Your 2014 in gaming - Highs, Averages and Lows
Dec 31, 2014 23:42:11 GMT -5
Post by X-pert74 on Dec 31, 2014 23:42:11 GMT -5
I wrote this for a Facebook note I posted a couple days ago. I'll go ahead and reformat it so that it's in high/average/low order
High:
XCOM: Enemy Within (Steam) – This expansion really improves on the base game, Enemy Unknown, quite a bit. I'm a huge X-COM/XCOM fan in general, so this expansion was very much anticipated by me. I didn't get to play it during the first couple months of its release unfortunately, as my computer's graphics card died right around release D: By the time I got it fixed, it was already 2014, but thankfully I wasn't too late to the party.
Enemy Within adds several new things, including a couple new gameplay features like the ability to develop gene mods for your soldiers (which give them abilities such as allowing them to jump up to higher floors while moving, or to improve the aim bonus one already receives when they have a height-advantage over the enemy), or to permanently craft them into cyborg mech soldiers. There's also a new side-game kinda thing, where you deal with an evil human organization by the name of Exalt, who try to impede your progress by sapping your funds and causing panic in your countries unless you send spies on missions to take them out. There are some really cool new maps (although one of my favorite maps, a museum map from Enemy Unknown, was removed here which sucks!), and while this could still stand to feature some more map variety, you're less likely to encounter the same map twice during a single playthrough, which is nice. Basically, if you like Enemy Unknown on its own, consider this a must-play.
The Typing of the Dead: Overkill (Steam) – This game is totally silly. I never played this when it was The House of the Dead: Overkill on either the Wii or PS3, so this was my first time experiencing the pure vulgarity and disgustingness of the game itself. I'm not a huge fan of light-gun shooting, so I enjoyed typing to kill zombies more than I would have enjoyed pointing at them. This is absolutely absurd, and bound to shock someone. There are some DLC packs which provide other dictionaries to use, such as a music-themed pack and a Shakespeare-themed pack. I haven't tried them, but I imagine they would be worth a shot if one gets tired of the vocabulary used in the base game.
Long Live The Queen (Steam) – I don't generally play visual novel-esque games, but for some reason this game's concept really seemed cool to me. The incorporating of some light strategy elements I think helps the game feel more in-depth, though whether Elodie, the princess, lives or dies is pretty much up to trial and error. The game doesn't have events occur in a different order at all upon replays, so that has a negative effect on how much replayability this offers. For what it is though, I think it's charming and cute and also surprisingly dark at times. This is fun.
Organ Trail: Director's Cut (Steam) – Another zombie-themed game! They're a dime a dozen in today's gaming market, but this one I think is especially charming. I think the fact I played a lot of Oregon Trail as a kid helped me get into this more. The idea of traveling across the US, Oregon Trail-style, while surviving a zombie apocalypse makes so much sense. I enjoy the fact that like in Oregon Trail, you can customize the names of your party members; I named my characters after favorite game characters and/or metal musicians. I especially like the side-diversions that come up, such as attacking a bandit hideout or fending off a biker gang, Mad Max-style. This is wonderful. Although very hard; I played it on the Normal difficulty and while all of my party survived (albeit Tom Warrior had gotten infected), I was constantly struggling for supplies and cash, and got stopped along the road several times while hoping for a stranger to come by, willing to trade me the car part I needed to get going again.
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (Xbox Live Arcade) – The Might and Magic series has been ongoing for quite awhile now. It has covered several genres, from CRPGs to turn-based strategy games to action RPGs. With this spinoff, the series yet again goes into new territory, this time via a really unique block puzzle/turn-based tactical RPG hybrid. It sounds bizarre, but it works. It works really well. Oh my gosh this is wonderful! It's sooooooooo good, and it plays unlike anything else I've experienced in my life. The story isn't anything special (though a little bit charming at times), but this is totally worth playing for the combat alone. This is glorious.
Shadow Warrior 2013 (Steam) – I was really busy for most of spring because of performing in my college's rendition of Sweeney Todd, so I barely played anything anything during this time. By the summer, however, I eventually found the time to play through and beat Shadow Warrior 2013. For anyone familiar with the original game, this doesn't have a ton to do with it, which in my opinion is a good thing. I find the humor in the original Shadow Warrior to be fairly cringeworthy for the most part, and I found its level and enemy design to be really cheaply difficult and clunky in comparison to similar FPSes like Duke Nukem 3D. This game however, reboots everything and provides a fresh approach both story and gameplay/wise. The main character, Lo Wang, is hilarious and badass, and I love his ever-present partner Hoji's quips. The combat is very over-the-top, with lots of gore and decapitations and blood spewing everywhere. Playing on Normal difficulty, I sometimes found certain enemies, particularly later in the game, to be kind of bullet-spongey, but overall the enemies were a thrill to fight. I really have to praise the developers for creating one of the funnest implementations of a melee-based weapon in an FPS, with the katana. The katana is a perfectly viable weapon to use in-game, and the magic powers and guns are no slouch. The level-design is kind of linear, to the point where this feels like a first-person beat-em-up at times, but if you're up for that this is wonderful. It also personally has one of my favorite stories I've seen in a single-player game in awhile, which is surprising considering it's a reboot of Shadow Warrior of all things. It feels like playing a Suda 51 game at times; perhaps in part because of all the dick jokes. I really love this game, and highly recommend it.
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 2 (Steam) – Episode 1 is in the Average category here; I guess it might be worth reading that entry before this one. I wasn't a huge fan of it. Episode 2 however, changes things up tremendously by featuring primarily stealth-based gameplay and a relatively very non-linear world. This is so much fun. I would totally play a full-length game with this sort of gameplay and level design, because this was really a joy to play. I have my issues with the story (which again, I won't go into for spoilers' sake), but as far as the gameplay on its own is concerned, I think this is one of the best DLCs I've played, for any game out there. I actually went through the trouble to find all of the audio diaries here, which I didn't do in any previous Bioshock game/DLC I've played. Someday I can totally see myself revisiting this via 1999 Mode, or even 1998 Mode.
Red Faction (Steam) – I'd been meaning to get into the Red Faction series for awhile. The most-praised game in it by far is Guerrilla, whose sandboxy third-person shooting and destruction mechanics I've heard a ton of good things about. I want to play the series in order though, so I started out with this first entry, a Half-Life-esque FPS which takes a ton of thematic influence from Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall. I found this to be very fun. It's not too much fun to play in the beginning, in part because the pistol kind of sucks and the security guards love to dash and zip around like computer-controlled Doomguys, but as you play on and pick up more capable weaponry the combat becomes more enjoyable, and the Geomod engine's ability to let players blow their own holes into the environment is truly impressive. Even today, the level of environmental destruction you can engage in in the first few hours is mind-blowing; I can't think of anything else on the same scale at this. Unfortunately the environmental destruction gets kind of downplayed somewhat as you get to the later sections of the game, but this is still a pretty neat game. Also, some of the later weapons are truly fun to use, and this game features a few sections where you have more than one option with regard to how to tackle each situation. Personally I recommend not bothering with stealth and just to shoot one's way through instead, because having to replace each of your guns/ammo each time is a pain in the ass. Despite some minor grievances (including some clunky scripted sequences in the mid-game), I enjoyed this quite a bit, and am glad I finally played it. I look forward to giving the rest of the series a try at some point.
Saints Row: The Third (Steam) – I really like Volition. They've made the Red Faction series (though they no longer have the rights to continue working on it unfortunately), and the superbly incredible Saints Row series. The first Saints Row for the 360 I thought was okay. It's basically a Grand Theft Auto clone, though I think it's more fun than Grand Theft Auto, in large part because its controls don't suck horribly. Saints Row 2 I think is a huge improvement in every way, and is one of the best sequels I've played, as well as one of the best games ever in general. Its story mixes together serious and silly moments in a way that makes the world feel truly cohesive, and there are so many fun activities to engage in in Stilwater.
The Third switches things up a bit. It seems Volition picked up on the fact that one of the biggest draws of the series was how silly it can be compared to GTA, so they turned up the silly-factor a thousand-fold here. There are some amazing setpieces here, although I personally really miss a lot of the activites that 2 had such as driving septic trucks or masquerading as a corrupt cop in a COPS parody. The Third doesn't include these fun activites, while it keeps really tedious boring shit in like Snatch or Trafficking. It's still generally fun to play, but Steelport feels like it has less to do than Stilwater did; I completed the game 100% in less time than I've put overall into Saints Row 2, and I still haven't 100%ed that one. Steelport is also a much less fun city to mess around in than Stilwater is, with less varied locales and activities. At least streaking is still in, hehe.
As far as the main story goes, it's definitely a jarring shift from practically anything else out there, including the previous two Saints Row games. I can definitely see why certain fans of the first two games would hate this one. It's not as extreme a shift in tone/gameplay as something like Resident Evil 4, but it's still pretty significant. I personally enjoyed this game though, and found it absolutely hilarious at times, which is always a good sign that I'll like it. The beginning was a little clunky, and it features one of the worst storytelling decisions I've ever seen in a game series concerning a certain incredibly popular side-character, but despite those grievances I like this a lot. I'm currently playing Saints Row IV as of this writing; I'll have to see how that compares to this and the previous games when I finish it.
Wasteland 2 (Steam) – I. Fucking. Love. This. Game. I am so happy I backed this when it was on Kickstarter; I'm happy to own my physical Collector's Edition of the game. Tee hee
This is an incredibly CRPG, along the lines of games such as Fallout 1 and 2, with turn-based combat inspired by tactical games such as X-COM. I love both those series, so Wasteland 2 is a dream come true for me. The game was pretty buggy and unstable at launch, but inXile has released a total of five major patches since the game's September 19th release date, and have really improved the game quite a bit. The second patch in particular really made the game much better for me, as it optimized the game tremendously, letting me finally reach a decent consistent framerate. Aside from technical issues which are steadily being wiped out with each successive patch, I can't think of too much that I'd fault this game for. The writing is very good; while certain parts can be a little cheesy at times, I still had fun with them, and this game has its share of really dark, disturbing moments as well. Fallout also mixes silliness with seriousness, but the two extremes seem to contrast more starkly here. I'm fine with that, but it's possible not everyone else would, which is something to keep in mind. The level of reactivity is pretty neat; while the overall campaign is relatively linear compared to something like the original Fallout, one still has a ton of options with regard to how they want to tackle each area, and there are a ton of side quests and secrets and whatnot to partake in. If one so chooses to, they can easily spend hundreds of hours playing this; my first playthrough alone took over 140 hours to complete, and there were certain things I missed out on apparently. This is definitely worth the price if you like CRPGs, and it's personally one of my favorite games ever. I really, really hope inXile gets to make either a Wasteland 2 expansion, or a Wasteland 3. If they end up doing another Kickstarter for it, I'm really hoping I'd be able to pledge high enough to make myself an NPC, hehe.
Shovel Knight (Steam) – This is another game whose Kickstarter I backed; I got a cardboard box, an instruction manual, and a 2-CD soundtrack of the game. Yay me Anyways, this game is so cool. I grew up playing and loving classic action/platformers such as Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, and Wizards & Warriors, so I'm always up for playing another game in that style. Especially when it's as great as this! Yacht Club Games, the developer, seem to have a genuine appreciation and love for classic sidescrollers, which isn't too surprising considering the company is made up of ex-WayForward developers, who have made highly-regarded games of their own such as Shantae and Contra 4.
Shovel Knight feels like it was developed by people who meticulously studied classic NES platformers, and set out to craft levels and enemies that would provide just enough difficulty to challenge the player, yet encourage the player at the same time to continue on. They follow the nice “show, don't tell” approach to game design, of often introducing a new level mechanic or obstacle in a safe room where you don't have to worry about getting hurt, then quickly bringing back said mechanic or obstacle in new ways, testing the player's limits and seeing how far they can proceed. Many of the Mario games do this, as does Mega Man 9, and Shovel Knight sits well alongside them when it comes to pure quality of game design. I'd love to see more Shovel Knight games at some point in the future; a 16-bit style Shovel Knight would be so great to see. Or... maybe an N64-style 3D platformer? I'd be up for that too. I just want to see more Shovel Knight!
The Evil Within (Steam) – Resident Evil 4 is just about my favorite game of all time, alongside X-COM: UFO Defense. So, learning that Shinji Mikami, its director, would be making a new game in the same vein, was a truly delightful piece of news to hear. I promptly put myself on media blackout for this game, and experienced it as freshly as possible when I got to play it for myself.
There are some technical issues unfortunately; I noticed the occasional texture pop-in, and I wasn't able to play it at a steady 60FPS, especially when I turned off the black bars. When you keep the black bars on and set the FPS lock to 30, it's more consistent, but it's still kind of disappointing that the game struggles so much with what it has to render, considering the game isn't that revolutionarily impressive from a graphical standpoint. I really think id Tech 5 should be ditched, because between this and RAGE, it just doesn't seem to work as consistently as it should.
Aside from the technical issues, though, and the fact certain parts of the game seemed to drag a little, I really liked this game a lot. The first few chapters in particular are very frightening and stealth-focused; it seemed like an all-new gameplay experience, which was nice to see. Eventually the game gives way to Resident Evil 4/5-esque third-person shooting (most prominently in certain chapters spaced out during the middle and end), which is a little silly considering how much this game was hyped as a true return to survival horror. I like third-person shooting though, so I don't mind it that much, and unlike in games like Resident Evil 5, the action segments here didn't feel like they were designed by committee. Rather, it felt like they were incorporated because that's what Shinji Mikami truly wanted to make, in order to fit his vision. So, I'm cool with it. I also found the storyline surprisingly in-depth, which was a pleasant surprise considering how shitty the story in games like Resident Evil 4 can be. Overall, I like this game, and highly recommend it to anyone who loves Resident Evil 4 and is up for a spiritual successor that manages to remain more true to horror and survival mechanics... for the most part
Goat Simulator (Steam) – This is so wonderful. It's glitchy and buggy as heck, and that plays a big part in why it's so awesome. I love bashing into things and blowing things up and being a goat. This is cool.
2048 (web browser) – One of my IRL friends introduced me to this game earlier this year; she was playing it on her phone, and I thought it looked like a lot of fun. I finally got around to playing it within the past month, and had a great time with it. I did beat it kind of quickly But it was still an engaging experience, and I suppose there is an incentive to go back and continue to try and get the highest score possible. All in all, this was a simple, fun, free game that I enjoyed my time with.
Duke Nukem 3D: Duke It Out In D.C. (Steam) – This is one of the official expansions that was released for Duke Nukem 3D back in the late '90s; I played it via the Megaton Edition on Steam. I can't compare to the other expansions as I haven't played them, but this I thought was pretty fun, at least. Some of the level design in the beginning is kind of frustrating; I got stuck in the second level in particular for quite awhile, before I finally got fed up and stumbled upon an exploit that let me gain access to the final keycard of the level, long before the level designers intended for me to be able to. After that though, there are some pretty nice levels here, including a gigantic level taking place in the Smithsonian Institution; that was a true highlight. All in all, this is definitely enjoyable. I visited Washington D.C. in real life in 2010, and while the locations in here are hardly 100% authentic recreations, I did feel nostalgic nonetheless as I played this, in a similar way to when I played Fallout 3. If you like Duke Nukem 3D and want more of that, this is more of that.
Nidhogg (Steam) – Nidhogg is one of the best multiplayer games I've played in quite some time. At a friend's party I went to recently, we spent more time playing this than we did playing Super Smash Bros. U, which is saying something. This is so simple in design, yet so engaging. I wish there was more content here; there isn't much when it comes to the single-player experience, but if you have someone to play this with, or better-yet a crowd of people to switch off with, it's an experience like none other. At said party, whenever a player was about to win and started charging toward the titular Nidhogg (which looks a lot like a giant penis) to be eaten by it, everyone would chant “GET-THE-DICK” over and over. You too can get the dick by playing this game!
Tomb Raider 2013 (Steam) – This game I played most recently out of all the titles on this list. I started this in September, then put it down for a few months in favor of other games like Wasteland 2. I eventually got back into it earlier this month. After a kind of clunky beginning (both story and gameplay-wise), this game really picks up partway through, and becomes a lot of fun. I played on Normal, and it was remarkably easy, though I died quite a few times – mostly to quick-time events, or to my own carelessness during combat. Despite the easiness of the game itself, however, it was a lot of fun to play. Combat is really fun; I haven't played Uncharted 2 or its other sequels yet, but the combat in the original Uncharted is really awful. This game improves tremendously on what that game has to offer, and managed to also have some fun platforming. It's pretty linear with regard to where to go, but it's a pretty nice, relaxing game to play during its quieter moments, and picks up nicely during some really intense segments. I also really love the bow quite a bit; it can be used to wipe out enemies stealthily, and in certain areas of the game you can kill every enemy without being spotted, which is very satisfying to do. I also have to give recognition to the game's cover system; unlike virtually every other third-person cover shooter I've played, Lara Croft takes cover automatically when you move behind a crate or wall and enemies are nearby. It's nice to not have to press a button that glues you to the wall every time you want to take cover. It's also immensely satisfying to dodge melee-based enemies and strike back by throwing dust in their faces, or stabbing an arrow into their legs or whatnot. While the character development feels a little rushed in parts (especially in the beginning of the game), you do feel like a total badass, and it's especially satisfying to see enemies freak out as you pick up new weapons and get the jump on them. I've never played the older Tomb Raider games (outside of the tutorial area in Tomb Raider 2, as a kid), but I really enjoyed this a lot. I'm a little annoyed that its sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, will be a timed Xbox-platform exclusive; I hope it gets a PC release sooner than later.
Average:
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 1 (Steam) – I loved Bioshock Infinite in 2013. I think part of why I enjoyed the game so much is that I didn't really have high expectations going into it; I thought the first Bioshock was just okay, and I didn't even bother with Bioshock 2 when it came out because I felt like I'd had enough of Rapture. I probably wouldn't have played Infinite so soon either if it weren't for my sister gifting it to me (thank you!), but I gave it a shot, and ended up loving it. The story has been praised by several players, but I personally really like the gameplay as well. It's more linear than the first Bioshock, but I didn't really mind that. The original Bioshock was already a pretty linear game on its own, so I didn't think Infinite was too much of a change in that regard, and I thought the combat was really engaging. Plus Elizabeth is sooooo cool ^_^
So... onto my thoughts regarding Burial at Sea: Episode 1. I wasn't as big a fan of this as I was the main game. It felt a little bit more like the original Bioshock gameplay-wise (though on a much smaller scale, it should be stressed), and I didn't have as much fun with it. Maybe because of that? Whatever the case though, this wasn't terrible, but I felt it was not great, and it was also pretty short. I thought the story was kind of interesting though (which I won't go into further detail on since doing so would pretty much spoil practically everything about the game). There's still Episode 2 to look into though, which I cover in the Highs section.
Sid Meier's Civilization V (Steam) – I haven't played this game extensively, it should be said. As of this writing, I've “only” put in just over 70 hours of playtime here. I'm not the biggest fan of strategy games in particular; I love Heroes of Might and Magic III, but this is the only other game I've put any real time into (not counting hybrid strategy/tactical games like X-COM). So, I don't particularly have a ton of experience with the genre, and can't really compare this game to much else that's out there. I have all of the DLC I believe, including both Gods & Kings and Brave New World. Some of my favorite gameplay mechanics here apparently originated from one or both of those expansions, so it seems like they enhance the base game quite a bit. This might feel barebones if one were to play without those expansions, but with them there are a lot of options regarding how to tackle each situation. I tend to falter at some point late in the game; perhaps I need more practice. Despite that though, I think this is fun. It's also really easy to get addicted to, and to play turn after turn without realizing how many hours are passing by. If you don't have a lot of free time, getting into this game may be potentially dangerous, hehe.
Flappy Bird (mobile) – I downloaded this the day before it got delisted from mobile marketplaces by its creator, Dong Nguyen. I like simple score-based games like early Atari classics and Game & Watch games and the like, and while this is even simpler than many of those, it's a fun time-waster when you're in the bathroom or whatever. I also happen to really find this game to be endearing; I love Flappy Bird's plain expression. Unfortunately my phone is a piece of shit, so Flappy Bird tends to get laggy and stuttery when I play, but when it works at least, it's simple, good fun.
Xenonauts (Steam) – This is one of the few games here I have yet to beat, admittedly. I've played it for a little over 20 hours; I probably would have played it for longer if it weren't for the fact that there just isn't a large enough variety of maps to play on. Maps repeat themselves here far more frequently than in XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within, which is a drag. While both games would ideally be better off with the randomly-generated maps of the original games, EU/EW at least fares better in this regard than Xenonauts does. Even with Skitso's Ultimate Megamix Map Pack, I'd see certain maps more than a few times. That really brings down this X-COM clone quite a bit. To be fair though, I haven't played this since June, so it's possible there might be a new version of the map pack which includes more new maps, but at least at the time of the game's launch, there wasn't enough content in this regard.
Which is a shame, because there's a lot of stuff to like about this. Unlike Firaxis' Enemy Unknown/Within, Xenonauts remains much truer in both gameplay and atmosphere to the classic X-COM: UFO Defense, and manages to streamline the experience for the better without watering down the complexity. I especially appreciate how the game shows exactly how many squares on the map your soldiers can travel before they run out of time units; in the original games you had to constantly count out how many spaces you could move by paying attention to your soldier's current amount of time units (most squares take 4 time units to cross; more if the terrain is rough), so I think having a visualization of how far your soldier can travel is a nice improvement. I also like the larger variety of weapons this game has to offer; there are shotguns and sniper rifles and whatnot, which the original games did not feature. If it weren't for the tedium of replaying certain maps over and over, I'd probably be spending more time with this.
Depression Quest (Steam) – lol Zoe Quinn lol Gamergate lol ethics in game journalism lol
Not getting into all that shit, I thought this was an interesting experience. I can't really say it was “fun”, considering it's a game about depression, but I found it to be pretty effective. I've dealt with depression myself, personally, in part from struggling with gender dysphoria, and certain aspects of the story here rang uncomfortably true for me. If you feel up to it, I recommend giving this a go; my playthrough lasted just an hour, and this game is free to play, so there isn't much to lose here by doing so.
The Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (Steam) – I've been a fan of the Angry Video Game Nerd since 2008, when one of my internet friends linked me to his Castlevania II review after I posted about how much I disliked it, being my first Castlevania game I played as a kid. An old-school NES-esque (though with some liberties taken) platformer starring the Nerd is totally a cool idea. The game itself is not great, admittedly, but it's fun enough for what it is. If you really like the Angry Video Game Nerd and classic platformers then it's worth playing. If you aren't a fan but like classic-style platformers, it's... perhaps worth looking into, though the humor probably won't appeal to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't really recommend this as a standalone game on its own merits; it's mostly for fans of the series.
Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny (Steam) – I started playing this in 2012, and continued it off and on for the next few years. I played Wolfenstein 3D itself via Xbox Live Arcade, and the dual-analog controls in that port, which incorporate the ability to circle-strafe, I felt improved the game quite a bit. Going back to not having that ability here really sucked One of my friends eventually linked me to a Doom mod which recreated Spear of Destiny and thus allowed for circle-strafing, but by that point I was almost at the end, hehe. Despite those control issues, I played through the whole thing, and enjoyed myself. The progression of difficulty here makes more sense than in the original Wolfenstein 3D; in that game, the zombie/mutants from Episode 2 are several times tougher than any other enemy, yet they don't appear in most of the other episodes in the game. id seemed to realize this when making Spear of Destiny, so they have the S.S. Troops appear earlier in this game than the mutants do, and the mutants continue to appear even in the late stages so as to make the later levels suitably tougher. If you like Wolfenstein 3D and want more levels to play, then this is good to check out.
Call of Duty 2 (Steam) – I'm not particularly a fan of Call of Duty. Prior to this game I played Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition on the Wii (it had decent controls, but I disliked how linear and overly scripted the single-player mode was), and the original Call of Duty on Steam (it was also very linear and scripted, although notably it features health packs to restore health, unlike the regenerating health of its sequels). I thought I wouldn't like Call of Duty 2 as much because of its regenerating health, but all things considered, I actually think this is more fun than the first Call of Duty. I was worried regenerating health would make the game feel cheap, but more often than not I felt like it was fairly forgiving; usually if I got caught by a blast of enemy fire, I could run to cover and heal up enough without dying and starting over. Certain levels here were really fun to play; I particularly like the ones that let you tackle certain areas in whatever order you prefer. The more freedom you have, the better, as far as I'm concerned. The worst part of the game, as usual, are the shitty stupid bullshit sections where you have to hold out for several minutes while waiting for reinforcements to arrive, all the while shooting down tons of respawning soldiers. Fuck it's tedious, and a real pain in the ass. I thought this was a pretty decent game though, aside from all the things that make it a Call of Duty game.
Low:
Donkey Kong Land (Game Boy) – Hey look, a game that can't (legally) be played on PC! How about that. The vast majority of my played games lately just so happen to be computer games. I do like my computer quite a bit, but I consciously realized this and decided to finish up this game, which I first started back in 2012.
To be honest, this is not a very good game. There are worse games out there, but it doesn't come close to the gloriousness of the Super NES Donkey Kong Country trilogy. The physics of the game are significantly different from the Super NES games; while they aren't necessarily broken, the fact a rolling jump makes you travel a smaller distance than a running jump would, will really throw you off if you're used to the SNES games. There's also a frustrating glitch where if you have either Donkey or Diddy in reserve for if you get hit, you still die as if you had no one in backup, if you happen to get hit by an enemy and get knocked back into a bottomless pit. That glitch is really shitty, I've gotta say. The graphics are also really bad here. I'm not generally one to care about graphical quality in games, and that's not what I'm specifically referring to here, but rather the fact that it's really hard to tell what parts of the stages are in the foreground or the background. There are several points where I had to just jump into the oblivion (aka the parts of the level that haven't been revealed by the camera yet), hoping I manage to successfully blindly land onto a platform. Ugh, this game sucks. Blegh. When it comes to the overarching, loosely-connected Donkey Kong games, I think Donkey Kong '94 is a much better platformer for the Game Boy than this mediocrity.
Q*bert: Rebooted (Steam) – This is also a game I haven't completed. I mostly got this because it includes an emulation of the original Q*bert arcade game. I have Q*bert on a couple other platforms like the Atari 2600 and Colecovision, but it's always nice to be able to experience the original arcade version.
This does also include a sequel, the actual “Rebooted” part of the game. It features hexagon-based levels instead of cube-based ones, which means Q*bert has more freedom with regard to where he can move. This added freedom makes the game kind of easy to play, which I imagine was partly the intend of such a design change. Unfortunately this game has a lot of grinding; you can pick up gems in the levels, of various colors (blue gems are worth 1 gem, silver gems are worth 2 if I recall correctly; there are probably others too), and these gems are used as in-game currency to purchase unlockable characters to play as. You also earn stars by replaying each stage while accomplishing new goals, such as clearing a stage with a certain minimum number of points earned. You need to keep replaying older stages in order to get enough stars to unlock the later stages... blegh. I'm pretty sure this is a mobile port, so the semi-F2P mechanics aren't surprising. At least the arcade emulation is untouched by this tediousness.
High:
XCOM: Enemy Within (Steam) – This expansion really improves on the base game, Enemy Unknown, quite a bit. I'm a huge X-COM/XCOM fan in general, so this expansion was very much anticipated by me. I didn't get to play it during the first couple months of its release unfortunately, as my computer's graphics card died right around release D: By the time I got it fixed, it was already 2014, but thankfully I wasn't too late to the party.
Enemy Within adds several new things, including a couple new gameplay features like the ability to develop gene mods for your soldiers (which give them abilities such as allowing them to jump up to higher floors while moving, or to improve the aim bonus one already receives when they have a height-advantage over the enemy), or to permanently craft them into cyborg mech soldiers. There's also a new side-game kinda thing, where you deal with an evil human organization by the name of Exalt, who try to impede your progress by sapping your funds and causing panic in your countries unless you send spies on missions to take them out. There are some really cool new maps (although one of my favorite maps, a museum map from Enemy Unknown, was removed here which sucks!), and while this could still stand to feature some more map variety, you're less likely to encounter the same map twice during a single playthrough, which is nice. Basically, if you like Enemy Unknown on its own, consider this a must-play.
The Typing of the Dead: Overkill (Steam) – This game is totally silly. I never played this when it was The House of the Dead: Overkill on either the Wii or PS3, so this was my first time experiencing the pure vulgarity and disgustingness of the game itself. I'm not a huge fan of light-gun shooting, so I enjoyed typing to kill zombies more than I would have enjoyed pointing at them. This is absolutely absurd, and bound to shock someone. There are some DLC packs which provide other dictionaries to use, such as a music-themed pack and a Shakespeare-themed pack. I haven't tried them, but I imagine they would be worth a shot if one gets tired of the vocabulary used in the base game.
Long Live The Queen (Steam) – I don't generally play visual novel-esque games, but for some reason this game's concept really seemed cool to me. The incorporating of some light strategy elements I think helps the game feel more in-depth, though whether Elodie, the princess, lives or dies is pretty much up to trial and error. The game doesn't have events occur in a different order at all upon replays, so that has a negative effect on how much replayability this offers. For what it is though, I think it's charming and cute and also surprisingly dark at times. This is fun.
Organ Trail: Director's Cut (Steam) – Another zombie-themed game! They're a dime a dozen in today's gaming market, but this one I think is especially charming. I think the fact I played a lot of Oregon Trail as a kid helped me get into this more. The idea of traveling across the US, Oregon Trail-style, while surviving a zombie apocalypse makes so much sense. I enjoy the fact that like in Oregon Trail, you can customize the names of your party members; I named my characters after favorite game characters and/or metal musicians. I especially like the side-diversions that come up, such as attacking a bandit hideout or fending off a biker gang, Mad Max-style. This is wonderful. Although very hard; I played it on the Normal difficulty and while all of my party survived (albeit Tom Warrior had gotten infected), I was constantly struggling for supplies and cash, and got stopped along the road several times while hoping for a stranger to come by, willing to trade me the car part I needed to get going again.
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (Xbox Live Arcade) – The Might and Magic series has been ongoing for quite awhile now. It has covered several genres, from CRPGs to turn-based strategy games to action RPGs. With this spinoff, the series yet again goes into new territory, this time via a really unique block puzzle/turn-based tactical RPG hybrid. It sounds bizarre, but it works. It works really well. Oh my gosh this is wonderful! It's sooooooooo good, and it plays unlike anything else I've experienced in my life. The story isn't anything special (though a little bit charming at times), but this is totally worth playing for the combat alone. This is glorious.
Shadow Warrior 2013 (Steam) – I was really busy for most of spring because of performing in my college's rendition of Sweeney Todd, so I barely played anything anything during this time. By the summer, however, I eventually found the time to play through and beat Shadow Warrior 2013. For anyone familiar with the original game, this doesn't have a ton to do with it, which in my opinion is a good thing. I find the humor in the original Shadow Warrior to be fairly cringeworthy for the most part, and I found its level and enemy design to be really cheaply difficult and clunky in comparison to similar FPSes like Duke Nukem 3D. This game however, reboots everything and provides a fresh approach both story and gameplay/wise. The main character, Lo Wang, is hilarious and badass, and I love his ever-present partner Hoji's quips. The combat is very over-the-top, with lots of gore and decapitations and blood spewing everywhere. Playing on Normal difficulty, I sometimes found certain enemies, particularly later in the game, to be kind of bullet-spongey, but overall the enemies were a thrill to fight. I really have to praise the developers for creating one of the funnest implementations of a melee-based weapon in an FPS, with the katana. The katana is a perfectly viable weapon to use in-game, and the magic powers and guns are no slouch. The level-design is kind of linear, to the point where this feels like a first-person beat-em-up at times, but if you're up for that this is wonderful. It also personally has one of my favorite stories I've seen in a single-player game in awhile, which is surprising considering it's a reboot of Shadow Warrior of all things. It feels like playing a Suda 51 game at times; perhaps in part because of all the dick jokes. I really love this game, and highly recommend it.
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 2 (Steam) – Episode 1 is in the Average category here; I guess it might be worth reading that entry before this one. I wasn't a huge fan of it. Episode 2 however, changes things up tremendously by featuring primarily stealth-based gameplay and a relatively very non-linear world. This is so much fun. I would totally play a full-length game with this sort of gameplay and level design, because this was really a joy to play. I have my issues with the story (which again, I won't go into for spoilers' sake), but as far as the gameplay on its own is concerned, I think this is one of the best DLCs I've played, for any game out there. I actually went through the trouble to find all of the audio diaries here, which I didn't do in any previous Bioshock game/DLC I've played. Someday I can totally see myself revisiting this via 1999 Mode, or even 1998 Mode.
Red Faction (Steam) – I'd been meaning to get into the Red Faction series for awhile. The most-praised game in it by far is Guerrilla, whose sandboxy third-person shooting and destruction mechanics I've heard a ton of good things about. I want to play the series in order though, so I started out with this first entry, a Half-Life-esque FPS which takes a ton of thematic influence from Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall. I found this to be very fun. It's not too much fun to play in the beginning, in part because the pistol kind of sucks and the security guards love to dash and zip around like computer-controlled Doomguys, but as you play on and pick up more capable weaponry the combat becomes more enjoyable, and the Geomod engine's ability to let players blow their own holes into the environment is truly impressive. Even today, the level of environmental destruction you can engage in in the first few hours is mind-blowing; I can't think of anything else on the same scale at this. Unfortunately the environmental destruction gets kind of downplayed somewhat as you get to the later sections of the game, but this is still a pretty neat game. Also, some of the later weapons are truly fun to use, and this game features a few sections where you have more than one option with regard to how to tackle each situation. Personally I recommend not bothering with stealth and just to shoot one's way through instead, because having to replace each of your guns/ammo each time is a pain in the ass. Despite some minor grievances (including some clunky scripted sequences in the mid-game), I enjoyed this quite a bit, and am glad I finally played it. I look forward to giving the rest of the series a try at some point.
Saints Row: The Third (Steam) – I really like Volition. They've made the Red Faction series (though they no longer have the rights to continue working on it unfortunately), and the superbly incredible Saints Row series. The first Saints Row for the 360 I thought was okay. It's basically a Grand Theft Auto clone, though I think it's more fun than Grand Theft Auto, in large part because its controls don't suck horribly. Saints Row 2 I think is a huge improvement in every way, and is one of the best sequels I've played, as well as one of the best games ever in general. Its story mixes together serious and silly moments in a way that makes the world feel truly cohesive, and there are so many fun activities to engage in in Stilwater.
The Third switches things up a bit. It seems Volition picked up on the fact that one of the biggest draws of the series was how silly it can be compared to GTA, so they turned up the silly-factor a thousand-fold here. There are some amazing setpieces here, although I personally really miss a lot of the activites that 2 had such as driving septic trucks or masquerading as a corrupt cop in a COPS parody. The Third doesn't include these fun activites, while it keeps really tedious boring shit in like Snatch or Trafficking. It's still generally fun to play, but Steelport feels like it has less to do than Stilwater did; I completed the game 100% in less time than I've put overall into Saints Row 2, and I still haven't 100%ed that one. Steelport is also a much less fun city to mess around in than Stilwater is, with less varied locales and activities. At least streaking is still in, hehe.
As far as the main story goes, it's definitely a jarring shift from practically anything else out there, including the previous two Saints Row games. I can definitely see why certain fans of the first two games would hate this one. It's not as extreme a shift in tone/gameplay as something like Resident Evil 4, but it's still pretty significant. I personally enjoyed this game though, and found it absolutely hilarious at times, which is always a good sign that I'll like it. The beginning was a little clunky, and it features one of the worst storytelling decisions I've ever seen in a game series concerning a certain incredibly popular side-character, but despite those grievances I like this a lot. I'm currently playing Saints Row IV as of this writing; I'll have to see how that compares to this and the previous games when I finish it.
Wasteland 2 (Steam) – I. Fucking. Love. This. Game. I am so happy I backed this when it was on Kickstarter; I'm happy to own my physical Collector's Edition of the game. Tee hee
This is an incredibly CRPG, along the lines of games such as Fallout 1 and 2, with turn-based combat inspired by tactical games such as X-COM. I love both those series, so Wasteland 2 is a dream come true for me. The game was pretty buggy and unstable at launch, but inXile has released a total of five major patches since the game's September 19th release date, and have really improved the game quite a bit. The second patch in particular really made the game much better for me, as it optimized the game tremendously, letting me finally reach a decent consistent framerate. Aside from technical issues which are steadily being wiped out with each successive patch, I can't think of too much that I'd fault this game for. The writing is very good; while certain parts can be a little cheesy at times, I still had fun with them, and this game has its share of really dark, disturbing moments as well. Fallout also mixes silliness with seriousness, but the two extremes seem to contrast more starkly here. I'm fine with that, but it's possible not everyone else would, which is something to keep in mind. The level of reactivity is pretty neat; while the overall campaign is relatively linear compared to something like the original Fallout, one still has a ton of options with regard to how they want to tackle each area, and there are a ton of side quests and secrets and whatnot to partake in. If one so chooses to, they can easily spend hundreds of hours playing this; my first playthrough alone took over 140 hours to complete, and there were certain things I missed out on apparently. This is definitely worth the price if you like CRPGs, and it's personally one of my favorite games ever. I really, really hope inXile gets to make either a Wasteland 2 expansion, or a Wasteland 3. If they end up doing another Kickstarter for it, I'm really hoping I'd be able to pledge high enough to make myself an NPC, hehe.
Shovel Knight (Steam) – This is another game whose Kickstarter I backed; I got a cardboard box, an instruction manual, and a 2-CD soundtrack of the game. Yay me Anyways, this game is so cool. I grew up playing and loving classic action/platformers such as Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, and Wizards & Warriors, so I'm always up for playing another game in that style. Especially when it's as great as this! Yacht Club Games, the developer, seem to have a genuine appreciation and love for classic sidescrollers, which isn't too surprising considering the company is made up of ex-WayForward developers, who have made highly-regarded games of their own such as Shantae and Contra 4.
Shovel Knight feels like it was developed by people who meticulously studied classic NES platformers, and set out to craft levels and enemies that would provide just enough difficulty to challenge the player, yet encourage the player at the same time to continue on. They follow the nice “show, don't tell” approach to game design, of often introducing a new level mechanic or obstacle in a safe room where you don't have to worry about getting hurt, then quickly bringing back said mechanic or obstacle in new ways, testing the player's limits and seeing how far they can proceed. Many of the Mario games do this, as does Mega Man 9, and Shovel Knight sits well alongside them when it comes to pure quality of game design. I'd love to see more Shovel Knight games at some point in the future; a 16-bit style Shovel Knight would be so great to see. Or... maybe an N64-style 3D platformer? I'd be up for that too. I just want to see more Shovel Knight!
The Evil Within (Steam) – Resident Evil 4 is just about my favorite game of all time, alongside X-COM: UFO Defense. So, learning that Shinji Mikami, its director, would be making a new game in the same vein, was a truly delightful piece of news to hear. I promptly put myself on media blackout for this game, and experienced it as freshly as possible when I got to play it for myself.
There are some technical issues unfortunately; I noticed the occasional texture pop-in, and I wasn't able to play it at a steady 60FPS, especially when I turned off the black bars. When you keep the black bars on and set the FPS lock to 30, it's more consistent, but it's still kind of disappointing that the game struggles so much with what it has to render, considering the game isn't that revolutionarily impressive from a graphical standpoint. I really think id Tech 5 should be ditched, because between this and RAGE, it just doesn't seem to work as consistently as it should.
Aside from the technical issues, though, and the fact certain parts of the game seemed to drag a little, I really liked this game a lot. The first few chapters in particular are very frightening and stealth-focused; it seemed like an all-new gameplay experience, which was nice to see. Eventually the game gives way to Resident Evil 4/5-esque third-person shooting (most prominently in certain chapters spaced out during the middle and end), which is a little silly considering how much this game was hyped as a true return to survival horror. I like third-person shooting though, so I don't mind it that much, and unlike in games like Resident Evil 5, the action segments here didn't feel like they were designed by committee. Rather, it felt like they were incorporated because that's what Shinji Mikami truly wanted to make, in order to fit his vision. So, I'm cool with it. I also found the storyline surprisingly in-depth, which was a pleasant surprise considering how shitty the story in games like Resident Evil 4 can be. Overall, I like this game, and highly recommend it to anyone who loves Resident Evil 4 and is up for a spiritual successor that manages to remain more true to horror and survival mechanics... for the most part
Goat Simulator (Steam) – This is so wonderful. It's glitchy and buggy as heck, and that plays a big part in why it's so awesome. I love bashing into things and blowing things up and being a goat. This is cool.
2048 (web browser) – One of my IRL friends introduced me to this game earlier this year; she was playing it on her phone, and I thought it looked like a lot of fun. I finally got around to playing it within the past month, and had a great time with it. I did beat it kind of quickly But it was still an engaging experience, and I suppose there is an incentive to go back and continue to try and get the highest score possible. All in all, this was a simple, fun, free game that I enjoyed my time with.
Duke Nukem 3D: Duke It Out In D.C. (Steam) – This is one of the official expansions that was released for Duke Nukem 3D back in the late '90s; I played it via the Megaton Edition on Steam. I can't compare to the other expansions as I haven't played them, but this I thought was pretty fun, at least. Some of the level design in the beginning is kind of frustrating; I got stuck in the second level in particular for quite awhile, before I finally got fed up and stumbled upon an exploit that let me gain access to the final keycard of the level, long before the level designers intended for me to be able to. After that though, there are some pretty nice levels here, including a gigantic level taking place in the Smithsonian Institution; that was a true highlight. All in all, this is definitely enjoyable. I visited Washington D.C. in real life in 2010, and while the locations in here are hardly 100% authentic recreations, I did feel nostalgic nonetheless as I played this, in a similar way to when I played Fallout 3. If you like Duke Nukem 3D and want more of that, this is more of that.
Nidhogg (Steam) – Nidhogg is one of the best multiplayer games I've played in quite some time. At a friend's party I went to recently, we spent more time playing this than we did playing Super Smash Bros. U, which is saying something. This is so simple in design, yet so engaging. I wish there was more content here; there isn't much when it comes to the single-player experience, but if you have someone to play this with, or better-yet a crowd of people to switch off with, it's an experience like none other. At said party, whenever a player was about to win and started charging toward the titular Nidhogg (which looks a lot like a giant penis) to be eaten by it, everyone would chant “GET-THE-DICK” over and over. You too can get the dick by playing this game!
Tomb Raider 2013 (Steam) – This game I played most recently out of all the titles on this list. I started this in September, then put it down for a few months in favor of other games like Wasteland 2. I eventually got back into it earlier this month. After a kind of clunky beginning (both story and gameplay-wise), this game really picks up partway through, and becomes a lot of fun. I played on Normal, and it was remarkably easy, though I died quite a few times – mostly to quick-time events, or to my own carelessness during combat. Despite the easiness of the game itself, however, it was a lot of fun to play. Combat is really fun; I haven't played Uncharted 2 or its other sequels yet, but the combat in the original Uncharted is really awful. This game improves tremendously on what that game has to offer, and managed to also have some fun platforming. It's pretty linear with regard to where to go, but it's a pretty nice, relaxing game to play during its quieter moments, and picks up nicely during some really intense segments. I also really love the bow quite a bit; it can be used to wipe out enemies stealthily, and in certain areas of the game you can kill every enemy without being spotted, which is very satisfying to do. I also have to give recognition to the game's cover system; unlike virtually every other third-person cover shooter I've played, Lara Croft takes cover automatically when you move behind a crate or wall and enemies are nearby. It's nice to not have to press a button that glues you to the wall every time you want to take cover. It's also immensely satisfying to dodge melee-based enemies and strike back by throwing dust in their faces, or stabbing an arrow into their legs or whatnot. While the character development feels a little rushed in parts (especially in the beginning of the game), you do feel like a total badass, and it's especially satisfying to see enemies freak out as you pick up new weapons and get the jump on them. I've never played the older Tomb Raider games (outside of the tutorial area in Tomb Raider 2, as a kid), but I really enjoyed this a lot. I'm a little annoyed that its sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, will be a timed Xbox-platform exclusive; I hope it gets a PC release sooner than later.
Average:
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 1 (Steam) – I loved Bioshock Infinite in 2013. I think part of why I enjoyed the game so much is that I didn't really have high expectations going into it; I thought the first Bioshock was just okay, and I didn't even bother with Bioshock 2 when it came out because I felt like I'd had enough of Rapture. I probably wouldn't have played Infinite so soon either if it weren't for my sister gifting it to me (thank you!), but I gave it a shot, and ended up loving it. The story has been praised by several players, but I personally really like the gameplay as well. It's more linear than the first Bioshock, but I didn't really mind that. The original Bioshock was already a pretty linear game on its own, so I didn't think Infinite was too much of a change in that regard, and I thought the combat was really engaging. Plus Elizabeth is sooooo cool ^_^
So... onto my thoughts regarding Burial at Sea: Episode 1. I wasn't as big a fan of this as I was the main game. It felt a little bit more like the original Bioshock gameplay-wise (though on a much smaller scale, it should be stressed), and I didn't have as much fun with it. Maybe because of that? Whatever the case though, this wasn't terrible, but I felt it was not great, and it was also pretty short. I thought the story was kind of interesting though (which I won't go into further detail on since doing so would pretty much spoil practically everything about the game). There's still Episode 2 to look into though, which I cover in the Highs section.
Sid Meier's Civilization V (Steam) – I haven't played this game extensively, it should be said. As of this writing, I've “only” put in just over 70 hours of playtime here. I'm not the biggest fan of strategy games in particular; I love Heroes of Might and Magic III, but this is the only other game I've put any real time into (not counting hybrid strategy/tactical games like X-COM). So, I don't particularly have a ton of experience with the genre, and can't really compare this game to much else that's out there. I have all of the DLC I believe, including both Gods & Kings and Brave New World. Some of my favorite gameplay mechanics here apparently originated from one or both of those expansions, so it seems like they enhance the base game quite a bit. This might feel barebones if one were to play without those expansions, but with them there are a lot of options regarding how to tackle each situation. I tend to falter at some point late in the game; perhaps I need more practice. Despite that though, I think this is fun. It's also really easy to get addicted to, and to play turn after turn without realizing how many hours are passing by. If you don't have a lot of free time, getting into this game may be potentially dangerous, hehe.
Flappy Bird (mobile) – I downloaded this the day before it got delisted from mobile marketplaces by its creator, Dong Nguyen. I like simple score-based games like early Atari classics and Game & Watch games and the like, and while this is even simpler than many of those, it's a fun time-waster when you're in the bathroom or whatever. I also happen to really find this game to be endearing; I love Flappy Bird's plain expression. Unfortunately my phone is a piece of shit, so Flappy Bird tends to get laggy and stuttery when I play, but when it works at least, it's simple, good fun.
Xenonauts (Steam) – This is one of the few games here I have yet to beat, admittedly. I've played it for a little over 20 hours; I probably would have played it for longer if it weren't for the fact that there just isn't a large enough variety of maps to play on. Maps repeat themselves here far more frequently than in XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within, which is a drag. While both games would ideally be better off with the randomly-generated maps of the original games, EU/EW at least fares better in this regard than Xenonauts does. Even with Skitso's Ultimate Megamix Map Pack, I'd see certain maps more than a few times. That really brings down this X-COM clone quite a bit. To be fair though, I haven't played this since June, so it's possible there might be a new version of the map pack which includes more new maps, but at least at the time of the game's launch, there wasn't enough content in this regard.
Which is a shame, because there's a lot of stuff to like about this. Unlike Firaxis' Enemy Unknown/Within, Xenonauts remains much truer in both gameplay and atmosphere to the classic X-COM: UFO Defense, and manages to streamline the experience for the better without watering down the complexity. I especially appreciate how the game shows exactly how many squares on the map your soldiers can travel before they run out of time units; in the original games you had to constantly count out how many spaces you could move by paying attention to your soldier's current amount of time units (most squares take 4 time units to cross; more if the terrain is rough), so I think having a visualization of how far your soldier can travel is a nice improvement. I also like the larger variety of weapons this game has to offer; there are shotguns and sniper rifles and whatnot, which the original games did not feature. If it weren't for the tedium of replaying certain maps over and over, I'd probably be spending more time with this.
Depression Quest (Steam) – lol Zoe Quinn lol Gamergate lol ethics in game journalism lol
Not getting into all that shit, I thought this was an interesting experience. I can't really say it was “fun”, considering it's a game about depression, but I found it to be pretty effective. I've dealt with depression myself, personally, in part from struggling with gender dysphoria, and certain aspects of the story here rang uncomfortably true for me. If you feel up to it, I recommend giving this a go; my playthrough lasted just an hour, and this game is free to play, so there isn't much to lose here by doing so.
The Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (Steam) – I've been a fan of the Angry Video Game Nerd since 2008, when one of my internet friends linked me to his Castlevania II review after I posted about how much I disliked it, being my first Castlevania game I played as a kid. An old-school NES-esque (though with some liberties taken) platformer starring the Nerd is totally a cool idea. The game itself is not great, admittedly, but it's fun enough for what it is. If you really like the Angry Video Game Nerd and classic platformers then it's worth playing. If you aren't a fan but like classic-style platformers, it's... perhaps worth looking into, though the humor probably won't appeal to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't really recommend this as a standalone game on its own merits; it's mostly for fans of the series.
Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny (Steam) – I started playing this in 2012, and continued it off and on for the next few years. I played Wolfenstein 3D itself via Xbox Live Arcade, and the dual-analog controls in that port, which incorporate the ability to circle-strafe, I felt improved the game quite a bit. Going back to not having that ability here really sucked One of my friends eventually linked me to a Doom mod which recreated Spear of Destiny and thus allowed for circle-strafing, but by that point I was almost at the end, hehe. Despite those control issues, I played through the whole thing, and enjoyed myself. The progression of difficulty here makes more sense than in the original Wolfenstein 3D; in that game, the zombie/mutants from Episode 2 are several times tougher than any other enemy, yet they don't appear in most of the other episodes in the game. id seemed to realize this when making Spear of Destiny, so they have the S.S. Troops appear earlier in this game than the mutants do, and the mutants continue to appear even in the late stages so as to make the later levels suitably tougher. If you like Wolfenstein 3D and want more levels to play, then this is good to check out.
Call of Duty 2 (Steam) – I'm not particularly a fan of Call of Duty. Prior to this game I played Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition on the Wii (it had decent controls, but I disliked how linear and overly scripted the single-player mode was), and the original Call of Duty on Steam (it was also very linear and scripted, although notably it features health packs to restore health, unlike the regenerating health of its sequels). I thought I wouldn't like Call of Duty 2 as much because of its regenerating health, but all things considered, I actually think this is more fun than the first Call of Duty. I was worried regenerating health would make the game feel cheap, but more often than not I felt like it was fairly forgiving; usually if I got caught by a blast of enemy fire, I could run to cover and heal up enough without dying and starting over. Certain levels here were really fun to play; I particularly like the ones that let you tackle certain areas in whatever order you prefer. The more freedom you have, the better, as far as I'm concerned. The worst part of the game, as usual, are the shitty stupid bullshit sections where you have to hold out for several minutes while waiting for reinforcements to arrive, all the while shooting down tons of respawning soldiers. Fuck it's tedious, and a real pain in the ass. I thought this was a pretty decent game though, aside from all the things that make it a Call of Duty game.
Low:
Donkey Kong Land (Game Boy) – Hey look, a game that can't (legally) be played on PC! How about that. The vast majority of my played games lately just so happen to be computer games. I do like my computer quite a bit, but I consciously realized this and decided to finish up this game, which I first started back in 2012.
To be honest, this is not a very good game. There are worse games out there, but it doesn't come close to the gloriousness of the Super NES Donkey Kong Country trilogy. The physics of the game are significantly different from the Super NES games; while they aren't necessarily broken, the fact a rolling jump makes you travel a smaller distance than a running jump would, will really throw you off if you're used to the SNES games. There's also a frustrating glitch where if you have either Donkey or Diddy in reserve for if you get hit, you still die as if you had no one in backup, if you happen to get hit by an enemy and get knocked back into a bottomless pit. That glitch is really shitty, I've gotta say. The graphics are also really bad here. I'm not generally one to care about graphical quality in games, and that's not what I'm specifically referring to here, but rather the fact that it's really hard to tell what parts of the stages are in the foreground or the background. There are several points where I had to just jump into the oblivion (aka the parts of the level that haven't been revealed by the camera yet), hoping I manage to successfully blindly land onto a platform. Ugh, this game sucks. Blegh. When it comes to the overarching, loosely-connected Donkey Kong games, I think Donkey Kong '94 is a much better platformer for the Game Boy than this mediocrity.
Q*bert: Rebooted (Steam) – This is also a game I haven't completed. I mostly got this because it includes an emulation of the original Q*bert arcade game. I have Q*bert on a couple other platforms like the Atari 2600 and Colecovision, but it's always nice to be able to experience the original arcade version.
This does also include a sequel, the actual “Rebooted” part of the game. It features hexagon-based levels instead of cube-based ones, which means Q*bert has more freedom with regard to where he can move. This added freedom makes the game kind of easy to play, which I imagine was partly the intend of such a design change. Unfortunately this game has a lot of grinding; you can pick up gems in the levels, of various colors (blue gems are worth 1 gem, silver gems are worth 2 if I recall correctly; there are probably others too), and these gems are used as in-game currency to purchase unlockable characters to play as. You also earn stars by replaying each stage while accomplishing new goals, such as clearing a stage with a certain minimum number of points earned. You need to keep replaying older stages in order to get enough stars to unlock the later stages... blegh. I'm pretty sure this is a mobile port, so the semi-F2P mechanics aren't surprising. At least the arcade emulation is untouched by this tediousness.