felt dragged a bit (never a good thing) but overall, it was great.

One of the really nice things about the game was that it wasn't simply a rehash of the first game.   They introduced some new portal gameplay (the gels were great and really made you think) as well as new environments.

And Cave Johnson, fantastic!  Loved the history we got about the Aperture Science Labs and the voice over work for the whole game was really top notch.

DAGM #5: Final Fantasy XIII

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This really was a good game, there's just no way around it.   Yes, it was linear, and really plays nothing like previous Final Fantasies, and didn't even use the Final Fantasy theme song or Prelude (I think the first numbered Final Fantasy not to use both, though it did have the Chocobo theme), but it was still a good game.   The Paradigm battle system was radically different than any other JPRG system I've ever played but once I got familiar with how it really worked, I was chaining and staggering every fool I could.

I also really liked the characters and story, which, for me, is one of the driving reasons I play the Final Fantasy games.   I thought the story was great and loved how the backgrounds and connections of each character was revealed as you progressed through the game.

DAGM #4: Metroid II: Return of Samus

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Way back when, I used to play Metroid, a lot.  I knew it backwards and forwards, I'd speedrun it, you name it.

But since then, never played a single sequel.  Always intended to, but never did.   Pretty much on a whim one night, I tossed Metroid II in my GBA and in no time at all, I was hooked.   This game was every bit as good or better than Metroid.   It only took me a few days to knock it out but I was loving every minute of it.  Hopefully Super Metroid is just as good.

DAGM #3: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

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I enjoyed the first PSP God of War game, it worked well on the PSP and the missing right analog stick really didn't hurt the game all that much.  I figured that Ghost of Sparta would be more of the same, and to a certain extent it was.  I'm not sure what it was but it felt like it was more than just a handheld adaptation of  a major franchise.   It felt like it belonged to the franchise, from a graphical, gameplay and storyline aspect.  It's easily one of the best looking PSP games and one of the best playing PSP games that I've ever played.



DAGM #2: The PlayStation Action funtime triumvirate

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The are three developers that are kinda considered the best of the Sony exclusive developers (though one has now defected and gone multiplat) and each had a game for the PS3 release this year.  I played them all back to back and really enjoyed each one.

I thought I was going to not like Resistance 3 by Insomniac as it switched protagonists on me but I ended up really liking not just the protagonist switch, but the atmosphere.  Moving through post-apocalyptic America was a great ride.   There were a few oddities (why St. Louis had the arch before it was built in real history is beyond me) but the gameplay and weapons more than made up the difference.

The original Resistance clearly showed it's Ratchet and Clank heritage with the use of the weapon wheel and the crazy weapons themselves.   One of the biggest disappointments with Resistance 2 was that it decided to become a lemming and follow the Halo/COD crowd a limit you to a just a couple of weapons.  Thankfully, Resistance 3 returned to it's roots and brought back the weapon wheel, and it was all the better for it.  

I had played both Sly 2 and 3 earlier in the year so rolling into inFamous 2 felt like coming home both from the series itself and the gameplay.  It was interesting to see how much of the Sly mechanics Sucker Punch had put into inFamous 2.   The game itself was great and although I at a bit of an issue with the story (parts felt like they were forcing in elements from the first game that weren't really planned out to fit with this one) but the gameplay was solid.  I need to pull down the patch now and give the Move control scheme a go.

Finally there was Uncharted 3.   I played through it pre-aiming patch and never really had any issues.   Now that Naughty Dog has issued a patch, I'd like to give it a go.   Uncharted 3 was a great game with some fantastic set pieces but there were a couple of been there, done that, levels and the story had some loose ends that really bugged me.

Having said that, it was also responsible for some of the best, "Whoa, that is awesome" moments I had the entire game.   Even parts of the game that I had already seen in preview trailers made me go, "Wow!" cause seeing it really isn't the same as playing it.

So in the end, playing all three was really fun and one of the highlights of 2011.


DAGM #1: Assassin's Creed: Revelations

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If you know me at all, then you will know that Assassin's Creed is pretty much my favorite IP for this generation.  Revelations did not disappoint and I had a blast playing it.

In fact, Assassin's Creed: Revelations was possibly the best entry in the series.   It took everything from Brotherhood and kicked it up a notch.  The narrative was a bit better, the setting was a nice change and it was just a overall fun game.   Some folks derailed the game for it's mini-tower defense game but I found it pretty fun.   Also, the fact that you could actually loose ground by letting the Templars take back key points in the city was a really nice addition.   The flashbacks to Altair were also really fun, though it would have been nice to see a little bit more of him.

The only negative is something that I have felt was missing from the first game.   I really loved the Kingdom aspect where you could travel from city to city in a big giant open area.   There was no story elements there but it was fun to have that sandbox to play around in.  They dropped it after the first game and I've wanted back ever since.

Even so, it was a great ending to the Ezio story arc and I'm looking forward to the next entry.  I think it's also key to watch the epilogue, Embers once you've finished the game as it really wraps up Ezio's story nicely.

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Well, that's it for the DAGMs.   Thanks for joining me and hopefully I can get my gaming plans sorted out for this year soon and get that posted up.