2012 Releases

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Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:37 pm

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Anubis
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M.Steiner wrote:I did however play the final episode of The Walking Dead last night. Will wait until other peeps have caughtup or started playing it before I post screenies with the remainder of my choices, can discuss them then!
Amazing. Well done Telltale.
That reminds me, I need to sit down and play episodes 4 and 5 soon. I owe you a bunch of screenshots :)
"Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward....therefore!" - Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Forever an eXile and proud of it!

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:23 am

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Little heads up for those of you who haven't already been playing season 1 of TWD and have thus already pre-purchased the full season. - For the next 12 hours you can find it on Steam with 50% off at just £10.49. Last ep (5) was released on Wed so it's complete now. (You buy the full season too so that's not 10.49 per episode)
It's honestly been one of the best games I've played this year and more than worth a tenner. It's based on the original comics rather than the tv show but you don't need to have knowledge of either to play it. If you have some money spare and you haven't given it a look before I'd recommend it :)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/207610/
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:28 am

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SL33PY
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that's because you go by m-steiner on irc :D

Anyways, I booted up AC3 yesterday evening around 22:00, thinking I would play the prologue to get a feel for the game....

Went to bed at 1 am

IT'S SO F'IN AWESOME!!!! Also all graph detail to the max and it still plays darn fluent. I'm very happy with what I have seen so far, probable will be playing AC3 before Hitman, because I just like it that much more :)

Also the XBox controller does his work absolutely fine, and by now I'm wondering why I haven't bothered to buy one a lot earlier.

Too bad I got to work now... Need to find way to get a lot of dough for little investment... Euromillions style :p then I can stay at home and play my way trough life :p :D

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 8:39 pm

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M.Steiner
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kk. Here's my thoughts on Hitman Absolution:
  • Checkpoint System - It resets all enemies before it. Doesn't matter whether you've killed or knocked out every single guard before you trigger a checkpoint, or just 1 or 2 guys. They'll respawn if you reload at that checkpoint. I had a guy respawn right next to one checkpoint I reloaded at, almost directly infront of me. I'm sure you can imagine how comfortable that was. If they intended it to work like this they are clearly retarded but then again it could be broken. Maybe they'll patch it either way.
  • Disguses work differently in Absolution and I don't like it. In Blood Money if you were wearing a suitable disguse for the area you were in you could walk around freely and scope the area out and go about your business as long as you were detected doing anything dodgy. In Absolution?. If you're wearing a cops uniform for example and you walk past some cops, or even cops in the distance at the other side of a room who are looking in your direction, they'll be more suspicious of you and a detection icon will start glowing until they detect you after just a few seconds. So whichever disguise you're wearing becomes less effective against the people you're disguising yourself as. The range of detection is very long too. Sure that might sound like a good and realistic change but it's not, it's <censored> stupid. It basically forces you to use your instinct power which you can only restore by doing certain actions (playing on Hard) and it drains it away everytime you try to blend in. You're basically playing hide & side most of the time trying to break line of sight or whatever. Infact as they are right now disguises often make the game harder instead of easier, for a Hitman game this is just stupid. IO are however "currently looking at how to tweak the detection system with disguises" so this is a good thing. Stuff like this can easily be changed with a patch so if they do, the game will benefit a ton from it and some levels will be a lot more enjoyable.
  • You can't close doors behind you but they'll close by themselves after a few seconds. Not a big issue ofc just seems like such a simple thing.
  • Retrieving your suit before you exit a level is a thing of the past due to the way the levels are designed. Unless you are going for the suit challenges by not wearing any other disguses but your suit that is. Tis not always possible to go back and grab your suit as the levels are sectioned off and even when it is possible it makes no difference to your final score anyway. Didn't on Hard difficulty at least. I tried.
  • No coins (except in cutscenes) this time around but instead you can pickup bottles, bricks, knives and other objects in the environment to use as distractions or weapons which is pretty good. They certainly come in handy.
  • Couple of "hits" going into a cutscene instead of you having full control. Not usually a big fan of this in games unless the game has a particularly strong story.
  • Not sure what to make of the melee quicktime events but since my goal is to remain unseen I try not to get into these situations in the first place.
  • Graphics are really, really nice on PC. Had some choppyness/freezing during cutscenes at first (none what so ever with the gameplay itself) but lowering MSAA from 8 to 4 seem to fix that up fine.
  • Challenges are a great addition. There are lots of different ways to complete some missions as you would expect so completing all of the challenges for a level will take multiple playthroughs, just adding to the replayability it offers. These include collecting different disguises in each level which you can then use in contracts mode, weapons, killing your target several different ways etc.
  • No more sniper case. In BM if you wanted to carry a sniper rifle you had to carry your case around with you, sometimes drop it off somewhere and collect it on your way out etc. In Absolution? Just magically holsters. Not that a sniper rifle would be much use for a lot of it.
  • You can't choose a weapon loadout before each mission like you used to be able to either, the levels don't really work that way. The mission decides what you start off with and then it's your choice to pickup other weapons and objects in the level itself. Except in Contracts mode which lets you I believe.
The game is good overall and some of the missions are really well designed and feel like traditional Hitman levels but this is not always the case sadly. Some missions focus more on evading/escaping or playing hide & seek rather than your focus being on taking out a target and using disguises forces you to use your instinct power which I was hoping would be completely optional. Levels are also split up into sections instead of being one big open level like you'd expect. Think Max Payne 3 except R* did a better job with those transitions even if the game itself isn't GOTY or anything. Finish one area of a mission, exit through a door or whatever and it loads in the background and transitions to the next area.
Compared to Blood Money? Absolution is pretty weak in comparison, in some instances anyway. Not that this surprises me too much as BM was pretty amazing and spot on with most of the mechanics, level design and had that true open sandbox feeling throughout. 'Cept for the last mission hehe. Like I say though, it's still a good game it's just not what I was hoping for and it's not all a true "Hitman" game imo. Thankfully it hasn't gone as far as Splinter Cell did but it does feel like a cross between Hitman and Conviction at times unfortunately.
I've found quite a few things to complain about looking at this due to my love of the franchise and high expectations but I did still enjoy Absolution don't get me wrong. Some levels which *did* feel like Hitman should feel I enjoyed a hell of a lot infact. It's some of these missions (some of which we saw previews of before release and were what gave me hope) that I'm referring to and they redeem the title somewhat. If the entire game played out like those do, like you'd expect from a Hitman title, I wouldn't be saying a lot of this. Sooo I can't deny I'm disappointed by the rest of it the same time. Some things like the disguises and detection can easily be changed with a patch and so can the checkpoint system so fingers crossed, fixing & tweaking these would improve things quite a bit I'd say but even then there are parts which would remain as they are due to the design. Contracts mode on the other hand may be what some of us Hitman fans were hoping for as other players can create their own contracts that others can play too. All with their own backstory, targets, objectives and the ability to choose your loadout. I will be checking this out shortly to see how it compares.


I won't go posting a ton of screenshots like I did for Dishonored as I'll be posting some for AC3 & FC3 too but here are a few I've taken. You can see it's a great looking game at least, can find more pics in my sig:
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Never played Blood Money before? I'd recommend playing that first and maybe you'll see what I mean with my comments above. BM remains the highlight of the series and is still one of the best stealth games there is.
Needless to say Dishonored remains as my GOTY for the time being as I expected. Will AC3 or FC3 take the title?. Maybe AC3 if either of them but we'll see.
Wanna know the strange and slightly sad thing though?. When you take away the supernatural powers of Dishonored, the disguise system of Hitman, their themed weapons and their completely different settings (plus other differences)... When you're just looking at their level design and how the games are played, Dishonored actually feels more like a traditional Hitman experience than Absolution did for some parts of it. At least for me. - Oh and if you haven't played Dishonored yet go and bloody play it already. I'm pretty sure it got the best reviews of any game released this year so I'm not just spouting rubbish!

So yeah. I don't regret buying or playing Absolution as I really did enjoy some of the levels. Some of the other levels were alright too they just weren't "Hitman" and it was like playing a different game at times. If this is someones introduction to the franchise I'd expect they'll come out with less complaints than I have as I can't help myself with the comparisons but if there's anyone here who *has* played previous Hitman games (mainly Blood Money) and picks this up at some point I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on how you felt Absolution turned out. Or even those who take my advice and play BM before (or after if you prefer) Absolution. Curious to know what others think on this.

Anyway, On to Assassin's Creed III. I will post impressions & screenshots of that as soon as I've played some.
<- Excited.
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:59 pm

Lee
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Anubis wrote:
M.Steiner wrote:I did however play the final episode of The Walking Dead last night. Will wait until other peeps have caughtup or started playing it before I post screenies with the remainder of my choices, can discuss them then!
Amazing. Well done Telltale.
That reminds me, I need to sit down and play episodes 4 and 5 soon. I owe you a bunch of screenshots :)
just got round to playing the last episode.
brilliant. (the whole series, but serious kudos for the conclusion)
genuine emotion from a game surprises me, I don't actually remember 'feeling' for a game... recommend it as much as I can. some choices are restricted through the series, but I cant remember where I thought -i'd rather do something else. I hope the success of TWD will allow for more of the same (not more zombies, but game style)
Eeks.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:30 pm

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M.Steiner
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Aye, I completely agree there. Many games try to get you emotionally invested in the characters and what's going on but they don't usually manage it on these kinda levels. Telltale did something quite special here imo and I couldn't be happier that they announced a second season already.
I won't mention any spoilers untagged but I'm hoping the end of season 1 is the set-up for the beginning of season 2 and that if there is a time skip it isn't a very big one. It might be appropriate for
the player to take control of Clementine in S2 actually, so we can follow things from her perspective after we've spent so long taking care of her with Lee. Unless they have another protagonist in mind for us to control instead I guess but I think I'd prefer Clem atm.
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:17 am

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Anubis
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Just as a note, it's interesting that you preferred Blood Money to Absolution and would recommend that higher. I think I still have my copy of it lying around somewhere...maybe I'll dust it off rather than jumping into the graphical splendour.

Thanks for the review. As ever, it was a really informative read :)
"Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward....therefore!" - Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Forever an eXile and proud of it!

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 3:08 am

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M.Steiner
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Yar, Blood Money > Absolution by a long way tbh. Tis sad to say after I was so looking forward to the latter but even with some of the missions which I did love & feel were true to the Hitman design, the only real thing Absolution is better for is its graphics, the objects you can use for distracting, challenges and the addition of the contracts mode imo. BM might be older but it's better in pretty much every other way I can think of.
I still got enjoyment out of it as I say but as one of my 4 GOTY contenders (Dishonored, Absolution, AC3, FC3) I was disappointed more than anything. Thankfully both Dishonored and AC3 have proved to be amazing picks, just FC3 left now.

Also I've just posted a few brief thoughts and lots of screenies of AC3 over here for anyone interested. Created a new thread for it since I wanted to include a lot of pics heh.
And nps! :)
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:56 am

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SL33PY
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Wanted to order Far Cry 3 insane for PC two days ago, and the ubi shop site was <censored> (maybe it's my laptop, dunno-)

Yesterday I tried to order it again, this time from my pc... No longer available :( :( :( :(

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 11:20 am

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M.Steiner
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I had issues with the Ubi Store a few days ago too so it wasn't just you.
Does this link work for you? http://shop.ubi.com/store/ubiemea/en_GB ... .249715700. The Insane Edition looks to be still available from the UK page. Might be able to order from there unless it automatically directs you to your localised one.

If not though GMG have just added a 30% off offer for FC3 too, the discount codes are displayed on the product page this time :)
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 4:59 pm

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SL33PY
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I'll try late this evening, I have social calls today. I can't access ubi store at my work, it's blocked :(


Edit (sat morning)

Can't find the code on GMG, post it if you can?

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 10:12 pm

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M.Steiner
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SL33PY wrote:Can't find the code on GMG, post it if you can?
Not sure if you saw me quote it to you on IRC the other day so if not: GMG30-DEC01-ARFC9. Still works atm but not sure when it expires :)


Well, with only 4 weeks left of the year what would you guys say have been your absolute favourite games of 2012? Were they what you expected them to be?, and did some of these games surprise or disappoint you more than you thought they would?

My top 3:
Assassin's Creed III
Dishonored
The Walking Dead

I'm happy to say that 2 of my 4 GOTY contenders turned out to be just that. Dishonored was just as incredible as I had been building it up to be all year and to see it become the highest rated game of the year fills me with happiness. Just goes to show that other gamers and critics alike can appreciate what games like that bring to the industry and that they can still be a success. None of this stealth gameplay turning to an action game, linearity and just general dumbed down console shit. Maybe we'll start to see more risky titles like this in the future now. I hope so.
Assassin's Creed 3 on the other hand I was expecting to be Dishonored' main opposition for that title if it had been any of the 4 (with Hitman/FC3 being the other two). After seeing it in action on the PC though when all I had seen of it was from the consoles.. well, it exceeded my expectations much more than I ever thought it would tbh. I'm not gonna claim it was perfect or anything but it was an awesome experience and I loved every minute of it.
And my 3rd fav - season one of The Walking Dead. I had high hopes for this series when I originally started following its development but never in a million years did I expect it to be one of my top titles of the year, certainly not #3. It has some really great emotional story telling and choices which always felt like they had meaning and importance. Not many games can pull this off so well these days I don't think, to make you "feel" and think about the choices you're making not just for yourself but for the other people around you. Telltale did an amazing job with this imo and I cannot wait to see what season 2 brings.

Far Cry 3 has been a lot of fun so far too but it's not going to be above these three so I decided to post this now rather than wait until I had finished it.
2012 has been pretty great for gaming overall as I wasn't one of the ME3/BioWare haters either. 2013 though.. killer lineup with titles like Watch Dogs, GTAV & Bioshock Infinite just to name but a few.
How about you guys?

I shall leave ya with some FC3 pics. Just a few though since I posted tons for AC3. Another gorgeous looking game as you can see:
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Run Forrest, run! :lol:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:42 am

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M.Steiner
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VGAs: The Walking Dead wins game of the year
Grats to them :)

Dishonored picked up the award for Best Action/Adventure too :D
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:00 am

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SL33PY
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I don't get why an unoriginal zombie title can get an award, such a great pool of games to choose from this year, such a poor choice imo

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:58 am

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SL33PY wrote:I don't get why an unoriginal zombie title can get an award, such a great pool of games to choose from this year, such a poor choice imo
Serious question but have you played it?
I'm betting that you haven't and you're simply basing this on the fact that it comes under the "zombie" genre? Am I right?. I only ask because I normally do too so I wouldn't be surprised :)

It is not your run-of-the-mill zombie trash game that you'd normally associate with most zombie titles. The 2013 Activision published FPS on the other hand most likely will be just that as this is what I'm expecting even without seeing anything of it, but Telltale's TWD series is far from it. Whilst it isn't my own GOTY (top 3 as I said in previous post) I'm glad to see something like that receive the GOTY award from the VGAs instead of some shite like Halo 4. Telltale did an incredible job on it and the awards they've just received were well deserved.

If Steam have a discount on it during the Christmas sales do try & put your preconceptions aside and consider grabbing yourself a copy dude. It's one of the best story-driven experiences I've seen in a game tbh. Trust me, you'll surprise yourself :thumb:
(I'll look out for a daily deal over the holidays and post if there is. I'm sure there will be)
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:38 pm

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SL33PY
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it is because of the zombie style, yes,

in the end it's always the same shit and it's boring as <censored>, that's why I don't bother with any zombie related games or films, except "Shaun of the dead" because they were ridiculing every zombie flick in a brilliant way

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:02 am

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Stracius
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SL33PY wrote:in the end it's always the same shit and it's boring as <censored>, that's why I don't bother with any zombie related games or films
Pfft.
Says the guy who just voiced his desire to replay an old game where the main character is essentially a zombie.
:p

Spoiler tag added for Anny's sake. You can read it when you've finished Torment.
hoott19 wrote:There are many drinks that are drunk by the people.So, the mostly, person like to have beer. They like because of it's benifit. The benifiti is that it hepls to reduce fat from the body and make the mental calm.
[WoW] This type of games should be up dated as soon as possible. Because there are many people that ere very found of such games. As these are very help full for make the brain power full and strong. So, mentaly strongness is the need of this presant era.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 1:17 am

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M.Steiner
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Dtoid picked The Walking Dead as their GOTY too hehe.
If you haven't played The Walking Dead yet, you're not going to understand why it is our 2012 Game of the Year. And that's on you. If you haven't played it yet, you're really missing out on something great.
^ What they said ;)
http://www.destructoid.com/the-winner-o ... 0607.phtml
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: 2012 Releases

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:57 pm

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M.Steiner
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Seeing VG247 announce their top 3 games of 2012 earlier today (3: Journey. 2: Dishonored. 1: The Walking Dead) reminded me I hadn't updated my own list either. I asked this question before but I think people missed it last time, now that 2012 is over I'll ask again :)
M.Steiner wrote:what would you guys say have been your absolute favourite games of 2012? Were they what you expected them to be?, and did some of these games surprise or disappoint you more than you thought they would?
My top 10 game releases of 2012 are:

01. Assassin's Creed III
02. Dishonored
03. The Walking Dead
04. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
05. Sleeping Dogs
06. Mark of the Ninja
07. Mass Effect 3
08. Far Cry 3
09. Rocksmith
10. Lone Survivor

Notable mentions: Guild Wars 2 & Borderlands 2
Biggest disappointment: Hitman Absolution :(

From my other post for reference:
I'm happy to say that 2 of my 4 GOTY contenders turned out to be just that. Dishonored was just as incredible as I had been building it up to be all year and to see it become the highest rated game of the year fills me with happiness. Just goes to show that other gamers and critics alike can appreciate what games like that bring to the industry and that they can still be a success. None of this stealth gameplay turning to an action game, linearity and just general dumbed down console shit. Maybe we'll start to see more risky titles like this in the future now. I hope so.
Assassin's Creed 3 on the other hand I was expecting to be Dishonored' main opposition for that title if it had been any of the 4 (with Hitman/FC3 being the other two). After seeing it in action on the PC though when all I had seen of it was from the consoles.. well, it exceeded my expectations much more than I ever thought it would tbh. I'm not gonna claim it was perfect or anything but it was an awesome experience and I loved every minute of it.
And my 3rd fav - season one of The Walking Dead. I had high hopes for this series when I originally started following its development but never in a million years did I expect it to be one of my top titles of the year, certainly not #3. It has some really great emotional story telling and choices which always felt like they had meaning and importance. Not many games can pull this off so well these days I don't think, to make you "feel" and think about the choices you're making not just for yourself but for the other people around you. Telltale did an amazing job with this imo and I cannot wait to see what season 2 brings.
Few quick notes on the other titles from my top 10:
- Turn-based strategy games like the Civilization series have never really interested me really so when the new XCOM game was released I didn't pay it much attention if I'm honest. Dishonored was released on the same day so this obviously received all of my attention since it had been the #1 game I had been anticipating all year and knew it would be something special. I have loved (some) turn-based RPGs for many years but when it comes to strategy games I'm all for real-time; C&C, CoH, WC3, DoW etc. After seeing XCOM get so many mentions alongside other GOTY material like Dishonored & TWD though I figured it deserved my attention and at least giving a try. Afterall, I've played all the other games which have been getting named as peoples GOTY.
And so I bought a copy during the Christmas sales and started it a few days ago once I'd finished Darksiders 2. I'm admittedly playing it on easy for starters since I am not only unfamiliar with the XCOM series itself but with turn-based strategy games as well. Also just for the single player as I'm not really interested in multi (at least atm). Bloody brilliant though and a huge surprise to me. I can't really compare it to anything else since this is a first for me but...in a way I suppose a part of it is quite similar to the old tactical R6 games but in a turn-based/isometric form with player management heh. Bit of a silly example I guess but anyway.. lol. So glad I decided to give it a go.
(I got Shogun 2 during the sales too which is another strategy game I never played at release, assuming it wouldn't be for me. Hopefully I will like that too ^^)

- Sleeping Dogs. Covered in my review post but as open-world games go I thought this was better than Saints Row 3 personally. As said before, don't judge it by past TC games.
- Mark of the Ninja. One of the best indie games I have played and not just from 2012. Would highly recommend trying this one especially if you're a fan of stealth games.
- Mass Effect 3. Haters gonna hate!, screw em I say. No offence intended if you happen to be one of them but I think many people jumped on that bandwagon & made ME3 (particularly its ending) out to be far worse than it actually was.
- Far Cry 3. One of my 4 original GOTY contenders besides Dishonored, AC3 & Hitman Absolution. Did think it would be higher up my list and in some instances it would be but at the same time was a bit of a let down in others. Vaas will go down as being one of the most memorable video game antagonists but there should have been so much more of him in the game.
- Rocksmith. Gone are the plastric instruments of Guitar Hero & Rock Band. Rocksmith brings real music with real instruments and intuitive difficulty scaling from beginner to pro. The Beatles Rock Band tracklist is still superior though!
- Lone Survivor. Another awesome indie title. The Silent Hill series has basically gone to shit now which is sad to say when Silent Hill 2 remains one of the greatest games of all time but Lone Survivor has the same kinda feel & atmosphere as the old SH games but in a 2D/pixel-art form. Don't let the art put you off.

I've covered both of my notable mentions in previous post/reviews but GW2 is now the F2P benchmark and the direction MMOs should and will likely continue to head in. Not that I am against paying for a subscription to an MMO like I did with TOR (because we had a group there) but GW2 offers so much content nm what type of player you are. Hardcore, casual, explorer, completionist etc. I am hoping I have fun with The Secret World now that has gone F2P too.

Also covered Hitman before too but to summarise; whether you're an existing fan or a newcomer to the Hitman series I would recommend playing (or replaying) Blood Money or Dishonored over Absolution every single time. I say Dishonored because it follows a very similar mission structure to that of what you would expect from Hitman but don't really get with Absolution. With that being said Dishonored is still a title everyone needs to play regardless. Not just for the experience but to support stuff like that and its developers. - As for playing Absolution I would say to wait until it has gone down in price or goes on sale before you buy it. Not worth it otherwise imo.


What are your top 10 games of 2012? :)
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

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