Top 10 video games of 2013
Indie titles rivaled big-name sequels in last year’s gaming wars
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Indie titles rivaled big-name sequels in last year’s gaming wars
Fifth game in series adds more excitement, crime.
AMC’s hit series ends with phenomenal finale
Fans anticipate the season finally of ‘Breaking Bad’
Brilliant plot, attention to detail make ‘Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs’ truly terrifying experience
PC release “Outlasts” cliches, delivers one of the scariest titles in years.
Nine Inch Nails turns down guitar amp, tears down ‘wall of sound’ for revitalized, EBM/Hip-hop sound on latest album
Fourth release in series combines fan favorites for entertaining challenge
Realistic graphics give players a visual storybook
Third person shooter engages, pushes players
Usually, cell phone games are a way to mindlessly kill time rather than an actual source of quality entertainment. But iOS games like these overcome that stigma, redefining what we used to think of as “mobile” games. They aren’t free, but that’s because these games are on a whole other level compared to what you’re used to from gaming on your iPhone. If you have some spare App Store credit, here’s what you should check out:
Video game offers impressive storytelling of 1912 fantasy land
“Tomb Raider” is a reboot that promises to take players on a journey of Lara Croft’s dark and traumatic origin story. Yes, Lara Croft, the over-the-top ’90s video game character that’s one part Indiana Jones, one part James Bond and all parts womanly sex appeal.
Amid the cascading tidal waves of electronic rumbles, hisses and moans that comprise the climax of “And the Sky Began to Scream,” Trent Reznor hisses, “I will tear it down to the ground and build another one.”
If you get right down to analyzing the plot threads and structure of “The Walking Dead,” you’ll realize that most of the player agency is smoke and mirrors. A lot of dialog options lead to the same result, and player actions don’t really alter the plot as much as you might expect. But “The Walking Dead” is made to be felt, not deconstructed. In that regard, it is probably the most emotionally gripping game ever made. Throughout this episodic adventure game, players are forced to make unbelievably difficult decisions involving the game’s ragtag cast of tragically flawed characters. The weight of many of these choices bare down on the entire experience, and the consequences of said choices are often unexpected. Though the game mechanics are simple, the interactivity draws the player deep into the story and closer to the characters. When someone dies in this game, it hits like a gut punch with brass knuckles. Not only is it upsetting and horrifying, but you’ll feel a sense of personal responsibility for their demise. You’ll feel like you screwed up. You’ll feel genuine regret for your actions.“The Walking Dead” also manages to do what very few video games can; it has an ending that works. The final moments of the game are completely devastating and will leave you squinting at your screen through a glaze of tears. The fact of the matter is that while other games this year may have had either stronger mechanics or more innovative technology, none of them made me care as much as “The Walking Dead” did.Turn-based strategy games typically have a reputation for steep learning curves, making them difficult to enjoy. “XCOM: Enemy Unknown,” however, strikes a perfect balance between accessibility and depth. Though its mechanics are easily comprehended, the game ramps up its difficulty in ways that require constant patience, planning and rethinking once said plan inevitably fails. It is a brilliant balance of tense, white-knuckle micro strategy and political-based macro strategy, which end up interlocking in incredibly meaningful ways. In a generation full of games designed to make the player feel unstoppable, “XCOM” is refreshing it beats the player deep into the ground and says, “Now deal with it.” No game this year made me swear at it more, and yet no game this year made me feel more elated when I managed to make a comeback by the skin of my teeth. The fact that “XCOM” can evoke so many feelings of tension and horror by means of nothing other than its perfectly designed gameplay is a testament to the interactive medium as a whole.“Far Cry 3” features a gorgeously rendered open world that offers a lot of freedom to the player, along with the emergent gameplay randomness that goes great with it, while simultaneously balancing that with enough carefully thought-out structure to give it focus. Combine that with an excellent sense of progression and stealth mechanics, which are just forgiving enough so that players feel empowered yet challenged, and the result is some of the most raw fun you can have in an open world shooter. It’s a shame it doesn’t conclude nearly as strongly as it began, but there are moments in “Far Cry 3” that are just too good to be undone, like all of the threatening monologues delivered by Vaas Montenegro, the game’s mentally unstable antagonist, or soaring over the game’s tropical expanse in a hang glider for the first time. Or that crazy moment where that tiger got loose (you know the one). And let’s not forget spraying napalm on gigantic fields of marijuana and panic-stricken pirates all whilst a Skrillex dubstep/reggae crossover track scores the incendiary absurdity. Not enjoying every wild moment “Far Cry 3” has to offer would be the definition of insanity.“Spec Ops: The Line” is a surrealistic journey to the epicenter of a sand-flooded Dubai, inspired by Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” Despite that well-known inspiration, the game is anything but predictable. Its ending is a bone-chilling reveal; an almost nihilistic anti-climax that deconstructs the shooter genre and thrusts its inherent ugliness back in the player’s face. It’s depressing, haunting and everything that a game about a bunch of marines never is. Echoes of “BioShock” run through the game, as most of the moral “decisions” forced upon players are, in fact, illusions. Here, player agency is intentionally squandered to prove a point. “The Line” is a brilliant art experiment disguising itself as a generic war shooter, and it’s an experience that will stick with you, whether you like it or not.“Journey” is almost like a spiritual successor to Team Ico’s works for the PlayStation 2. As such, every aspect of it feels meticulously crafted, from its sweeping orchestral score to its gorgeous sand tech. But what really stands out is how the game integrates online interaction with its story. Other players will briefly inhabit your journey as you progress, though they cannot interfere or speak. And that is the brilliant irony behind the game. Because players’ means of communication is limited to the nonverbal, the result is a social interaction that feels surprisingly more intimate. Maybe the people you meet in “Journey” are people you’d never normally have any kind of meaningful social interaction with, but you’d never know. Instead, you’re leaping across sand dunes and following in tow with some anonymous stranger, sharing in a joyous experience of exploration and weathering brutal hardships together. “Journey” manages to take the Internet, of all things, and transform it into a magical, emotional experience. That alone is an achievement worth celebrating.Forget its bland narrative and shallow fictional universe; what sets “Dishonored” apart is its immaculate level design. A spiritual successor to the design philosophy of Warren Spector’s “Deus Ex,” “Dishonored” offers so many options for how to approach any given scenario that it occasionally boggles the mind. Its stealth action is fast-paced and streamlined efficiently, with supernatural powers which serve as work-arounds for the most dull aspects of sneaking. Rather than waiting totally motionless for a guard to turn his back, “Dishonored” allows players to see them through walls and teleport directly past their line of sight. The game never forces the player down a single path. Despite playing as an assassin, even killing is entirely optional. It’s a unique take on an old-school design, one that rewards creative thinking and is highly replayable.“Fez” is about a small sprite character named Gomez, who lives in 2-D world. All is well until one day he discovers the third dimension. Suddenly, he finds himself with the ability to rotate the cubic world he lives in, realizing he can exist on four separate planes. It is with this clever, quirky gameplay premise that this “2.5D” platformer begins. But where “Fez” goes from there is unbelievable. As it progresses, “Fez” becomes increasingly nonlinear, complex and esoteric. Eventually, it becomes apparent that the nature of “Fez” as a cute platformer is, in fact, a deceit. The game slowly but surely transforms into a whole other type of game entirely, bringing in elements of cryptography (of all things) and meta gameplay so outrageous that it must have made Hideo Kojima proud. “Fez” is unlike any game you will ever play. Even once you think you’ve seen everything its eccentricities have to offer, it will astound you yet again with the depths to which it is willing to venture down its own rabbit hole. It is completely and utterly insane. And that’s a compliment, to be sure.
Trent Reznor, of “Nine Inch Nails” fame, would like you to think that “An_omen EP” is the first album from his new band “how to destroy angels_.” He’d also like you start using that new typography with the little underscore at the end. Basically, he wants a fresh start.
Don’t be fooled by “Dishonored’s” warm, watercolor art style and cartoonish character designs; the world in which the city of Dunwall resides is a corrupt and dystopic one, to be sure.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers.