video games

Top 10 Games Of This Generation – Honourable Mention – Gears of War 3

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(Original Review)

If this was a list of the most influential games of this generation, the original Gears of War could very well take the #1 spot. It’s take on the third person shooter and cover mechanics became the blueprint for third person action games. However, despite enjoying it enough to beat the campaign 3 separate times (including on insane difficulty), I felt like that game was rough around the edges. Some of the action outside of its core mechanics felt sloppy, the last boss encounter wasn’t fun or satisfying and its dumb story felt tacked solely as a means of justifying the gameplay scenarios rather than being integrated at a root level.

Gears of War 3 cleans up all of the mistakes of its predecessors to finally reach the franchise’s full potential.

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Super Mario 3D World Review

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Super Mario 3D Land is a very tough act to follow. To this day, I have fond memories of how it perfectly blended the 2D sensibilities of classic Mario within its 3D environments. I would go as far as saying that it’s better than any of the Super Mario Galaxy games. Are the cat suit and 4-player co-op enough to propel Super Mario 3D World above its predecessor? On their own, no. However, combined with the plethora of brilliant new ideas and a remarkable level of polish, this convincingly earns its place as one of the best Mario games ever made.

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Top 10 Games of This Generation – Honourable Mention: Uncharted 2

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(Original Review)

I think the original Uncharted is a bit overrated. As Sony’s answer to Gears of War, I think people glossed over its faults in order to rank it on that same level. It’s sequel, however, stands on its own merits as a landmark release.

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NBA 2K14 Review

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NBA 2K14 and I got off on the wrong foot. Upon first booting up the game, I was  immediately thrown into a quick match between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs while the game installs in the background. This took a good 30 minutes to complete. It’s odd being forced to play as the Miami Heat in a game where there’s only background music, but I guess I’ll take that over waiting a half hour for it to install. Once I completed that, I thought I’d finally get to play some hoops in its MyCareer mode. Instead, I largely sat through what seemed like hours of exposition that played out through a barrage of painful cutscenes.

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Top 10 Games Of This Generation – Honourable Mention – Injustice: Gods Among Us

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(Original Review)

Injustice: Gods Among Us won me over long before it came out. At Fan Expo 2012, I got to play an early build of the game featuring only Batman and The Flash. Though I didn’t have very long to play it, something about it just felt right. More right than even the Mortal Kombat reboot, which I also really enjoyed.

What I did not anticipate was how far down the Injustice rabbit hole I’d go. Having played virtually every major fighting game released this generation (most of which are good), most of them just fall out of my rotation while I continue to play the same old Street Fighter and Marvel. But once this game hit, I couldn’t put it down.

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First Impressions of the PlayStation 4

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photo(25)

After months of waiting with bated breath, my PlayStation 4 finally arrived. Showing up at 10:30am, it sat at my building’s concierge desk until I could pick it up later that night. Once I did, I cracked the box open and stated noodling with it immediately.

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The Recurring Bosscast: 030 – I Don’t Know But I Bought A Suit

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Next gen fever has hit the Bosscast in a big way, as everyone recently bought a new console. Listen in for their first impressions of the PlayStation 4 and Wii U!

Games Discussed: Battlefield 4, NBA 2K14, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Resogun, Contrast, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Ni No Kuni, Spyborgs

Jett – In Third Person
Jason – Downstab
Mat – Biff Bam Pop

Top 10 Games of This Generation – Honourable Mention: Mark of the Ninja

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(Original Review)

I hate stealth games. I hate the myriad of artificial fail states that oftentimes come with it. I hate the oftentimes fake openness that really boils down to 1 or 2 options you may have at any given point. I hate the trial-and-error nature of the gameplay. I even hate the very conceit of stealth in video games. When i play a video game, I want the power fantasy. In most stealth games, you feel like a weakling who has no other means of getting through a scenario.

I hate stealth games, but I love Mark of the Ninja.

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How I Gave Up On Battlefield 4

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“Wow!”

I don’t consider myself as someone who is easily swayed by graphics. However, I couldn’t help but feel a bit taken aback by how gorgeous Battlefield 4 looked at first glance. There was a level of fidelity to its visuals that was beyond anything I’d seen before. If you’re looking for a showpiece game to impress your friends, this is as good as it gets right now.

If only the rest of the game reached the same highs as its graphics. Unfortunately, the PlayStation 4 version of the game was a buggy mess.

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Top 10 Games of This Generation – Honourable Mention – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

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(Original Review)

Many will feel that I’ve chosen the wrong Call of Duty for this list. That is a fair point. Historically, everyone knows that the original Modern Warfare is the one that changed the industry with it’s great single player campaign and legendary multiplayer. Heck, having played both of these titles, I think the original has its successor beat in the single player department.

So why is Modern Warfare 2 getting all the praise? Being my first Call of Duty definitely had something to do with it.
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