2009 Year In Review: Games

It's a year... WOW. New Year felt like it was just yesterday (ok I am just kidding) and now Christmas is over and the other new year is around the corner. Great. In order for this jiffy year to have at least some recollections (and my boredom to a minimum) I decided to make a few 'Year In Review' posts to... you know...

Let's start with Games. My Games. 2009 was a great year for games despite the economic downturn. I decided to list the top games based on their genres.

Best Shooter: Killzone 2

This year (like many other years before), we've been thrown numerous crappy shooters designed to milk every penny out of us (*cough* Call of Duty *cough*). Whilst personally I have lost much of that hunger for more of this genre due to the 'shooter overdose', I decided to give Killzone 2 the king of shooters for 2009. Yes, nothing interesting in the game play (pretty much like all shooters), Call of Duty 4 like multiplayer system and somewhat repetitive shooting. Killzone 2 personally scores for me in ambiance, length and it's sweet looking graphics. These factors are good enough to top this game in the list of shooters for 2009, above Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands and Left 4 Dead 2.

Best Action/Adventure: Uncharted 2

Uncharted 2... gosh was this a breath of fresh air when I played it. Witty dialogues, great multiplayer types, good amounts of content, great storyline and orgasmic graphics that make you drool. Uncharted 2 was certainly a great adventure for me. It's use of Marco Polo's lost fleet was certainly smart and I was completely driven into the game from start to finish. The levels were a variety of stealth, brawl and guns, all delivered in a great package. The characters are extremely likable and the environment... absolutely stunning. Naughty Dog certainly came in leaps and bounds against all other major competitors (which are great games themselves) such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed II and Infamous.

Best Sports: NHL 10

Never been a fan of Hockey until I played this game. Whilst due to budgetary reasons I don't own this game myself, I loved the demo and had a blast over at my friend's playing this game. I was actually tempted to get Fifa 10 on the list, but annoying bugs, the exploits from the new 'set piece' creation and the completely broken manager mode just can't seem to make it to the top list for sports. As for NHL 10, I really enjoyed the fight sequences (or rather the ability to do so) and how realistic the game is - I mean literally. Opposing team mates can get mad should you take a shot at their goal after the whistle, and the 360 passing system really brings about the flow (and chaos) of hockey like in real life. Oh by the way, Washington Capitals for the win!

Best Strategy: Empire Total War

Possibly the only main reason why this is top is because it's the only decent strategy game on the market out there. Yes, the game certainly had potential. It was a great choice in terms of the gunpowder-enlightenment setting, but the exploits, disappointing naval battles, loads of stupid bugs and the retarded AI that makes Burnside look like a genius certainly made it fell short of greatness like Rome Total War. Overall, totally undeserved... a good sign for PC Game developers to shut their shooters and get their ass working on more brain games over shooters that require little mental capacity. *Rant over*

Best Roleplaying: Dragon Age: Origins

Possibly one of the greatest Roleplaying Games apart from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Bioware brought forward much of the pluses of that game into this - Dragon Age: Origins. The playing options in this are immense, ever decision changes the ending. Whilst the no-respawn may tick many people off (including myself), that's possibly the only (along with the graphics) minor issue the game faces. Apart from that, the game is incredibly long (easily a hundred hours with all side quests) and the story is absolutely incredible. Also, the numerous character types, race and background all completely affect the way people, the story and your skills in the game, making replaying that game an absolute must. The console version may fall short over the PC in terms of tactical options, it's still epic on all platforms.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas! Well, is there anything else to add? Merry Christmas too all, and have a happy holiday (for most) - religious or secular of your free choosing. I pretty much mentioned what I wanted to mention on my personal front for christmas this year, and well let's say the party was all but lackluster and I sure did have a decent time with whomever that came over last night till countdown.

In a few minutes time it would be boxing day, so this post is indeed a little late for blog viewers in Singapore, and certainly overtime for those in Australia. God, why in the world am I typing this?

Anyhow, once again Merry Christmas to all - This is indeed a poor post.



Before I sign off, I was hoping maybe in the future we could have a real medieval Dies Natalis Solis Invicti meal for the next Christmas gathering (like the one above). The food was great nonetheless, but can we please ditch the curry and the sushi? Those two dishes somehow felt like some cultural mix fail of massive proportions, and they certainly didn't go well with all the roasted meat on the table.

Whatever.

My 2009 Christmas Song Pick

It's going to be Christmas soon in about a day's time. Sure, Christmas certainly has lost lots of it's festive mood as the age progresses. I remembered being completely pumped up for the 25th of the last month when I was in pre-secondary, but now... it has lost lots of it's personal significants. Physical presents become less important, and I guess presents have grown to relationships (on all levels), friends and family.

I am glad I haven't lost most of my friends (and family of course) in our numerous Christmas gatherings that have been practiced by us for nearly a decade now, that were all thankfully unscathed - Something that will certainly not last forever. Thus I shall make it a point to enjoy whatever Christmas parties we have (and are going to have) together before the moment is gone, and before we think about the Christmases when you were mine.

Well, I might to have admit, the lyrics might be a little to extreme for friendships... but whatever, just shut up and listen.

Quotes of the Week: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson
April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826
3rd President of the United States of America

First and foremost before I begin, the main reason why I am doing this is because I am absolutely bored, and I just like to quote from famous (and mostly dead) people. I shall start off with Thomas Jefferson simply because I personally think he is the best American President of all time whom develops philosophies far beyond his current generation. Undoubtedly, his work was one of the bold pillars of the French Revolution and his ideologies of the American Republic still resonates within the true conservative republican front today. Aside from that, he makes good Mac and Cheese and my birthday is only a day before his.

My Quote Picks:

"Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind."

"Be polite to all, but intimate with few."

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine."

"Delay is preferable to error."

"Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society."

My AVATAR Movie Review

First and foremost before I begin, I must disclose that I am a huge fan of numerous James Cameron films (despite them being oldies) hence it is likely that my opinions about this movie would be all but negative. Knowing the ridiculous $300 million budget for the film; on top of new technologies to give orgasmic (literally) CGI effects - I must point out that this movie does draw a very fine line between good and bad, in which personally fell on the plus side, with the above as one of the main reasons.

The story sadly, feels rather cliché, evil human colonists invading an alien moon called "Pandora" (Yes, I know...), and why exactly? Well the moon contains a mineral called Unobtainium (Really? LAWL.) which sells for $30 million a kilo for whatever reasons thus the *Ka-Ching!*. BUT somehow... native population known as the Na'vi built their lovely settlement right on top of the richest deposits and Mr Human CEO is not happy about it as it is in his way. Despite his intentions, the press is on his ass and thus he needs to make his operation as clean as possible. This is where our protagonist, Jake Sully comes in. His mission is to assimilate himself with the native population and tell them to get the *bleep* out before the humans start shooting their blue asses. Of course, if Jake was really one of those loyal, trigger-happy Marines we won't have a movie. So soon, complications arise and blah blah blah... Yadaa... Yadaa (Okay, enough spoilers already).

Despite the 'eye-rollingly' unoriginal storyline where it's evil white men Vs good blue monkeys - entirely reminiscent of Indians Vs Cowboys, the movie was pretty enjoyable. Also, unlike many first movies (I expect there would be a sequel), AVATAR dosen't take too long to get the action going. Rest assured, the entire 2 hour 41 minute feature will keep you glued to the screen and your seat, before the scramble for the lavatory begins. James Cameron interspaced humor and action sequences in a balanced fashion throughout the film, and Pandora is just absolutely stunning on Camera. Also, Jake's disability does make the audience feel a little empathetic towards the character in certain segments of the film, although his romance with the natives felt uncanny (and unneeded) and I certainly was NOT sexually aroused.

On an additional note: If you're wondering the '2-D or 3-D' question, let me tell you the extra $6 is certainly worth it (if not mandatory) for the film.

Despite several flaws, AVATAR is a good film that requires no brain power to watch (So yes, you can finally bring those 'question freak' friends of yours and still have an enjoyable time). Should I give a score, I would give AVATAR an 8.5 out of 10.