bastion | Through the Shattered Lens

The Games of 2011!

Yes, a year-end wrap-up column in lieu of an actual review of an actual game! Why, you ask? Because I can’t stop playing Star Wars ToR, of course! I haven’t played anything new that I can talk about, aside from a little daliance with Dynasty Warriors 7 – actually, more than a little daliance. It’s getting talked about in this very column!

Now, after I went through everything I played this year, I realized I didn’t have enough material to make a list of good games or bad games. I just didn’t play enough different games this year. That’s the tragedy of writing about a medium where I either have to wait a while for availability (still plodding along with Gamefly. I haven’t mastered the magic of RedBox yet) or spend $60 in order to play the game. The other problem is that it takes me ages to finish things off; even RedBox might not be able to save me.

So in lieu of some kind of ferentic rankings column where I attempt to explain which game I liked best, I’m instead going to count down 10 games I liked from this year in a numerically ranked order, then give some honourable mentions.

10. Bulletstorm
A game which received seemingly almost universally positive reviews, but only Arleigh and I seem to have ever played. Granted, it has its obsession with peurile humour – it stirred up some heated controversy with morons. However, the game has a rich environment (with refreshingly brilliant backgrounds, colour is everywhere!) and its storyline is full of dark humour which I very much appreciated. The gameplay is exactly like a Gears of War title that doesn’t take itself seriously. This was a solid title.

9. Madden NFL 12 / NCAA Football 12
Neither of these games merits full consideration. If you don’t like paying the Madden Tax, you probably buy these games only when your current copy begins to feel dated. It’s worth mentioning that the dynasty modes in NCAA Football 12 have expanded considerably in scope, and Madden NFL 12 has a (relatively) credible electronic opponent. The online franchise mode in Madden is worth owning one of the newer titles (I believe it was introduced in Madden 10) if you have other folks you want to break on the interwebs.

8. L.A. Noire
The motion-capture technology used to produce this game remains one of the most stunning achievements I’ve ever come across in video games. I also think it’s an inspired choice by Rockstar to make a game that breaks away from the style of both GTA and Red Dead. Although many of the controls are the same, L.A. Noire is a very distinct experience from Rockstar’s other offerings. Note that it does not have a number after its name. That’s kind of exciting! I will say, the game seems to demand to be played in small doses… there are only so many faces I can analyze for tiny lies in one feverish night before they start to blend together, and it’s not always ‘traditionally’ fun to play. My other main complaint? The game doesn’t do nearly enough to tell the player what level of accusation we should be leveling at the suspect.

7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
I don’t have too much to add about this one. I think it’s an improvement on the previous installments of the game. I find it more accessible, I like the weapon selections, and I greatly prefer shotguns being a primary weapon. That having been said, the map selection in this title doesn’t offer enough variety of ranges. It’s missing a big, sniper-friendly map. That really encourages people to quickscope more, and nothing frustrates me more (well, when I’m not the one doing it) than a lot of quickscopers running around. Bah.

6. Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
This game’s stock took a huge hit when they abandoned trying to support it and decided to put out a re-issue instead. At least the re-issue isn’t going to cost me $60 when I get around to picking it up. I did like the title enough to pay for a bunch of new characters…. I guess. But this was still mishandled. Disappointing!

5. Bastion
This game would have made my top ten list (not that I’m doing a rankings column) if there was a bit more meat to it. I actually thought the game experience was roughly of perfect length, but I have a thought process issue where I associate longer games giving me more pleasure for the same amount of money with… oh, wait, Bastion was just an Arcade title? That’s why I loved it! There’s so much to this little title. The narration is a standout – the game’s best feature, and the storytelling style makes it quite unique in feel, even if the gameplay itself is something we’ve seen before.

4. Star Wars: The Old Republic
Yeah, it’s pretty good. I had huge reservations about this one going in, but it’s so much better than I had ever expected. Congratulations BioWare, you might have managed to climb your way back to the top of my video game developer power rankings.

3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
This is a great game. I never did get around to reviewing it, because it took me ages to beat… but I loved the fact that the game encouraged and rewarded me for handling things stealthily. I haven’t played a game that truly, really, madly, deeply, embraced stealth from start to finish in… I don’t know, when did Thief II come out? Yikes!

2. Might and Magic Heroes VI
I’m a lifelong fan of this series, which is the same as Heroes of Might and Magic, despite the inexplicable re-arrangement of the words in the title. I was grievously disappointed with Heroes V (apparently in the minority on this, although I seem to remember hearing a lot of negative comments. Maybe people just hated that PC-crippling DRM it came with?) and found Heroes IV, while enjoyable, to be too much of a departure from the classical gameplay style. This franchise hit its pinnacle in Heroes of Might and Magic III, but this new installment… well, it took me back. I don’t necessarily approve of the degree to which it has simplified the resource management and strategy aspect of the original games, but it has plenty of improvements to make up for that, and the total control over your hero’s skill progression is a change I very much appreciate.
I should probably just review this game. Let’s move on.

1. Dragon Age 2
Well, I certainly played it the most. I was unbelievably impressed with the characters and conversations and interactions in this game. I fully understand the issues people had with it; I had some of the same issues, but every time someone asks me about this game I find that I just don’t care about its flaws. I love it so much that I totally overlook its imperfections. I can’t even be objective. I don’t know why I’m still talking.

Other Titles

And, just as importantly, why are these other titles not on this list?

Gasp! Dragon Age 2 at number 1? Where, you ask, is Gears of War 3? You’re violently shaking me, wondering how I could have liked Bulletstorm better. The truth is? Gears of War 3 is still in its wrapping. I haven’t even played the damn game.

Well what about Arkham City? I haven’t played that one either. The market is saturated with games!

Assassin’s Creed? Looking at borrowing this one soon. What I heard about it kind of killed the series’ momentum for me, even though I’m certain this is still a fine title and enjoyable to play.

As I mentioned in the column intro, I’ve played a lot of Dynasty Warriors 7 lately. It’s exactly the same game as ever. I’m not sure what I can tell you about it that you don’t already know. I’d try anyway if I was going to do a full review; we’ll see about that.

I think I’ll do a full review on Forza Motorsport 4 when I have time to play it more thoroughly. I didn’t know I liked racing games until I got a free copy of Forza 3 with my 360 Arcade console (I had never cared much for racing games earlier in my life). Anyway, it’s an excellent title so far, but I wouldn’t feel good about slotting it anywhere at the moment. Maybe it’s like

Final Thoughts

So, that’s it. That’s the list. Those are the games I played this year that I liked the most. I know I ranked them from 10 to 1 like some kind of rankings column (which is a kind of column I don’t do) but I’ll be honest; aside from Dragon Age at the top of the list, the rest of the order is probably arguable. And here’s the part where you argue with me! Use that handy-dandy leave a comment button below, and set your synapses firing. I want to hear why I’m wrong, and I want to hear impassioned pleas for games I either haven’t played or hated.

A short while back, I got a message from a friend of mine. He urged me to download a game available on the XBox Live Arcade called Bastion. Actually, it was more like he demanded. Well, I acquiesced. And I could not possibly be more pleased that I did. Bastion is going to cost interested parties $14.99 (US currency) and is available for the XBox 360 and for PC gamers as well via the Steam network. I have heard no word about it being available (now or in the future) on the Playstation Network.

So what is Bastion?

Well, it’s an action RPG in the tradition of games such as Diablo. You control a character who is known only as the Kid, who makes his way through a city and world that have been ruined by an apocalyptic event referred to as the Calamity. The Calamity not only destroyed the magnificent city of Caelondia – where the Kid hails from – but also seemingly everything nearby, including the home of the Ura… a superstitious warrior tribe who had often been at odds with the Caelondians. Unfortunately for the Kid, he has no idea how this transpired, or what to do in a world where everything has been smashed to bits. Helping him on his way is a low-voiced narrator who guides the Kid – and, by extension, the player – through the game’s action. The story is told (almost) entirely through the narrator’s quips, which come one line at a time. Rather than having to read through large blocks of text, we instead are treated to a consistent flow of short quips from the narrator. He remarks on almost literally everything… from the progress of the story, to the different perks the Kid equips as he levels up, to the Kid’s choice in weapons… and, of course, on every piece of junk that the Kid finds lying around the burnt-out wreckage of their former home.

As a result of this narration, I would say the story of Bastion is considerably richer than that of many other action-style RPGs – Diablo springs prominently to mind. However, the story is also fairly simple, despite a couple of twists, and there is a dearth of developed characters. It doesn’t play with the same richness as some of the all-time greats in the genre (like some of the Legend of Zelda games). I should, however, note that the casting of newcomer Logan Cunningham as the voice of the narrator does a lot to give this game a style all of its own. Not only does he seek to bring this world alive for us, but he imparts some significant emotion into the games’ heavier moments.

Gameplay takes place over a series of beautifully rendered worlds which are restored a bit at a time (in the form of terrain pieces, both the actual surface of the world and the details accompanying it) recalled from the aether beyond. A variety of enemy types inhabit this world, each with their own quirks. The Kid equips two weapons (and while a melee and ranged weapon are strongly encouraged for ease of use, these weapons can be any pair you desire), a shield which can be used to both block and reflect enemy attacks, as well as a spell chosen from a list of at least 25 such spells (in earnest, I didn’t count. I suspect I missed a few anyway). In addition, the Kid can carry a number of health potions and black potions which restore health and power spells, respectively. Using these implements, the Kid fights his way across a dozen or more chunks of the world, interspersed with ‘Proving Grounds’ for each weapon, where the Kid is called on to complete an extraordinary task with each weapon for big rewards. Between missions, he’ll return to the last safe haven of Caelondia, called the Bastion. In the Bastion, the Kid can purchase upgrades (ten for each of the game’s 11 weapons!), equip spirits (of the 80+ proof kind) that give him significant bonuses, and select his weapon loadout. The player can also make the game more challenging by equipping idols (similar to equipping skulls in the Halo game franchise).

The single player will take perhaps 8 hours to complete (more if you’re extra thorough or big on using idols) and is followed by a New Game+ mode.

I really can’t recommend this one enough. Even at the (seemingly) hefty price tag of $15, it delivers as much content as some newer games which have the gall to charge a full $60~ retail.