10.
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| FORZA Motorsport 4 |
YES! Big shock! An X-Box 360 game in my top 10! I, like millions of others of PS3 gamers were dying to get their hands on Gran Tursimo 5 only to find it was... a let down. 5 years in the making and I just couldn't get into it. So after my brother shut up ranting about Gears of War 3, he went out and bought FORZA Motorsport 4 and I gotta say I am impressed! Even on a lesser powerful console the cars look... real! The gameplay is fun and not too realistic unlike GT5. When you're doing 70mph it actually feels like you are doing 70mph. And one of my personal favourite bits is the Achievement of getting a Delorian up to 88mph! Brilliant!
9.
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| Sonic Generations |
The fastest blue Hedgehog in the world returns (The ONLY blue Hedgehog) in a game the fans wanted for so long. A Sonic game where you play as SONIC the whole SONIC and nothing but the SONIC! In his latest adventure SEGA are celebrating 20 years of Sonic by recreating classic levels from the past games and enabling us to play them as Classic Sonic or Modern Sonic. It's the highest rated Sonic game since 'Adventure 2 Battle' on the GameCube back in 2002. As fun as it is I gotta say it's soooo fast that I found the controls quite unresponsive. On several occasions I was speeding through the level and hit the jump button only to have Sonic ignore me. Timing is everything if you want to look stylish in front of your mates!
8.
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| God of War Collection: Volume 2 |
The hands of death could not defeat him. The sisters of fate could not hold him. And the PSP could not keep him an exclusive! (Though I have them on PSP too) Yep Kratos made another HD appearance on the PS3 in 720p complete with trophy support. Considering they are originally designed for a smaller screen, the HD upscaling is quite impressive. More so for 'Ghost of Sparta' than 'Chains of Olympus'. The gameplay is less fidgety with the Dualshock 3 controller and more responsive. (And I Platinumed BOTH of those mother fuckers!)
7.
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| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 |
Another year, another Call of Duty (Or COD to all you casual gamers). This year the franchise returned to the Modern Warfare storyline with even more controversy as World War 3 breaks out and it's up to the USA and UK to stop the Russians from taking over the world. For the past... god knows how many games, Activision has used the same engine to run Call of Duty. There never really is any big changes and other FPS games actually try to be different (Battlefield 3 and RAGE for example). But Call of Duty just always comes out on top! For me it's the story that gets me psyched (Watching the Eiffel Tower collapse was pretty epic). There's not much change to the multiplayer features either. They said it'd be fair like Treyarch's 'Black Ops' but after a few days of people racking up their level, shotguns returned and online is just... shit again. But yes I was down at my local GAME at midnight waiting to get my hands on a copy. Most guys my age probably had their hands on some girls breasts or arse but then... I'm not most guys.
6.
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| L.A Noire |
From the publishers that brought us the Grand Theft Auto series comes this 1950's, Hollywood crime solving, free-sort of-roam game. Great story and the characters are believable with its motion captured faces that are so detailed you notice every wrinkle of the face as they speak. HOWEVER... the gameplay, as impressive as it is at first, soon runs it course. Questioning witnesses and inspecting crime scenes is pretty much all you do. Doesn't matter what desk you're on (Vice, Arson etc) you will always have to tell whether someone is telling the truth or lying. But still mind blowing and something of a landmark in gaming.
5.
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| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D |
In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend. A legend held dearly by the Royal Family that tells of a boy... A boy who returns in his most epic adventure in 3D! I wasn't planning on getting a Nintendo 3DS until my ex broke up with me. I had to replace her somehow! So I saved my pennies and bought one. And I'm glad I did! I'm no 3D movie fan because I hate wearing the glasses that fall down my face EVERY 2 SECONDS! But with the 3DS this is not an issue and Zelda couldn't look any better! The entire game remains true to the Nintendo 64 original we all fell in love with with a few graphical tweaks and added extras. This game took me back to being a 12 year old all over again.
4.
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| Assassin's Creed Revelations |
Let's get one thing straight... I FUCKING love the Assassin's Creed series! I have EVERY game of the franchise including the Nintendo DS spin-offs. The first Assassin's Creed made it to number 1 in top ten back in 2007. Revelations see's Ezio Auditore return again in search for the ancient Apple of Eden... again. Ezio has been the heroin of the past 3 games (4 if you count 'Discovery' on the DS) and this is his last chapter in the AC series. The gameplay pretty much remains the same with a couple of new things such as bomb crafting and a hook blade. The multiplayer remains as frustrating as Brotherhood unfortunately. Don't get me wrong! The multiplayer is genius! But you have to be in the right game with other players hiding and hunting instead of a bunch of 12 year old n00bs running round like headless chickens, only enabling you to earn a 100 point kill as opposed to a possible 1000+ point kill. Best play it privately with friends.
3.
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| Metal Gear Solid HD Collection |
No it's not out in Europe until Febuary 2012 but FUCK WAITING FOR THAT! So I ordered it off Ebay from a generous extortionist who bought it from the US and sold it for double the price. Not really something I'd do but it's MGS so fuck it! The Metal Gear franchise is like my bread and butter - WAIT - no carbs! Umm... it's my core of gaming. My all time favourite series. So when I heard that 2, 3 and Peace Walker were being released in HD, it was automatically added to my 'Must Get' list. And so I did and oh... my... COD! You'd think the game was made for PS3 the HD is that good - brilliant - sexy - AMAZING! Classic gameplay had my nostalgia levels higher than Hitlers Gas Bill! A must have for all MGS fans or simply people who lost/sold/ate their original copies.
2.
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| Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception |
Nathan Drake returns in this epic PS3 exclusive to find the Atlantis of the Sands in Drake's Deception. Keeping true to its cinematic gameplay and cutscenes, Uncharted 3 is definitely the best in the series so far. Unfortunately it is also the shortest which kinda sucked. However I enjoyed every second of it with its 'on the edge of your seat' gun fights and environment climbing disasters. My favourite part being the sinking of a cruise ship. Simply fucking epic! (If you're a fan of classical music I highly recommend the soundtrack)
Ok we've had my top 9 but before I reveal my number 1 game of 2011 I wanna quickly mention other games that didn't quite make it into the list.
Other great games out this year included Skyrim, Deus Ex, Portal 2, Mortal Kombat and Saints Row The Third. All are brilliant in their own ways. I just couldn't bring myself to grant them a spot in my top ten. It's personal opinion after all.
So here it is...
1.
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| Batman Arkham City |
"I am veangence. I am the night. I. AM. BATMAN!" *Creams* Yup! With the hype of Nolan's next installment of the Batman movies: The Dark Knight Rises, the caped crusader rises to my number 1 spot of 2011! This game has it all. Action, puzzles, story and Batman! After the MAJOR success of 'Arkham Asylum' back in 2009 it seems only right that a sequel is released, taking all the features from its predecessor and near enough perfecting them. Kevin Conroy voicing the Dark Knight himself and Luke Skywalk - sorry - Mark Hamill as the Joker gives the game that classic feel from the TV series of my childhood. If you thought the freeflow combat in Asylum was shit hot then FUCK ME in City it is brutally amazing! Aside from playing as Bats you can fill the sexy boots of Catwoman with her own set of moves and story that links into Batmans. Other downloadable characters are the infamous boy wonder: Robin and the slick Nightwing. Though they don't have a set of lines for the combat challenge rooms (even though the thugs call out their names) they both also have their own move set and are just as much fun to use as Batman. This game is essential for any Batman fan. Anyone who hates on it is just either blind, lost their arms or are just plain retarded! As soon as the credits rolled at the end of Nolan's 'Dark Knight' movie my very first thought was "When the fuck is the sequel out!?". Well when I finished this game I thought exactly the same thing!
Well there ya have it folks. I look forward to trying out what 2012 has to offer in the gaming world. But for now... Humbug to the lot of ya! I'm gonna go on Modern Warfare 3 now before the 5 year old n00bs of the world wake up and get their copy and polute the servers with their annoying, girlish voices.
Peace and Love!
