Dr_Mayus' Year End Awards-2013

[Dr_Mayus]

 

  Welcome to the Doctor's Year End Awards

 

It is that wonderful time of year where I pay tribute to some of the great (and terrible) games I have played this year. Now to be eligible for an award you don't have to be released in 2013 just I have to have played you in this year. That means some favourites will not be recognized here (last of us, GTA V, Bioshock Infinite etc) but some classics from the past may sneak in and win. So please join me on January 1st to see what won these prestigous awards and as always post down below what you think your winners would be (based on what you actually played this year)

 

Far Cry 3

 

My most Badass moment in gaming for 2013 came from Far Cry 3. Now I really wasn't expecting to like this game but man did it blow my expectations out of the water. While you do a lot of badass stuff in this game from fighting sharks, to gunning people down while hang gliding to fighting the final boss while on Peyote my experience was unique to my playthrough.

 

So I was trying to get to the base but when there was a gate blocking my way. On the other side of the gate were three guards and they started laughing at me. Well while I was walking away trying to figure out what to do I spotted a jeep. I got in the jeep and rammed the gate as hard as i could. The 3 guards backed off but started laughing again as I couldn't break down the gate. Well "Fuck those guys"  I thought and I reversed the jeep and rammed the gate again this time breaking it. The guards scrambled backwards but not before I ran one of them over. They got to their jeep and radioed ahead but by that time I got out of my jeep and had use my shotgun to take them both out. I then took out my flamethrower and set their jeep on fire.

 

I got back in my jeep and drove on towards the bridge but wouldn't you know the reinforcements they had radioed had finally come. I slammed on the breaks and got out of my jeep and just stood there in the middle of the bridge as the enemies jeep came hurling towards me. At the last minute I pulled out my rocket launcher and after they finished crapping their pants I sent them to their fiery hell.

 

It wasn't planned at all but after I got back in my jeep I thought about what I had done and had to agree "that was pretty badass"

 

Pacman and the Ghostly Adventures

 

This game had no right to be awesome. It looked like a cheap attempt to make some money on the Pacman name and sell a few copies to old school fans and kids. Well I rented it for 1 reason and that was because the platinum image was so awesome but it ended up being a very strong 3D platformer. Now it wasn't as good as games like Sly Cooper Thieves in Time or Into the Nexus but I wasn't expecting it to be. It is a shame that most parents don't do any research and won't buy their kids games like this and instead get Swap Force or some crap like that, but to anyone reading this game with small kids (or who just like 3D platformers) pick this game up it is only 19.99.

 

 

Beyond: Two Souls

 

There are a few games that could have won this award (Ni No Kuni and God of War: Ascension come to mind) but they didn't disappoint me like Beyond did. Heavy Rain was my GOTY for 2010 and is in my top 10 for this generation. Then QD releases the tech demo for Kara and I was even more sold on this company. Finally the trailer for Beyond hit and I was like . This game had moments of brilliance with some scenes of phenomal acting and writing. When Jodie was performing the miracles in the homeless scene or the Alone ending on the Live playthrough actually made me choke up. Her frantic search for Aiden after thinking she lost him in the factory level was another moment where you really began to care about this relationship. The graphics, score, acting, premise were all top notch and that is why this game frustrates me so much. It actually took a week to decide if I like or didn't like this game and anything that can make someone do that can't be all bad.

 

I already wrote a pretty long review detailing what I didn't like about this game but the main thing was the pacing. Due to the fragmented story telling it was really hard to get invested. Everytime you were getting drawn into a scene (Jodie's first time in the hospital, her meeting her mom, the homeless sequence.) it would shift focus and all of a sudden you would be fighting in the CIA or on a date or stealing plans from a mansion. It was such a jarring switch in focus that it broke the whole mood.

 

Imagine in the Shining jack is chasing his family in the mansion and when Wendy hides behind the lock door it cuts away to the family on vacation several years earlier O_o...um mood is broken and I no longer care.

 

Another BIG thing was the fact that my choices didn't matter one way or another. No matter what you did the story progressed the same as always. Yes there was some minor differences in the scene itself but whether you blew Ryan off or slept with him didn't affect the ending because you still got together with him in the end. Choosing the "bad" options with Aiden didn't matter because either way the story just kept on going. Now why didn't any of your choices matter. BECAUSE OF THE STUPID FRAGMENTED STORYTELLING AGAIN. Your choices couldn't matter because they happened in the past of the scene you already saw rendering all choices as USELESS. Now I know a lot of ME fans bitched about the ending of 3 but at least your choices mattered for the other parts of the game, here there was no difference except for a 10 second ending that really wasn't that different from the other endings (oh noes she ended up with Ryan or she ended up with Jacob...call Ripleys).

 

Anyways this game could have been a 10/10 and instead it ended up being a little above average (mainly due to the technical side of it). My question though is since this game was a technical masterpiece and didn't allow you to change the course of the story while eliminating pretty much all gameplay...why didn't QD just make a movie? It would have been the same experience and more people would have watched it.

 

Bioshock

 

I had a hard time narrowing down which game would get Best Platinum of the year because I platinumed so many awesome games this year. Ratchet & Clank Into the Nexus and Deadlocked, Fallout 3, Far Cry 3, Sly Cooper Thieves in Time, Littlebig Planet Vita and 2, Pacman and the Ghostly Adventures, Dragon Fantasy Book 2, Walking Dead Vita, Tales of Xillia, Soul Calibur 2 and Tear Away...so out of all those awesome games I still choose Bioshock.

 

The reason is that out of all those games Bioshock didn't have anything that made me either think "this is too easy" "this is too hard" "this is too grindy" "this is too boring" etc. There were collectables but it was fun exploring Rapture and they added to the game experience. I had to do multiple playthroughs but the I was able to approach the game from 2 completely different ways making it a whole new experience. The game wasn't controller tossing hard but it wasn't watching videos on Youtube easy as well.

 

On top of that the atmosphere was incredible, the story was good, it handle well, immersed you in the gamplay and pretty much had everything I was looking for in a game. Really the only complaint I can find is WHY DIDN"T I PLAY THIS GAME EARLIER.

 

So yeah this won't come across as new information or anything but if you haven't played Bioshock yet, go do it now

         

Borderlands

 

I honestly don't want to waste anymore time on this game so here is my review from when I beat it (oh and bear in mind this was a year I platinumed Hannah Montana and this game was a far worse experience than that)

 

 

If you like sandbox games and not having fun then pick this game up

 

I'm sorry this game was just not for me and I do not see what the hype is all about. It took me 3 tries to beat this game over 3 years because everytime I started it up I would play for a couple of hours and remember how much I hated it. Finally my buddy played with me and the two of us together made it sort of playable because we could bitch together about how much this game sucks.

 

It is huge open (empty worlds) where you kill the same 2 or 3 guys over and over. The map system and fast travel system sucks as you can only fast travel to a part of the map and then you still have to run across the huge world to get to the objective. Of course there is no mini-map so you have to keep opening up the menu and scrolling over to the map to see where you are going (because the radar works for shit). "Why don't you just drive to your destination?" you ask. Well after I finish slapping some sense into you I explain that the vehicles handle like ass and it is honestly easier to just run than try to navigate the worst driving controls in a AAA game I have ever used. Also it constantly asks you to get 5 of something but the objective only shows 1 on your map. So you run all the way over to it and then the other one is across the map. So you run over to it and the third one is around where the first one was...in a game that promotes multiplayer you would think would have multiple targets so you can all work together to get it done faster but no it makes more sense for the 4 of you to run across an empty world to pick up 1 radio.

 

The loot is a big selling feature of the game but honestly I never needed to switch out my loadout. I found a really good Fire SMG and some kind of alien pistol and I used those two weapons for the majority of the game. So picking  up guns was just a way of making money (which by the time my second playthrough started I had more over the max amount of money).

 

The missions were all pretty much the same "collect 5 of this" "kill 20 of this" "find random NPC" "kill boss" and then you had to do it all again for the second playthrough so you could level up enough to get all the trophies. Well you could always play the DLC...once again I had to take a moment to slap some sense into you. I have the GOTY so I got all the DLC for free but if I had to pay for Moxie's Underdome I think I would have murdered everyone at Gearbox and 2K. 100 WAVES OF BADGUYS THAT ARE ALL THE SAME LEVEL AS YOU....WHAT THE FUCK. Oh and if you die you need to start again...and you have to do that 6 times. I used the cheap trick of playing with a low level account but then it is just a different kind of grind. Now it is taking several hours per level and there is no challenge. So either you can play the toughest challenge ever and lose or waste several hours but win. Either way it boils down to a mess of a DLC and people should be fired for thinking they could charge for that. One final point on Moxie's Underdome, I thought hearing the same "da da duh da...da da duh da" music over and over again for 3 hours with her shouting the same couple of lines every couple of seconds was banned by the Geneva convention.

 

I actually really liked the Dr. Ned DLC as it was fast paced with lots of enemies, good atmosphere and fun bosses but the Clap Trap DLC can go fuck itself. The DLC was actually not that bad but the grinding trophies is just stupid. Having to collect 63 random drops with no in game tracking is just stupid. How hard would it have been to make a mission to collect 15 bobbleheads. Then the game would at least track how much you needed and after you got them all you would get EXP as well as a trophy. The game is based around missions so why would they include collecting trophies that have nothing to do with missions...oh and of course as I mentioned THEY ARE RANDOM DROPS.

 

Anyways the game bugged out on me playing the General Knoxx mission because I didn't know if you had two missions at the same time it glitches out the game. So I can't complete it unless I find someone else to piggyback onto. So fuck 100% on this game for now, I will get it eventually.

Edited November 15, 2014 by Dr_Mayus

[damon8r351]

Is that trophy for Biggest Surprise made out of chocolate? 

Edited December 28, 2013 by damon8r351

[Wdjat Prinny Doods]

Cant wait to see the results. Should be a good read like your other top 10 threads

[Beyondthegrave07]

For me, this was my 2013 bests and worsts

 

Best Badass moment in gaming - Joel teaching Ellie how to shoot a rifle in TLOU. It was kind of a heart-warming moment at first because you start seeing Ellie as the daughter that Joel once had and you get that father/daughter feel to it, then reality slaps you in the face and it's like, " OMG, Joel just taught a 14 year old how to kill a man." The conflicting feelings you have at that moment is just unbelievable. brilliant writing on ND's part. I had chills run down my spine after she took that first shot and killed one of the thugs.

 

Biggest Suprise - Hotline Miami. The graphics suck, the AI is just ruthless, and the game frustrated the hell out of me. Yet, something kept bringing me back to it... The story was intriguing and every time I died a horrific and graphic death, I was even more fired up to beat the level. I felt as if the AI was almost mocking me, daring me to just try and beat this level, as if there was no possible way. They'd just kill me and pretend like none of it ever happened, as if I was just "another kill." I proved them wrong; I beat this game, and felt like doing a victory dance at the end of it. Then I thought, when do I ever want to do a victory dance? This game challenged me like I haven't been challenged in a long time; probably since megaman. Then I asked myself, "Are games becoming to easy?" This game suprised me in more ways than one. That's why I think this game deserves this award.

 

Biggest disappointment - Black Ops 2. I'm going to be honest; It just felt gimmicky to me. I thought the twists and turns of the first game is what made it great. Where the end of the game left you guessing and wonder. Why spoil that moment by making a second one? I understand 1 and 2 weren't completely connected, but the whole future thing was just a total turn-off. I liked Woods, Mason, and Weaver. They had character. Their kids? It jumped around so much, half the time I didn't know who I was playing as or WTF was going on. I found myself skipping cutscenes towards the end because I was just bored of these characters. Plus, where did Mendez even come from? No mention of him in the first one, yet Woods describes about how big of a badass this dude was in the past. Hello? Why not tell your son about how your friend lost his eye and rescue his life or how you got revenge with Mason and stole a heli after your friend, Bowman was murdered in front of your eyes? Now that, that was badass... Ok, Ok, maybe I'm being a little overdramatic, but what moments does Blops 2 have that are that memorable? I'll tell you; none. At least nothing that compares to the first one. That's why Blops 2 is my disappointment for this year. It fell far short of my expectations.

 

Best Platinum - Okami HD. The game was just visually stunning, the gameplay was unique, and the trophies were challenging, but not impossible or grindy in any way, shape, or form. Plus, every time I hear that famous ding! I immediately would look up to see what the images looked like. Many trophy lists make very bland trophy images, but Okami HD was different. each trophy pertained to the boss you just defeated or showed an important character that you recently met. And what's the platinum image? A scroll of Ammy shining brighter than the moon. Plus, I've made this known before, but I just LOVE good music in videogames, and this game did not disappoint. It felt traditional and the music always matched the moment whether I was running through a meadow of flowers or when someone* dies in the game. Every aspect of this game made this platinum not just a joy, but a pleasure to earn. If I had to redo a platinum on my trophy list, this game, without a doubt would be the first game I'd platinum.

 

Worst Platinum - Tekken Tag Tournament 2 <---- REEAAAALLY repetitive. esp. becoming a 30th Dan. I found myself mindlessly pressing the same buttons over and over just to win a match and eventually, it was so bad, it was practically mind-numbing. I took numerous breaks to break up the grinding, but it was still just awful. After playing arcade mode, I lost all enjoyment in earning this platinum. In the end, it was worth it, but jeez was that painful. It makes me want to never play another Tekken game again. Which sucks because Tekken is one of my favorite fighting series of all time. Hopefully, next time I look at a Tekken Trophy list, I won't cringe at the thought of playing it.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Beyondthegrave07

[Dr_Mayus]

Is that trophy for Biggest Surprise made out of chocolate? 

Yes, yes it is (SURPRISE )

 

@Beyond-thanks for your nominees. Anyone else out there have some they would like to share?

Edited December 28, 2013 by Dr_Mayus

[Elliot]

I'm slightly hazy on release dates because I tend to play things when they're cheap enough for me to impulse purchase rather than when they actually come out, so forgive me. Anyhoo, of the stuff I played this year:

 

Dr. Mayus' Award for Cool Stories, Bro and Badassery: The moment when the story for Virtue's Last Reward "clicked" and it all made sense to me. Holy shit, that game's a wonderful interactive piece of fiction.

 

Dr. Mayonaise's Award for Shitting My Pants, but In the Good Way: Guacamelee. Drinkbox did a good game with Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, but it was "good", not incredible. The high end of good, admittedly, but I was not prepared for how fecking good Guacamelee was going to be. Gloriously well implemented Metroidvania game. More of this genre pls.

 

Dr. Octagon's Award for Stuff you Thought Wouldn't Suck but Did: PS All Stars Battle Royale. I went in hoping it would be like Smash but with all the awesome Sony characters. It was not that. It was not even close to that. Everything's horribly unbalanced, you get booted around infinitely, and worst of all, the move pool and ability to combo seems horribly shallow. Maybe I'm used to more hardcore fighters, but it just handled horribly and I didn't really enjoy it at all. I'd love to see another go at the idea, maybe in a more traditional fighting game style with some actual balance, but hey, that's not likely.

 

Dr. Dingo's Award for Shiny Trophies Made Out of an Unfortunately Reactive Metal: The Walking Dead. You may have worked out from this and Virtue's Last Reward that I like good stories that are told well, and The Walking Dead was just that. The trophy list was wonderful too - it kept out of my way and let me enjoy the game in the way I wanted to, rather than grinding out every ending, which would have ruined the game's magic.

 

Dr. Ringo Starr's Award for Shit Trophies, Yo: Resistance: Burning Skies. I played mercifully few awful games this year, but of the bad games I played, this game caused me the most anguish because of how awful it was. Nihilistic, please stop ruining franchises I like.

[Dr_Mayus]

Thanks Pie

 

Virtue's Last Reward was an amazing game and I was not expecting it to be that good. Also I really want to play Guacamelee, I might have to pick it up next year.

[Dr_Mayus]

My year end awards are done .

 

If anyone would like to add in their own experiences for 2013 please share below

[Dragon-Archon]

I don't feel like writing a detailed review (again), so I'll just give a summary. If you really want to read my detailed version, you can go to my checklist  .

 

Out of the 38 games I platted this year, these are the (un)lucky winners:

 

Best Badass moment in gaming

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix: It's the original KH game   with the extra content of Final Mix   in HD  . Nuff said  .

 

Honorable mention: Vanquish

 

Biggest Suprise

Demon's Souls: I thought it was going to be a huge and difficult grind, but the game is so much fun and very addictive. It really didn't feel like a grind, but it was still difficult and the game doesn't know the word 'mercy'.

 

Honorable mention: Bulletstorm

 

Biggest disappointment

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations: aside from needing a better (and shorter) name, the game takes grinding and recycling content to a whole new level.

 

Best Platinum

Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen. So many different monsters that require different strategies, you can create and customize your own protagonist and sidekick, you can change your specialization (warrior, mage,ranger,etc.) whenever you feel like it, the game has some great soundtracks and an epic dragon bossfight.

 

Honorable mention: Mass Effect, Ratchet & Clank Into The Nexus, Sly Cooper Thieves in Time & Saints Row The Third

 

Worst Platinum

Without a doubt Borderlands. The game is filled with glitches, boring quests, grinding the same few enemies and starting over because the glitches won't let you progress.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Dragon-Archon