My Top 40 Games of 2013, 20 - 11: A METAL GEAR GAME DOESN'T GET NUMBER 1???

Written By: Tyler Selig

                It’s New Years Eve and I’m sure that you all are going to go out or stay in and have a good time with friends and/or family. But until you celebrate or try to forget this past year, why not bore yourself to death with the next ten picks in my wildly popular “Top 40 Games of 2013” series? You’re welcome.

20: Neverwinter

                There’s some hate for this one, but I think it’s one of the better MMOs that I’ve played. It’s been a while but I do remember the micro-transactions being a little high. However, I don’t think you have to grind too much (a little grinding is expected in free-to-play) and though it doesn’t do anything that original within the genre, the combat is satisfying and the Foundry – where you can create your own quests for people to do – is the selling point for me. This is an underrated MMO.

19: Resogun

                It’s short but it’s intense, and seeing as how we used to get games like this back when I was a kid, there’s definitely that nostalgia factor kicking in… that desire to play these types of games. This is a really gorgeous side-scrolling shooter with amazing music.

18: Two Brothers

                Not to be confused with Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (a game I’ve only played briefly), this was a retro-inspired – most specifically Gameboy – tale where you’re trying to bring colour back to the world. It’s filled with memorable characters and fun action. It’s also slightly open-world.

17: Saints Row 4

                It feels weird putting Saints Row 4 at 17 because I love the Saints Row games. They’ve come a long way from their beginning as a Grand Theft Auto clone. You’d hardly recognize the series at this point if you’ve only played the first one. The reason for this being that the series has gone completely off its rocker. You literally play as the President of the USA with superpowers. While it does run the risk of being just too much for some players, it’s a lot of fun to jump high in the air or shoot people with your super powers.

16: Galah Galah

                Jake Clover returns with this odd adventure, a series of unfinished games thrown together. What this means is that it’s pretty confusing but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun because it’s a short, but incredible experience.

15: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

                Any time a core Metal Gear title gets released, it’s my favourite game of the year. This isn’t a core title. It’s a spin-off starring Cyborg Raiden. As an action title it’s fantastic as Platinum Games are basically kings at this kind of thing. As a Metal Gear game, it has a bit of the charm of the Metal Gear universe but it loses a little something because it’s so light weight in that sense. The core titles are a nice mixture of gameplay, emotion and humour, with so many memorable moments I could literally make a list just of those (not a bad idea)… whereas this is just you being a badass Raiden. Fun, but not nearly as inspired or important as Metal Gear Solid.

14: Year Walk

                I try to play a few mobile games each year but this year I slacked hard on that. Year Walk was one of the few I played and it was the only one I loved. I hate touch screen controls, but since this is just an adventure game, I’ve found that that genre works on mobile. This has a great ending and gorgeous visuals to go along with its intriguing story.

13: Pikmin 3

                Pikmin on all accounts could be a Top 10 game, so this just comes down to preference. This was my first step into the Pikmin world and I was surprised by how intense it was. Yes, intense. You are given a time limit each day to move your cute little Pikmin around, solve puzzles, scavenge for food and beat bosses, so you always have to think. Pikmin sold some Wii Us, but it’s great enough that it should have sold more.

12: Bombermine

                This is a very simple idea: take Bomberman multiplayer, and grow it. I believe there are a thousand people playing in one game at any given time. I have always been a huge mark for the Bomberman series, and to see it lifted to such grand scales makes me smile just a little lot.

11: Beyond: Two Souls

                And so I end this entry with a controversial one. You either love this game or you hate it, because David Cage and his crew offer experiences that other major studios do not. You’ll see games within the indie community that are light on gameplay and focused almost entirely on story, but you won’t often see a AAA title that does that, for what I feel are obvious reasons. Beyond: Two Souls has the most actual gameplay of any of their titles, but it’s still basically gameplay-light. You come here for the story, and except for a few hiccups, the story is well told and interesting.

                Be safe tonight, and make sure to battle your hangover long enough tomorrow to check out the final ten games of 2013.

PS4 Launch Party - Look at All The Pretty Colours! A Resogun Review.

Written By: Tyler Selig

Rating: 8.5/10

Verdict: Extremely short but with a bunch of difficulty levels to suck you back in, Resogun is a nice throwback to the arcade shmups, but it does just enough to make it feel more modern.

            Resogun is another game that Playstation Plus members can get for free right now, and from what I can gather, it’s also the most consistently highest rated Playstation 4 launch exclusive. That’s pretty good when you consider it’s against things like Killzone: Shadow Fall. IGN gave it a 9, Destructoid gave it a 9.5, Gamespot gave it an 8 and Polygon gave it an 8.5. So is it worth the hype?

                Well, yeah, but I don’t think it’s the best of the exclusives (more on that at a later date). That doesn’t change one simple fact: Resogun is awesome.

                Coming from a more primitive time in games, I remember these types of games when they were plentiful. Before first-person shooters, we had games like Resogun, though they weren’t nearly as pretty. It’s not the most complicated genre to make, yet they end up being fun more often than not. Unfortunately it’s mostly been up to the indie game community to keep this particular dream alive.

                Resogun, despite being made on a budget that would make Infinity Ward laugh, manages to be a beautiful and engaging example of the genre. Your ships look fine, but not overly impressive, but that’s not where the visual magic is. Look at the backgrounds and see how well-designed they are, and watch how they crumble as each of the five levels progress. Look at all the pretty colours from enemies as you shoot them to bits. And even though you move from left to right, the levels go in a circle. Resogun is pretty much an orgy for your eyes.

                This also applies to the music, which isn’t overbearing but does a good job of putting you in the mood with the old-school flair. Mind you, I didn’t always notice it because of everything that was going on, but when I did, I was impressed.

                It was a little hard to pay attention to the music, and that’s the fault of the best aspect of the game. It’s crazy, and gets even more insane when you choose the higher difficulties. I found myself just neglecting to blink more often than not, and that’s how I know I’m zoned in. Which you have to be because at any given time you are looking every which way, trying to avoid enemies as they shoot at you or try to run into you. It’s never boring, and just when you think you can let up, enemies spawn all around you, or right on top of you… which is why you always have to move.

                Another reason you always have to move is because one of the bonus objectives of each level is to save humans. You do this by waiting for them to get released from their cage, and then you fly, pick them up, and return them to a portal/base thing in the sky. This gameplay choice makes the action even more hectic because I found myself trying to fly through groups of enemies just to save those ungrateful bastards. Don’t they know what I’m doing for them? The only problem I have is that I don’t know why they die in their cages sometime. I’m sure with research I could figure that out, but as of writing this, I’m not entirely sure.

                Resogun keeps the action simple. You can move in all four directions, but you can only shoot left and right. This harkens back to the old days, and I enjoyed that. They don’t leave you powerless though because you can expect to get upgrades, and they equip you with a boost that is useful for getting away from enemies, but also causes a small explosion when you use it. They also give you bombs which clear the stage of any enemy that is there when you use it, and an overdrive which is especially effective against bosses because it’s one massive honkin’ beam that does a ton of damage.

                I’m disappointed in the length because you really could complete it in two hours or less. If I was paying for it I’d probably knock it down a little bit. But as it stands right now, if you’re a new PS4 owner with the internet, you should be able to get it. And you should, because Resogun is special.

PS4 Launch Party - What's That In The Shadow? Oh, it's Contrast. Hi Contrast. (It's A Review)

Written By: Tyler Selig

                This is my first article for what I’m dubbing, “My PS4 Launch Party.” I intend to write a long review for Killzone: Shadow Fall and Knack. I plan on reviewing Resogun and Contrast, which will be shorter reviews. I may even throw in an article detailing what I think about the actual Playstation 4 itself, but I will not be giving it a rating. I'll probably tease you with the reviews of Resogun and Contrast first, just to tease you before I unload the big daddy reviews, because you're a dirty dirty girl, and you like that.

                So read on for my review of Contrast, a multi-platform game that I played on PS4.

Rating: 6/10

Verdict: Contrast is an entertaining game, but nothing that will set the world on fire. At its core, it’s a solid puzzle-platformer but while it has a cool idea, outside of a couple neat puzzles, it doesn’t use it all that excitingly. A 6 doesn’t mean “shit game,” it means “decent game, worth playing but not exceptional by any means.”

            Contrast reminds me a bit of Lost in Shadow, a superior game that was released on Wii a couple years back. The fact that both games have you using shadows to platform your way through is why I say this. The idea to me was fascinating back when Lost in Shadow was released, and you don’t see many games use that “gimmick,” so I was pretty excited to play Contrast.

                Unfortunately Contrast doesn’t hit the levels of Lost in Shadow, but it’s not a terrible game by any means. You play as Dawn, a mysterious woman who helps a little girl named Didi as she goes through family issues. It would actually be pretty heartbreaking if the writing allowed it to be, as you get to see your parents go through marital problems and you find some things out that would potentially damage a little girl for life. It tells its tale mostly seriously and in a noir-like fashion, which is appealing to me but verbally and visually, but the voice acting and the quality of writing sometimes lets it down… which is a shame because there’s an emotional story here to be told and it doesn’t reach those heights.

                With that said, the visuals aren’t exactly next-gen, but it’s also not a triple-A game. It’s not full-priced, and if you get Playstation Plus right now (which you should because they give you 30 days just for buying), the game is free. The visuals do a competent job of making the world feel alive.

                The biggest disappointment lies within the biggest aspect of gaming: the actual gameplay. It has a cool feature revolving around shadows but it doesn’t really give you engaging platforming or puzzles (outside of a couple which I found slightly challenging and interesting). I felt like there were some real innovative things that could be done here, and since the game only clocks in at about three hours, I felt like the developers should have went balls-to-the-wall and gave us some really intriguing puzzles. Unfortunately, most of it is pretty average and doesn’t live up to its potential.

                If you’re looking for a quick puzzle-platformer to spend your time with in between other games, you can’t go wrong with Contrast. It’s just that if you’re a gamer that’s interested in Contrast, you probably have a backlog of games to play anyway so while I’d give Contrast a minor recommendation, you also won’t be missing much by avoiding it.