Games Beaten 2016
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noiseredux
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
1. The Match Of The Millennium (NGPC)
2. Pocket Tennis Color (NGPC)
3. XCOM 2 (PC)
4. Street Fighter V (PC)
5. Spelunky (PC)
6. Gone Home (PC)
7. Day Of The Tentacle Remastered (PC)
8. Heroes Of The Storm (PC)
9. The Elder Scrolls Legends (PC)
10. Land's End (GearVR)
11. Hearthstone: League Of Explorers (PC)
12. Metal Slug (PC)
13. Broforce (PC)
14. Metal Slug X (PC)
15. Hearthstone: One Night In Karazhan (PC)
16. The Secret Of Monkey Island Special Edition (PC)
17. The Stanley Parable (PC)
18. Lucky's Tale (PC)
19. The House Of The Dead (PC)
20. Mortal Kombat XL (PC)
ran through arcade modes w/ Alien and then with Predator. Someday I'll have to finish up the story mode in MKX.
2. Pocket Tennis Color (NGPC)
3. XCOM 2 (PC)
4. Street Fighter V (PC)
5. Spelunky (PC)
6. Gone Home (PC)
7. Day Of The Tentacle Remastered (PC)
8. Heroes Of The Storm (PC)
9. The Elder Scrolls Legends (PC)
10. Land's End (GearVR)
11. Hearthstone: League Of Explorers (PC)
12. Metal Slug (PC)
13. Broforce (PC)
14. Metal Slug X (PC)
15. Hearthstone: One Night In Karazhan (PC)
16. The Secret Of Monkey Island Special Edition (PC)
17. The Stanley Parable (PC)
18. Lucky's Tale (PC)
19. The House Of The Dead (PC)
20. Mortal Kombat XL (PC)
ran through arcade modes w/ Alien and then with Predator. Someday I'll have to finish up the story mode in MKX.
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PartridgeSenpai
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- Posts: 2988
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- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Partridge Senpai's 2016 Beaten List
1-50
51. Axiom Verge
52. Otomedius Excellent
53. JUMP Ultimate Stars (DS)
I heard about this game years ago, and I was crazy psyched for it: I promptly completely forgot about it. Fast forward to a week or so ago, and I remembered this game existed, and bagged one on eBay really quick. When I finally got into the game, I was little lukewarm at first, as I really didn't understand how you unlocked characters, but once I got past that hurdle, I was soooo into this game. Into it like CRAZY (15 hours in 3-ish days) and played it until I unlocked every character, even the support and helper ones (although not every Koma evolution).
This is far and away the best Smash-like fighter I've ever played. Part of that lies in the solid game mechanics, and another lies in the excellent use of licenses. This is definitely the Smash-like I've played that's most like Smash Bros in terms of overall mechanics (punch other dude 'til he fall off level), but the fact that you also have super moves and a health bar (not to mention various other game modes and swappable characters with support moves) really adds a fuck-load to the formula.
The game's main mechanic is the Deck-system, in which you use the panels you get from completing stages to compile little manga-like pages. These pages hold battle Koma (panels), support Koma, and finally helper Koma. Battle Koma are your actual fighters. You can have 3 of them in a deck at once, and you can swap between them any time during a fight. Support are your more MvC-style they-hop-in-and-do-a-thing-type attacks. Of the 48 playable battle characters, there are far more support characters, and even more helper characters (which just provide a small boost to a battle Koma they're compatible with). You can use the R and L buttons as hotkeys to activate specific support calls or battle character swaps, but any more than two and you'll have to touch that panel on the touch screen to actually do it. I'm not sure how the meta would play out on that on a competitive scene, but I never had any problems using it. More than 2 supports on one deck is unwieldy to handle, and I usually stuck to two battlers, two supports, and then whatever helpers I wanted to throw in.
The stages themselves have one main objective, usually split between a score-based time attack (how many point can you earn), a stock match, and a collect all the things. There are weirder events which are more uncommon like trying not to get hit for a long time or destroying all the walls as fast as you can, but they're very uncommon. There are also 4 or 5 sub-objectives in each stages, which don't need to be completed in the same playthrough of that stage (and usually can't be). There are quite a lot of stages to actually play on for a mobile game, and even though they aren't insanely diverse, I'd put the stage selection at least on par if not better than Smash 3DS. You have things like collapsing platforms and destroyable walls of varrying durability to content with as well, so you've got to get a good grip on your surroundings quickly to use them as well as possible to fulfil the stage objectives.
Now, the licenses, are there ever a fuck-load. I'd try and name them all, but it's a lot easier if you just looked up a list online, because frankly if it was a franchise JUMP owned in 2007, it's in this damn game. Of the 48 playable characters, there certainly aren't that many franchises. Big players like Dragon Ball have 7 battlers (more than any other I found), and other heavy hitters like Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach have 4 or 5 a piece as well. However, there are a lot of older favorites and weirder cult classics that also have 2 or 3 playable characters, like Bobobo Bobobobo, Hunter X Hunter, Fist of the North Star, Jojo's Bizzard Adventure, and even fucking Yu-Gi-Oh (yes, really) to name just a few. Support characters do exist from every present franchise though.
The characters have a kind of type devision between them in a rock-paper-scissors style formula (laughter, power, and wisdom) where the stronger type get 1.5x damage on the weaker, which is a bit strange and not really necessary, but it's there. I imagine if you wanted to get REALLY competitive in this, that would be a serious annoyance, but for me, it mostly just prompted me to learn a few more characters of each type and encourages different, more diverse teams for different situations. My 3 main teams were two dudes of each type, with team Strength being Ken (Fist of the North Star) and Luffy (One Piece) (whom you start with, and whom I really liked), team Wisdom being Sasuke (Naruto) and Piccolo (Dragon Ball Z), and team Laughter being Don Patch (Bobobo) and Frankie (One Piece). I didn't get close to trying every character though. There're just SO damn many, and considering that you have to put together a new deck to try a new set of characters, it's not the fastest thing in the world to just breeze through all the ones you have.
Even if you have just a passing interest in Anime, you'll probably love the theme of this game. I'm very far from an Anime-freak, despite being a Japanese Language & Culture Major, but even I got such a thrill when I saw characters I knew, especially if it's one of my favorites (like Bobobo!). Even if you understand NO Japanese, this is still a fun, fairly idiot-proof game if you just wanna play every stage and beat up mans as Animus. Just remember that you've gotta up the J-Power of your Koma to actually unlock new battle Koma! This stumped me for far longer than it should've Xp. The objectives aren't that complex to figure out. Then again, if you're someone like me who wants to unlock ALL the dudes, you might wanna look into that English patch that Exhumy Senpai linked a little while ago in the "What are you Playing?" thread. Alternatively, there are some very good guides on Gamefaqs in English that explain exactly what to do, and they were more than adequate for when I got confused on stuff.
Things where the game falls a bit flat usually come down to smaller quality of life things. There are way too many menus which need to be backed in and out of when it comes to assembling decks. It really doesn't utilize the touch screen or double screens for assembling decks and viewing Koma information as well as it could (the number of times I wished there were a faster way to go through the dozens and dozens of helper Koma to do upgrading were many). Also, unless you're a MASSIVE Anime fan and can just name the themes as soon as they come up, you'll probably think most of the music is fairly background and forgettable, even though it's never bad or annoying, just nothing I'd never put on my MP3 player.
Verdict: Very highly recommended. It's been a good while since I had a game I was so feverishly addicted to keep playing. The fact that this is a fantastic Smash-like that is both portable and has a super strong license star power makes this an absolutely must own for any fan of Smash Bros or Anime, or even if you just like fighters or action games, I'd say this is still worth at least a try for the 10 bucks it'll cost you to import a complete copy.
1-50
51. Axiom Verge
52. Otomedius Excellent
53. JUMP Ultimate Stars (DS)
I heard about this game years ago, and I was crazy psyched for it: I promptly completely forgot about it. Fast forward to a week or so ago, and I remembered this game existed, and bagged one on eBay really quick. When I finally got into the game, I was little lukewarm at first, as I really didn't understand how you unlocked characters, but once I got past that hurdle, I was soooo into this game. Into it like CRAZY (15 hours in 3-ish days) and played it until I unlocked every character, even the support and helper ones (although not every Koma evolution).
This is far and away the best Smash-like fighter I've ever played. Part of that lies in the solid game mechanics, and another lies in the excellent use of licenses. This is definitely the Smash-like I've played that's most like Smash Bros in terms of overall mechanics (punch other dude 'til he fall off level), but the fact that you also have super moves and a health bar (not to mention various other game modes and swappable characters with support moves) really adds a fuck-load to the formula.
The game's main mechanic is the Deck-system, in which you use the panels you get from completing stages to compile little manga-like pages. These pages hold battle Koma (panels), support Koma, and finally helper Koma. Battle Koma are your actual fighters. You can have 3 of them in a deck at once, and you can swap between them any time during a fight. Support are your more MvC-style they-hop-in-and-do-a-thing-type attacks. Of the 48 playable battle characters, there are far more support characters, and even more helper characters (which just provide a small boost to a battle Koma they're compatible with). You can use the R and L buttons as hotkeys to activate specific support calls or battle character swaps, but any more than two and you'll have to touch that panel on the touch screen to actually do it. I'm not sure how the meta would play out on that on a competitive scene, but I never had any problems using it. More than 2 supports on one deck is unwieldy to handle, and I usually stuck to two battlers, two supports, and then whatever helpers I wanted to throw in.
The stages themselves have one main objective, usually split between a score-based time attack (how many point can you earn), a stock match, and a collect all the things. There are weirder events which are more uncommon like trying not to get hit for a long time or destroying all the walls as fast as you can, but they're very uncommon. There are also 4 or 5 sub-objectives in each stages, which don't need to be completed in the same playthrough of that stage (and usually can't be). There are quite a lot of stages to actually play on for a mobile game, and even though they aren't insanely diverse, I'd put the stage selection at least on par if not better than Smash 3DS. You have things like collapsing platforms and destroyable walls of varrying durability to content with as well, so you've got to get a good grip on your surroundings quickly to use them as well as possible to fulfil the stage objectives.
Now, the licenses, are there ever a fuck-load. I'd try and name them all, but it's a lot easier if you just looked up a list online, because frankly if it was a franchise JUMP owned in 2007, it's in this damn game. Of the 48 playable characters, there certainly aren't that many franchises. Big players like Dragon Ball have 7 battlers (more than any other I found), and other heavy hitters like Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach have 4 or 5 a piece as well. However, there are a lot of older favorites and weirder cult classics that also have 2 or 3 playable characters, like Bobobo Bobobobo, Hunter X Hunter, Fist of the North Star, Jojo's Bizzard Adventure, and even fucking Yu-Gi-Oh (yes, really) to name just a few. Support characters do exist from every present franchise though.
The characters have a kind of type devision between them in a rock-paper-scissors style formula (laughter, power, and wisdom) where the stronger type get 1.5x damage on the weaker, which is a bit strange and not really necessary, but it's there. I imagine if you wanted to get REALLY competitive in this, that would be a serious annoyance, but for me, it mostly just prompted me to learn a few more characters of each type and encourages different, more diverse teams for different situations. My 3 main teams were two dudes of each type, with team Strength being Ken (Fist of the North Star) and Luffy (One Piece) (whom you start with, and whom I really liked), team Wisdom being Sasuke (Naruto) and Piccolo (Dragon Ball Z), and team Laughter being Don Patch (Bobobo) and Frankie (One Piece). I didn't get close to trying every character though. There're just SO damn many, and considering that you have to put together a new deck to try a new set of characters, it's not the fastest thing in the world to just breeze through all the ones you have.
Even if you have just a passing interest in Anime, you'll probably love the theme of this game. I'm very far from an Anime-freak, despite being a Japanese Language & Culture Major, but even I got such a thrill when I saw characters I knew, especially if it's one of my favorites (like Bobobo!). Even if you understand NO Japanese, this is still a fun, fairly idiot-proof game if you just wanna play every stage and beat up mans as Animus. Just remember that you've gotta up the J-Power of your Koma to actually unlock new battle Koma! This stumped me for far longer than it should've Xp. The objectives aren't that complex to figure out. Then again, if you're someone like me who wants to unlock ALL the dudes, you might wanna look into that English patch that Exhumy Senpai linked a little while ago in the "What are you Playing?" thread. Alternatively, there are some very good guides on Gamefaqs in English that explain exactly what to do, and they were more than adequate for when I got confused on stuff.
Things where the game falls a bit flat usually come down to smaller quality of life things. There are way too many menus which need to be backed in and out of when it comes to assembling decks. It really doesn't utilize the touch screen or double screens for assembling decks and viewing Koma information as well as it could (the number of times I wished there were a faster way to go through the dozens and dozens of helper Koma to do upgrading were many). Also, unless you're a MASSIVE Anime fan and can just name the themes as soon as they come up, you'll probably think most of the music is fairly background and forgettable, even though it's never bad or annoying, just nothing I'd never put on my MP3 player.
Verdict: Very highly recommended. It's been a good while since I had a game I was so feverishly addicted to keep playing. The fact that this is a fantastic Smash-like that is both portable and has a super strong license star power makes this an absolutely must own for any fan of Smash Bros or Anime, or even if you just like fighters or action games, I'd say this is still worth at least a try for the 10 bucks it'll cost you to import a complete copy.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
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elricorico
- 32-bit
- Posts: 224
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:02 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2016
1. SSX 3 (oXbox)
2. Mario Kart DS (NDS)
3. Fairune (Android)
4. Streets of Rage (Gen)
5. Amplitude (PS2)
6. Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
7. Crash Team Racing (PS)
8. Enchanted Arms (Xbox360)
9. Spyro the Dragon (PS)
10. Limbo (Android)
Couldn't sleep this morning so I finished off Limbo. I will say that I enjoyed this one, it wasn't an amazing experience but it was definitely a good one.
I liked the art style. The bleakness of it really made some of the deaths more surprising, and given the story I don't think much colour would be appropriate, so why not go all the way to monochrome. I also like the difficulty level of the puzzles. There was only one that I had to look up a solution, everything else started to become apparent before frustration would set in. Solutions weren't always obvious, but also nothing terribly complex. The length was also good enough for me, it felt like it was about the right length. I wasn't tired of the game, but I wasn't disappointed that I'd reached the ending.
I did find it a bit uneven - I found the earlier portions of the game with the more organic locations and challenges seemed to have a bit more of an impact than the last portion with so much machinery. I also would have liked just a little more story - I don't mind when things are left up to interpretation, but sometimes I also find that giving nothing (or very close to nothing) is a bit of an easy option for a content creator.
Controls were okay on the phone since they were pretty simple, but there were a couple of deaths that I would attribute to using the touchscreen.
I'm sure the majority have already tried this game, but if you like puzzle platforming and appreciate games that focus on providing a distinct art style then Limbo is well worth the time.
2. Mario Kart DS (NDS)
3. Fairune (Android)
4. Streets of Rage (Gen)
5. Amplitude (PS2)
6. Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
7. Crash Team Racing (PS)
8. Enchanted Arms (Xbox360)
9. Spyro the Dragon (PS)
10. Limbo (Android)
Couldn't sleep this morning so I finished off Limbo. I will say that I enjoyed this one, it wasn't an amazing experience but it was definitely a good one.
I liked the art style. The bleakness of it really made some of the deaths more surprising, and given the story I don't think much colour would be appropriate, so why not go all the way to monochrome. I also like the difficulty level of the puzzles. There was only one that I had to look up a solution, everything else started to become apparent before frustration would set in. Solutions weren't always obvious, but also nothing terribly complex. The length was also good enough for me, it felt like it was about the right length. I wasn't tired of the game, but I wasn't disappointed that I'd reached the ending.
I did find it a bit uneven - I found the earlier portions of the game with the more organic locations and challenges seemed to have a bit more of an impact than the last portion with so much machinery. I also would have liked just a little more story - I don't mind when things are left up to interpretation, but sometimes I also find that giving nothing (or very close to nothing) is a bit of an easy option for a content creator.
Controls were okay on the phone since they were pretty simple, but there were a couple of deaths that I would attribute to using the touchscreen.
I'm sure the majority have already tried this game, but if you like puzzle platforming and appreciate games that focus on providing a distinct art style then Limbo is well worth the time.
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BoneSnapDeez
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 20116
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2016
First 50:
51. Akumajō Dracula (Famicom Disk System)
52. Castlevania (NES)
53. Classic NES Series: Castlevania (Game Boy Advance)
54. Guardian Heroes (Xbox Live Arcade)
55. Metal Slug (Neo Geo MVS)
56. Metal Slug 2 (Neo Geo MVS)
57. Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo MVS)
58. Soul of Darkness (DSiWare)
59. Code of Princess (3DS)
60. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
61. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
62. The Legend of Zelda 2: Link no Bōken (Famicom Disk System)
63. Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst (PC)
64. Shan Gui (Steam)
65. Space Fury (ColecoVision)
66. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle (ColecoVision)
67. Gateway to Apshai (ColecoVision)
68. MURI (Steam)
69. Pink Hour (Steam)
70. Pink Heaven (Steam)
71. Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet (Steam)
72. Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt (Steam)
73. Haunted House (Atari 2600)
74. Gremlins (Atari 2600)
75. Alien (Atari 2600)
76. Xenophobe (Xbox - Midway Arcade Treasures 2)
77. Frankenstein's Monster (Atari 2600)
I should really post every time I finish a game. I certainly don't have the stamina to write about five at once. Here are some very brief thoughts.
Oh, and I'm only playing ~*spooky*~ games this month.
Haunted House
Gremlins
Alien
Xenophobe
Frankenstein's Monster
51. Akumajō Dracula (Famicom Disk System)
52. Castlevania (NES)
53. Classic NES Series: Castlevania (Game Boy Advance)
54. Guardian Heroes (Xbox Live Arcade)
55. Metal Slug (Neo Geo MVS)
56. Metal Slug 2 (Neo Geo MVS)
57. Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo MVS)
58. Soul of Darkness (DSiWare)
59. Code of Princess (3DS)
60. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
61. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
62. The Legend of Zelda 2: Link no Bōken (Famicom Disk System)
63. Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst (PC)
64. Shan Gui (Steam)
65. Space Fury (ColecoVision)
66. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle (ColecoVision)
67. Gateway to Apshai (ColecoVision)
68. MURI (Steam)
69. Pink Hour (Steam)
70. Pink Heaven (Steam)
71. Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet (Steam)
72. Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt (Steam)
73. Haunted House (Atari 2600)
74. Gremlins (Atari 2600)
75. Alien (Atari 2600)
76. Xenophobe (Xbox - Midway Arcade Treasures 2)
77. Frankenstein's Monster (Atari 2600)
I should really post every time I finish a game. I certainly don't have the stamina to write about five at once. Here are some very brief thoughts.
Oh, and I'm only playing ~*spooky*~ games this month.
Haunted House
Gremlins
Alien
Xenophobe
Frankenstein's Monster
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noiseredux
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
Haunted House is awesome. Great game. I have it on a few things, but I'd still like to pick up that Steam collection.
I haven't been a mod in a while, assuming you were targeting me there.
I remember Xenophobe being damn hard, though it's been years since I've played it. I'm surprised there's no DOS port. I may still someday break down and get an Amiga or Atari ST.
I haven't been a mod in a while, assuming you were targeting me there.
I remember Xenophobe being damn hard, though it's been years since I've played it. I'm surprised there's no DOS port. I may still someday break down and get an Amiga or Atari ST.
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BoneSnapDeez
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 20116
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Oh man, you guys keep retiring on me! 
In the arcade Xenophobe has the same sort of life system as Gauntlet. That is, adding quarters extends your health meter (to a 9999 HP limit) as opposed to tacking on discrete lives. This makes it incredibly easy to credit-feed if you're emulating.
This didn't translate well to the console ports it seems, that's why I found the 7800 version so hard. Game Over occurs after the loss of that one life, and health refill items are very scarce.
The first Midway Arcade Treasures compilation is on PC. You should check that out sometime.
And Atari Vault is solid. It's pretty comparable to Atari Anthology - the greatest thing about those compilations is the inclusion of the arcade versions of certain classics games.
In the arcade Xenophobe has the same sort of life system as Gauntlet. That is, adding quarters extends your health meter (to a 9999 HP limit) as opposed to tacking on discrete lives. This makes it incredibly easy to credit-feed if you're emulating.
This didn't translate well to the console ports it seems, that's why I found the 7800 version so hard. Game Over occurs after the loss of that one life, and health refill items are very scarce.
The first Midway Arcade Treasures compilation is on PC. You should check that out sometime.
And Atari Vault is solid. It's pretty comparable to Atari Anthology - the greatest thing about those compilations is the inclusion of the arcade versions of certain classics games.
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noiseredux
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 38148
- Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:09 pm
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2016
BoneSnapDeez wrote:The first Midway Arcade Treasures compilation is on PC. You should check that out sometime.
sadly Xenophobe is on Vol 2, which was not on PC.
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BoneSnapDeez
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 20116
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Yeah I know..... It does have some good shit though - Gauntlet, Defender, Robotron: 2084, Smash TV...
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ElkinFencer10
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- Posts: 8582
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Re: Games Beaten 2016
Games Beaten in 2016 So Far - 100
January (20 Games Beaten)
February (8 Games Beaten)
March (8 Games Beaten)
April (13 Games Beaten)
May (6 Games Beaten)
June (13 Games Beaten)
July (7 Games Beaten)
August (15 Games Beaten)
September (8 Games Beaten)
October (2 Games Beaten)
100. Gears of War: Judgement - Xbox 360 - October 8
I first started Gears of War: Judgement two or three years ago, and I started playing it immediately after marathoning the first three games. I quit after about an hour because it just felt so...meh. Picking it up again years later when I remember next to nothing about the previous games except that I loved them, it's a much more enjoyable game. Judgement suffers from the same problem that plagued Halo 3, Bioshock 2, Soul Calibur III, and Star Trek: Elite Force II - it's a fantastic game, but because its predecessor was a much better game, it feels like a disappointment when directly compared. When you play it on its own without comparing it to its predecessors - either intentionally or subconsciously - it's actually quite a fun, enjoyable experience.
Most of the game takes place before the events of the first Gears of War game, although the extra campaign chapter - Aftermath - takes place during the events at the end of Gears of War 3 and is unlocked after earning a certain amount of stars in the main campaign. The story revolves around Baird (though I think we all played it just for more Cole), and truthfully, it's not bad. As I mentioned, it's just not as good as the previous games. The game's visuals are about what you'd expect from a late-in-life Xbox 360 exclusive - good but 95% just varying shades of grey and brown (gotta have that "edgy" color scheme).
If you've played a Gears of War game before, then you know how the gameplay works. You run around as walking advertisement for anabolic steroids, shooting aliens in the face with your machine gun and cutting them in half with the chainsaw attached to it. They do nothing to break from the formula with Judgement. Where the game really shines in my opinion is the writing. It's not that the story is particularly revolutionary or outstanding (although I do love that it's told as a frame story), but the dialogue really makes the characters distinct and likable. This is especially true in each character's chapter. While you spend probably 2/3 of the game playing as Baird (he is the main character, after all), each of the other characters - Paduk, Cole, and Sofia - get a chapter in which he or she is the player character, so the dialogue is more from his or her perspective. It's nothing crazy different, but it does give a nice subtle variety.
All in all, I enjoyed Judgement once I finally got around to playing through the whole thing with some distance between me and the first three games. It's not a game that I would recommend the average gamer go pick up, but it's quite cheap these days, and I definitely would recommend the game for fans of the Gears series. I played it this weekend to finish up the already released games before Gears of War 4 comes out Tuesday, but unless you've already played Gears 1-3 and really enjoy the series, I can't say that there's a pressing need to go find this one.
January (20 Games Beaten)
February (8 Games Beaten)
March (8 Games Beaten)
April (13 Games Beaten)
May (6 Games Beaten)
June (13 Games Beaten)
July (7 Games Beaten)
August (15 Games Beaten)
September (8 Games Beaten)
October (2 Games Beaten)
100. Gears of War: Judgement - Xbox 360 - October 8
I first started Gears of War: Judgement two or three years ago, and I started playing it immediately after marathoning the first three games. I quit after about an hour because it just felt so...meh. Picking it up again years later when I remember next to nothing about the previous games except that I loved them, it's a much more enjoyable game. Judgement suffers from the same problem that plagued Halo 3, Bioshock 2, Soul Calibur III, and Star Trek: Elite Force II - it's a fantastic game, but because its predecessor was a much better game, it feels like a disappointment when directly compared. When you play it on its own without comparing it to its predecessors - either intentionally or subconsciously - it's actually quite a fun, enjoyable experience.
Most of the game takes place before the events of the first Gears of War game, although the extra campaign chapter - Aftermath - takes place during the events at the end of Gears of War 3 and is unlocked after earning a certain amount of stars in the main campaign. The story revolves around Baird (though I think we all played it just for more Cole), and truthfully, it's not bad. As I mentioned, it's just not as good as the previous games. The game's visuals are about what you'd expect from a late-in-life Xbox 360 exclusive - good but 95% just varying shades of grey and brown (gotta have that "edgy" color scheme).
If you've played a Gears of War game before, then you know how the gameplay works. You run around as walking advertisement for anabolic steroids, shooting aliens in the face with your machine gun and cutting them in half with the chainsaw attached to it. They do nothing to break from the formula with Judgement. Where the game really shines in my opinion is the writing. It's not that the story is particularly revolutionary or outstanding (although I do love that it's told as a frame story), but the dialogue really makes the characters distinct and likable. This is especially true in each character's chapter. While you spend probably 2/3 of the game playing as Baird (he is the main character, after all), each of the other characters - Paduk, Cole, and Sofia - get a chapter in which he or she is the player character, so the dialogue is more from his or her perspective. It's nothing crazy different, but it does give a nice subtle variety.
All in all, I enjoyed Judgement once I finally got around to playing through the whole thing with some distance between me and the first three games. It's not a game that I would recommend the average gamer go pick up, but it's quite cheap these days, and I definitely would recommend the game for fans of the Gears series. I played it this weekend to finish up the already released games before Gears of War 4 comes out Tuesday, but unless you've already played Gears 1-3 and really enjoy the series, I can't say that there's a pressing need to go find this one.
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