Tuesday 23 October 2012

TMSGamer's Top 10 Games Of This Generation

This kid explains my joy with these games on the list.
It's not often that a really stellar game comes out and appeals to me. I'm a really critical person in that aspect, and when a game gets me hooked I'll most likely fall in love with it. This list is essentially a combination of ten games that have really stood out in this generation of consoles (all console games), and let's be honest. This generation has had a lot stinkers. That's right, I'm looking at you GTA4 and Call Of Duty.

This post may be a little biased as I only own an Xbox 360, and never really purchased a Wii or PS3. Luckily, some of these titles are multiplatform. This list is in no specific order, be aware of that.

10. BioShock


It may surprise some people seeing BioShock on this list, but in all honesty it is probably one of the best 360 titles I have ever laid my hands on. It gave us some rather spooky elements, and some memorable moments in gaming "Would You Kindly?". Not to mention the Big Daddy's. These hulking suits of madness were a force to be reckoned with, and at times would essentially fuck your shit up. I went into Bioshock expecting a really mediocre, and cliched shooter but instead got one that appealed to me on all levels, and even scared me a bit too. It's a fantastic game, and is available on a variety of platforms. Pick it up if you haven't.

9. Dragon Age: Origins




Dragon Age: Origins is the epitome of everything I could ever want in an RPG, and it delivered everything so god damn well. DA:O was my Game Of The Year for 2009, and it's still one of my favorite games of all time to this day. I spent countless hours with this game, and even played through it multiple times. It was dark, bloody, violent, and had an amazing story backing the game up. It really spun a new perspective on this genre for me, and holds a very special place in my heart. I worked really hard to get a relationship with Morrigan, and give her my "meat", and in the end she leaves. It was kind of emotional, but everything was tied together well. Brilliant game, but then we got Dragon Age II which was a major stinker. Origins, is a gem and everyone who loves RPG's needs to play this before they die.

8. Gears Of War 2

I don't know if it was the countless hours of drunken gaming with friends, or how well rounded the story, and game felt as a whole. It was really cool to see more from the characters, and the developments in the Marcus & Dominic relationship, especially the culminating scene where Dom finally finds his wife, Maria. Very sad game, lots of sad moments and cool new characters. I also became very attached to the Carmine of this game. Benjamin was my most played character in the multiplayer modes, and the inclusion of the new Horde Mode didn't hurt either. I love this game so very much. Maybe I'm one of the few who preferred this one over Gears Of War 3.

7. Fallout 3




Let it be known that I never really liked Fallout 3 my first time playing the game, didn't get too far in and found it incredibly difficult. Being forced from my friends to buy it, and push through it, I did. I loved this game after giving it the chance, beat the game, and ended up buying all the DLC and loving those as well, well minus the Mothership Zeta. That one kind of fell flat for me, but everything else was solid in this game. Especially taking down all of the Super Mutant Behemoth's and the hilarious situation on the radio if you kill Three-Dog. Tons of insults getting tossed at you from his female replacement. This game was brilliant, and I had a bad habit of using the VATS system every-time I went to kill someone. Fun game, but be sure to put some time into it. It tends to have a slow paced start.

6. Dead Space

Dead Space, the game I was extremely skeptical about because I feared a shitty Doom 3 clone, and let's be honest. Doom 3 wasn't that great either. Dead Space turned out to be one of the most immersive horror titles I have ever played, and kept me on edge all while playing. I enjoyed every minute I spent with this game, and it helped spawn a love for the franchise as a whole. Bought Dead Space 2 on day one, and will be buying Dead Space 3 on day one. Dead Space became one of my favorite series of all time, and is to this day one of my favorite next gen titles. Nothing will change that. Bring on the Necromorphs!


 5. Dark Souls




I hopped into Dark Souls without playing Demons Souls, and was instantly blown away with the way the game presented itself and how god-damn hard it is. I have yet to beat this game, but it's just so addicting. I've developed an addiction to this game to where I'd get my ass kicked, but needed to destroy that boss/enemy. I'd die more times, get frustrated and shut the game off. Only to turn it back on and attempt to kick said bosses ass again. When you do succeed you feel great, and there's been many times where I'd shout out loud about my joy. Fun times, and frustrating times but the reward of doing good feels amazing.

4. Singularity


I'm very late to the ball on this game, but it's just so god-damn brilliant. I've only gotten the chance to touch this game, this year after countless suggestions from my friends to do so. Singularity feels like a love-child to Bioshock (which some people complain about) and something else I can't put my finger on. I love the feeling this game brings to the table, and the whole time-travel element is fucking awesome. There's nothing like weaving through a load of enemies with a shotgun, and aging the last guy into dust. The time-mechanics feel really well done, and good and everything just feels awesome. The tape players provide some background depth into the story, and that makes it enjoyable for me. I have a type of OCD for this kind of thing, and it's essentially my kryptonite trying to find these tape players. I need to recommend this game to my friends now, who have yet to play it.

3. Dead Space 2


It's not often I like a sequel more than the predecessor, but Dead Space 2 is just the case. It improved on everything I loved in the original game. It made Isaac seem more like a character, and the environments seemed way more terrifying, especially with some of the new enemies we get to encounter. It did have its mis-steps, but it was still a really awesome game. I may even be one of the few who actually enjoyed the multiplayer component. Dead Space 2 felt scarier than the previous title because it just felt more tense. Especially revisiting the USG Ishimura, that was by far the most spine-tingling experience I had with the game. Mainly because you don't see any enemies, and just hear weird sounds for half an hour. Tense game, terrifying moments. Loved it. Bring on Dead Space 3.

2. Mass Effect 2


The best game in the series by far, and one of my favorite games of all time. Mass Effect 2 had it all. A solid story-line, amazing writing, solid characters and stellar gun-play. There wasn't a thing I disliked about this game, and it was my Game Of The Year for 2010. There was just something about this title that made me fall in love with everything, and develop a huge man-crush on Thane on Garrus (well, the Garrus man-crush carried over from ME1). Just getting to see my crew again, and uncover the whole plot was exciting. Plus, that final mission was so god damn intense and awesome. Emotions flowed seeing some people die due to my poor choices. Love this game!

1. Mortal Kombat


Remember, these lists are in no specific order. Mortal Kombat did something very astounding, and that was renew my love for the fighting game genre, and Mortal Kombat for that matter. Seeing the game go back to its roots made me extremely happy as a fan, and the countless hours of time sunk into playing this game would probably be a good indicator of how much I enjoyed it. Learning combos, and defeating people felt so good because I've always been rubbish at fighting games. Then, the addition of the King Of The Hill mode was just purely awesome. There was nothing like getting 8 friends together and trash-talking, cracking jokes, and having a good time while fighting. It was also nice to be able to spectate the fights as your Xbox Live avatar, and rate the fight at the end from 0-10. A lot of us would be dicks and give our friends a 1, or 2 for an extremely epic fight. We did it very few times, and it always caused laughs. I truly, truly love this game. This could be because it brought back glorious memories of my child-hood.










Thursday 11 October 2012

Primal Carnage: Beta Impressions


Walking through the jungle, the only sound you hear is the steady rhythm of your heart. Then bam, eaten by a dinosaur.
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Primal Carnage is a video game developed by Lukewarm Media where players can take the role from one of five classes on two teams. First, you have the classic, and standard Human team which varies from the Commando. A large, muscular black man who wields a fairly large assault rifle that shoots grenades, and he just looks bad-ass. To the insane, and carnage causing Pyro who seems to be a (Scottish?) man dressed in some rather "unique" gear and wields a flamethrower with a chainsaw attachment. If you want bad-ass, he's got it.

Then we have the dinosaur team, and probably the team everyone loves playing because...well you can run around as a T-Rex and eat people. Who doesn't want to do that? Plus it feels pretty damn awesome. I haven't gotten a chance to touch most of the dinosaur classes, but I did mess around a bit with the Rex (of course) and the Velociraptor and have to say both have decent enough controls. I find the dinosaurs hard to control, and actually prefer playing as a human. Could just be me fumbling as I'm not really a person to play competitive/fps games on PC.

Hopefully they add some X360 controller support later on (or I might have bypassed it). I'd probably feel much more comfortable attempting the game, but it's still a blast. The game is currently only in the beta right now, and you can gain access by pre-ordering the game on Steam for $14.99

It can be quite a blast, and if you need more confirmation here's a video of me playing it and well..getting eaten a lot.