Okay then, time to wrap up this wrap-up. I think I've made my point and that point is that I have played a lot of games this year. When I restarted this blog all the way back in February, I was very much in the mindset that I was going to actually some of these games I always buy when the sales are on and boy did I get busy on that front. Looking back it doesn't feel like I had a wealth of free time to fit in all this gaming, but by golly I did. Mission accomplished! I may even get around to playing games from this very current decade on a regular basis next year but naturally I am making no promises there. For the last time this year, to the games...
The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker
Now this was a change of pace and a throwback all at the same time. An FMV based murder mystery of sorts where you spend 95% of your time watching clips of people talking and the remaining time making a choice as to the few branching paths available to you. Not the most complex game to be sure but there was something quite charming about this one. It marked the start of the October horror season of gaming, yes that may be a thing now. It was more affably goofy than outrightly sinister though. Playing therapist to some off-kilter X-Men-esque patients was mostly a good time though. Three quantum suicides out of five!
Kholat
Continuing the horror theme, I took a random stab and chose this one next. A first person wander amongst the frigid mountain wastes in Russia that is occasionally voiced over by Sean Bean. It was atmospheric sure, one or two decent moments of tension as you try to evade ephemeral monsters haunting the barren wilderness. Also some connection to the real life incident that claimed the lives of a group of Russian mountaineers back in the 1950's. Overall though I felt somewhat underwhelmed here. The game itself is largely a collectible hunt that got old fast. Collecting them all unlocked the true ending though, but that was also fairly underwhelming after all the effort. Two haunting voiceovers out of five!
Lone Survivor
Another one from the 'I started this ages ago but never finished it' pile of games. Lone Survivor is an intriguing pitch. What if you took the aesthetics and sounds of Silent Hill and made it a 2D puzzle platforming experience? What if indeed! Ultimately I struggled to get into any kind of flow with this one despite appreciating it's individual parts. The puzzles could feel a little too opaque at times and the somewhat repetitive design made the inevitable backtracking something of a chore. I appreciate the intent here but the end result less so. Three strangers wearing a box on their head out of five!
Alien: Isolation
Now this was something special. A game based on Alien but not the more action focused fare typically based on the first sequel. Sublime design, superb sound work, a veritable tour de force of tension in one of the best video game translations of cat and mouse yet devised. Creeping around an old space station whilst something far worse creeps nearby made for an experience I'm still reflecting on several months later. What I am saying is, this was good. This was pretty good. I might even go so far as to say excellent and one of the best games I played this year. Five agonising moments of holding your breath out of five!
Resident Evil 0
Funny story, I often complain about my to-play list as anyone reading this blog will know. How long it is and how many games I never get around to playing and so on. Sometimes though for reasons I cannot adequately explain I will play games I technically have already played and completed. So was the case with Resident Evil 0, a game I completed in its original form back in, checks notes, 2002! That sound you are hearing right now is the sound of my ancient bones turning to dust. They re-released this in HD form back in 2016 and at some point thereafter I thought why the heck not? Actually playing it now a mere two decades removed it holds up quite well. A Resi game in the classic mold with some 'new' ideas on offer and the last classic Resi game we'd get before Resident Evil 4 would blow us all away in, checks notes, 2005! Three disintegrating skeletons out of five!
Resident Evil
Funny story. No wait I won't repeat the above, rest assured the above entry very much applies to this one as well. If anything this is even more pronounced. I didn't just play and complete the Resident Evil remake back in 2002, I actually bought a console on the hype train rolling ahead of it. Yes I bought a GameCube to play the original release back in the day and two decades later I'm playing it again in HD form. It's a personal favourite, I think it's very much a prime example in how to update a game in a way that respects the strengths of the original release whilst also acknowledging it's weaknesses. The atmosphere and the aesthetic are great, the added sub-plot is a plus and overall it remains a strong entry as far as early Resident Evil games go. Three lab outbreaks out of five!
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
I've always had something of a love hate relationship with the Borderlands series. On the one hand it's colourful, vibrant and anarchic. On the other it's hollow, repetitive and tiring. I love the world, I love the combat, but outside of Tales From The Borderlands, I'm not sure there has been a definitive Borderlands game that nails the characters and story as well as it does the shooting at the same time. This remains true of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, an entry I never got around to playing at release and a gap in the series I put down to it coming out late in the PS3 generation. Playing it as part of The Handsome Collection now, it's often a fun time but equally it's an uninspiring experience as well. This particular entry has a distinct Australian flavour to it courtesy of its developers but otherwise there's a feeling of been there, done that to the proceedings that does the game no favours. Two hockey mask wearing psychopaths out of five!
Slay the Spire
A pull from the random pile of games at the edge of my radar here. Turn based card games, In theory I'm quite fond of these but in practice it doesn't always work out. This one though seemed promising and had a groundswell of good word around it so I gave it a go. It's very good but the pronounced difficulty curve designed to eat up time does work against it in my estimation. It's superbly designed though with a charming aesthetic. Overall it gets a recommendation from me and it's definitely given me a taste to delve into other card games I see in my games library. Four random acts of fate out of five!
Bedlam The Game By Christopher Brookmyre
Oh dear! Oh dear oh dear oh dear! Remember when I said in an earlier entry how The Magic Circle was very nearly the worst game I played this year? It was the frontrunner certainly until I played Bedlam recently. A first person nostalgia trip through shooters of the last few decades. I feel I should point out the good before the bad here. It was refreshing to have a protagonist voiced by someone from Glasgow. The level homaging Unreal Tournament and channeling the testosterone fuelled ignorance of such online spaces was pretty entertaining and... that's about it. Clunky to play, glitchy in an unintentional manner and generally littered with frustrations throughout. There is an art to subversive retrospective takes on gaming of the past and this game lacked a great deal of it. So much traversal through largely empty levels too. Speaking as part of the ancient order that played games of the 90's in the 90's, I can confirm said games of the time did not conform to these lazy rehashes. One glitch through the level into bottomless space out of five!
Alan Wake Remastered
I've done it again. Playing a game in remastered form that I've already played. It's Alan Wake though. I enjoyed it on the first-go around many moons ago and I enjoyed it here in snazzy 2022-o-vision. Remedy are possibly my favourite developer in gaming and Max Payne will forever have an assured place in my list of favourite games. Loved the allusions to Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone and horror fiction generally. Snappy combat mechanics, quirky characterisation and a strong aesthetic seal the deal. The combat does come with a certain déjà vu however as enemies tend to attack in the standard ambush that repeats itself throughout. All in all though, a good time was had here. Four displaced manuscript pages out of five!
Control
I wasn't just playing Alan Wake Remastered for the fun you know? I mean that was nine tenths of it sure but there was also the connection to the next game on the to-play list: Control. Playing this on PS5, this may be one of the most exquisite examples of presentation in gaming. Sure the combat is great, the sense of bureaucratic weirdness is top-notch and the general mission statement of a top secret government agency fighting threats to reality itself is delivered with flair and style. It's the presentation I still think of after completing it however as it's clear some real thought went into it. It also has a DLC sized chapter of tease for Alan Wake 2 so it's got that going for it too. Four inderdimensional management entities out of five!
Machinarium
So after Control I was tempted to call it a day for the year or however that might be phrased. Instead I cleared out a few more. Gaming habits are a harsh mistress after all. Machinarium is a good old point and click adventure game with a superb design and aesthetic. A real interactive picture book to look at, a less sublime experience to actually play however. Nothing wrong with it as such, nothing that isn't also an issue with the point and click puzzle adventure genre at large anyway. It's got lots of personality and charm, it's just the puzzles end up feeling opaque in a way that doesn't turn into a good time for yours truly. Maybe I just don't have the head for puzzle gaming or maybe I don't feel the enjoyment proportional to the headwork required. Either way it's two robotic hoodlums out of five!
Virginia
Next up as we rapidly approach the end of 2022 is Virginia. Not a game that has resided long on the to-play list. Think I grabbed it in a PSN sale after reading a positive write-up on it somewhere... Hints of Twin Peaks and David Lynch here delivered entirely without words but with no shortage of style. A non-verbal murder mystery situated in the early 90's. In theory this should have really connected with me and truly enough, it does have its moments but I don't think it surpasses itself as a gaming experience. Two silent protagonists out of five!
Nex Machina
Now the very final, final game of the year that won't actually be final if you have already scrolled ahead. The last game played this year that I have not played in previous years anyway. A twin stick shooter where waves upon waves of enemies mass upon you in increasingly intense bouts of destruction. It was very good I thought but that difficulty spike at the end was ridiculous. It's a relatively short game technically but that final boss on standard difficulty was a mind melter to put it lightly. After a few too many failed attempts I invoked the 'actual frustration is outweighing the potential enjoyment' rule (see Action Henk) and I called it a day on this one. If I close my eyes I can still see waves upon waves of deadly pink skulls making their way in my general direction as I fruitlessly evade them to attempt to land a shot on that boss. A boss very reminiscent of the final boss in Furi actually (also played this year) but somehow I managed to beat that one with near-equal exasperation. It's an impeccable game but also a mildly impossible one at the same time. Four bazillion on-screen enemies out of five!
Honourable Mention: Rocket League
Finally, finally I feel it remiss not to mention that in-between and throughout I have been fitting in some time with that most playable of ongoing habits that is Rocket League. You know I'm not even fussed by football even, sports generally are not my thing. This game though is just so much fun even when it's not being fun. It's that rare trick of gaming and one it's makers continue to pull off in the seven years or so since its release. Dear lord I have been playing this game on and off for seven years. Five sobering reflections on the nature of time out of five!
Thats it!
Done!
No, really it's done. It has been a single journey around the sun to be certain. Dizzying highs, abyssal lows and the murky middle bits between. In mainstream entertainment's ongoing war on my free time, I feel this year represents a turning point in the eternal struggle to feel like I am in any way getting around to it all. 2022 I salute you and gently place my boot on your butt as I kick you out the door. Happy New Year all! See you on the other side!
Comments
Post a Comment