My 2012 Top Ten Games of the Year

In a year full of disappointing games, there were bound to be a few good ones here and there. When I started the year, my Top Ten list was a lot different than what it turned out to be. So, for your viewing entertainment, I present my Top Ten Games of the year, but since this year was full of disappointment, I'd like to start off with my Disappointment of the Year...


2012 Disappointment of The Year: Assassin's Creed 3
There really hasn't been a game more recent in my mind that is more disappointing than Assassin's Creed 3. The sheer hype and build-up for it was off the charts. The setting was bold and fresh. It caught the eyes of many, but it ultimately turned out to be not only a mess at a technical level, but emotionally as well. Even though it's the end of Desmond Miles' story, a character I cared nothing for, Assassin's Creed 3 barely tries to make you blink at eye at his plight. Instead of caring about heroes, I walked away caring more about a villain, which isn't something I can say was truly intentional. Assassin's Creed 3 has now tipped the series towards the mediocre scale after two straight down titles. Assassin's Creed needs a break, or will be assassinated itself.


And now, for my Top Ten Games of the Year...

#10 - Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC)
A sequel to the great original finally arrived and delivered on most of what it promised. Even though the Single Player campaign was nothing more than a shell of what was promised, Sonic Racing Transformed still delivers to be an excellent kart racer, despite being murderously difficult in the most unexpected and head-scratching of ways.

#9 - Crashmo (3DS)
While an unexpected sequel, Crashmo doesn't disappoint at any level other than itself being more of a concept that captured the hearts and minds of many early 3DS adopters. Crashmo expands and evolves the concept that Pushmo originally laid forth, but doesn't stop being clever until long after you've given up.

#8 - Forza Horizon (360)
While I have no love for the Forza franchise, picking this one up cheap was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It is one of the best racing games made this generation, offering a variety of challenge and allows the game to be set to your level and not vice versa. It's what Need for Speed Hot Pursuit should've been two years ago, and smokes what Most Wanted provided this year. If you're looking for a great racing game, pick this one up if you have a 360.

#7 - New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U)
A series that has two similar releases in the same year is either good news or bad news. While I can say they were both good, New Super Mario Bros. 2 falls well short of what New Super Mario Bros. U offers, both in terms of level design, but from a challenging standpoint as well. While New Super Mario Bros. 2 provided a coin gimmick that neutered the game's challenge, New Super Mario Bros. U not only provides excellent in-game challenge, but separate, out of the box challenges to keep you playing for hours on end. While there's no real reward at the end, getting there is more exciting than maxing out a couple of score counters.

#6 - Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS)
A revival of Kid Icarus is something people have wanted for a long time. Given Sakurai's track record of jam-packing games with content, along with several other marketing ploys like AR cards and stands, Kid Icarus Uprising is a gem for the 3DS. It's got great design, good controls, great music. But the thing that is the cherry on top is the game's story, which Sakurai also wrote. It's got a lot of charm that you won't find anywhere else, and for that reason above all, it's worth playing. Not to mention the multiplayer, the loot system, etc.

#5 - Nintendo Land (Wii U)
What do you get when put 12 Nintendo franchises into a mini-game collection? The best mini-game collection ever, that's what. Nintendo Land is more of a psychological profile than straight-up mini-game collection. It's an attack on the senses of non-gamers to buy Nintendo franchises outside of Mario, Zelda and Pokemon. While some obviously won't capitalize on this (Balloon Trip, Octopus Dance), it's a wonder if other franchises (Metroid, Pikmin) will or not. As itself, Nintendo Land is a reason to pick-up the Wii U. While not as universally easy to understand as Wii Sports, it gets you to learn the controller, which is what Wii Sports did.

#4 - Halo 4 (360)
Considering the last couple of Halo releases have been adept disappointments, Halo 4 is a nice rebound for the series that prides itself on multiplayer and having stories that are told horribly. Halo 4's multiplayer is a step above anything Bungie has done since Halo 3. While it's not quite as good, the story serves its' purpose well. While it's still not a fan favorite of mine, the multiplayer is enough to have me playing it, which is enough for it to be on this list.

#3 - Resident Evil: revelations (3DS)
Revelations is the best Resident Evil game to be released since Resident Evil 4. It's a shame since at the time of its' release, Capcom decided to devote time and marketing dollars towards the newly unveiled Resident Evil 6 and upcoming Operation Raccoon City instead of Revelations, which is heads and shoulders and knees above them both. A polished, survival-horror Resident Evil game with optional cooperative play is something that every RE fan has wanted for a long time, and finally got. It's a shame Capcom decided to shun this one.

#2 - Journey (PS3)
Journey is an interesting game. While a linear experience that takes around 90 minutes to complete, it's really something that needs to be played to be understood. The cooperative aspect is the major highlight of the game. If you don't have it, you're missing a significant portion of what makes Journey what it is. While you can replay multiple times, I feel once is more than enough to understand it's special. But it does and will lose some of its' luster over time.

#1 - Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)
This is what you get when you evolve Final Fantasy XII, streamline the combat mechanics and dumb down the story a bit. It's an evolution to that formula in every regard and is better because of it. While the game is very involved, if it were more involved, it'd undoubtedly be better. Xenoblade Chronicles is the best JRPG released this generation by a country. It will make you want to play JRPG's again. That's why it's my game of the year. It's the game that made JRPG's relevant again, and it's not from Square Enix, who has seemingly lost their way.


That's it for my 2012 game of the year list. I hope you enjoyed it and have a Happy New Year!

NFL 2012 Week 17 Predictions

Here are my Week 17 Predictions for the 2012 NFL Regular Season.

Winners are indicated in BOLD letters


Sunday Early Games
Tampa Bay @ Atlanta
NY Jets @ Buffalo
Baltimore @ Cincinnati
Chicago @ Detroit
Jacksonville @ Tennessee
Houston @ Indianapolis
Carolina @ New Orleans
Philadelphia @ NY Giants
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh


Sunday Afternoon Games
Kansas City @ Denver
Green Bay @ Minnesota
Miami @ New England
Oakland @ San Diego
Arizona @ San Francisco
St. Louis @ Seattle


Sunday Night Game
Dallas @ Washington


Last Week's Record: 11-5

Overall Record: 153-86

NFL 2012 Week 16 Predictions

Here are my week 16 NFL predictions for the 2012 season. Sorry about not posting them last week. I was busy with work and I've recently fallen ill.

Winners are indicated in BOLD text


Sunday Early Games
Atlanta @ Detroit
New Orleans @ Dallas
Tennessee @ Green Bay
Indianapolis @ Kansas City
Buffalo @ Miami
San Diego @ NY Jets
Washington @ Philadelphia
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh
Oakland @ Carolina
New England @ Jackonsville
Minnesota @ Houston


Sunday Afternoon Games
Cleveland @ Denver
Chicago @ Arizona
NY Giants @ Baltimore


Sunday Night Game
San Francisco @ Seattle


My Record: 142-81

Last Week: 11-5

2012 NFL Week 14 Predictions

Here are my Week 14 NFL Predictions for the 2012 Season.

Winners are indicated in BOLD


Thursday Game
Denver @ Oakland


Sunday Games
St. Louis @ Buffalo
Dallas @ Cincinnati
Kansas City @ Cleveland
Tennessee @ Indianapolis
Chicago @ Minnesota
San Diego @ Pittsburgh
Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay
Baltimore @ Washington
Atlanta @ Carolina
NY Jets @ Jacksonville

Miami @ San Francisco
New Orleans @ NY Giants
Arizona @ Seattle

Detroit @ Green Bay


Monday Game
Houston @ New England


Overall Record: 122-69

Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge Review

Team Ninja has come a long way from Itagaki’s departure after Ninja Gaiden 2. After helping destroy the Metroid franchise, Team Ninja did a wonderful job duplicating those results with Ninja Gaiden 3. After some kind of revelation after saying they’d ignore fans and after its’ reception went on to blame them, Team Ninja seems like they’re trying to play make-up with Razor’s Edge, the “Sigma” version of Ninja Gaiden 3. Considering how bad Ninja Gaiden 3 was, Razor’s Edge is a significant improvement, but what does that really say about its’ quality? Not much.

One of the first things you’ll notice about Razor’s Edge if you’ve played the original is the distinct lack of henchmen begging for Ryu to spare their inane lives. It’s a welcome change because it removes what had no business being in the game to begin with. Now Ryu’s story is simple: Your arm has been cursed, and you lost your Dragon Sword. Whatever semblance of emotion that’s supposed to be tied to it from the original is gone. While the story tries to maintain Ninja Gaiden’s long-standing history of ridiculousness, it ultimately tries dressing it up, which results in gamers wondering why anyone would want a video game story ever again.

Weapon Upgrading assumes you have to do everything. By the end, you’ll have nowhere near enough Karma to upgrade everything in your arsenal. It shows a complete lack of balance for the overall combat system, which is in itself mashy and tiresome. While the combat matches that seen in the original Ninja Gaiden 2 for Xbox 360, it doesn’t fix the inherent balancing problems that exists with that speed. For example, because the game’s speed is so frantic, the game’s framerate is less than optimal, causing not only a drop in frames, but inputs as well, which will lead to some untimely and frustrating deaths. While this is mostly on Ryu’s side, Ayane’s side really makes it clear that the game is balanced, which will put you in a few situations where you’ll have to get lucky to in order to pass or spend a great deal of time on in order to figure out a fight’s gimmick.

While Razor’s Edge can be seen as improvement, it’s simply window dressing. There’s blood, decapitations, faster combat, tests of valor, collectibles, weapon upgrades, etc. But it doesn’t fix the problems that existed with the last two original Ninja Gaiden games, offering the worst of both worlds. It’s a frustrating experience that you can’t hope to master, but will instead be left whimpering like a Ninja Dog.


Score: 6 out of 10
+ Improved Combat from the original
+ Decapitation is nice
+ Tests of Valor are rewarding to find
- When you die, you usually don’t understand why you die
- Some graphical head-scratchers
- Story is complete garbage

2012 NFL Week 13 Predictions

Sorry for the tardiness of this post, but I've been extremely busy the last couple of weeks. This won't be a full prediction update, but just a quick one to suffice my readership for now. So breathe a sigh of relief as I am very much alive.

Winners are indicated in BOLD


Thursday Game
New Orleans @ Atlanta

Sunday Games
Jacksonville @ Buffalo
Seattle @ Chicago
Indianapolis @ Detroit
Minnesota @ Green Bay
Houston @ Tennessee
Carolina @ Kansas City
San Francisco @ St. Louis
New England @ Miami
Arizona @ NY Jets

Tampa Bay @ Denver
Cleveland @ Oakland
Cincinnati @ San Diego
Pittsburgh @ Baltimore

Philadelphia @ Dallas

Monday Game
NY Giants @ Washington


Last Week's Record: 11-5
Overall Record: 112-64 (.636)

Halo 4 Review

When Halo: Combat Evolved first arrived on the scene, it was the sole reason to buy an Xbox. It modernized the first person controls on a gaming console with its’ dual analog setup. Its’ original developer, Bungie, now gone from the series saw some serious wear from the series with the last couple of titles. While Halo 3: ODST had a great campaign, it was rather short and not worthy of the full price Microsoft made it. Halo Reach, while heralded, was hated by many fans due to some of the creations in its’ multiplayer, along with its’ laughable campaign. But in their stead comes 343 studios, a Microsoft created development for the sole purpose of making Halo games. Considering it’s their first time, Halo 4 does have some growing pains about it, but it’s ultimately a worthwhile experience.

Halo 4 marks the return of the series’ hero, Master Chief, along with his AI companion, Cortana. After four years of drifting in space, Master Chief is awakened to a rogue Covenant group who boarded the ship on the outskirts of a Forerunner planet. The game doesn’t do a very good job conveying what is actually happening with the story, both present and past. While you can unlock background information via Terminals that can only be accessed via Halo Waypoint, an application, it drives the point home of the game having poor storytelling for its’ main thread. Unfortunately, for the story that’s there, it doesn’t really go that far with it, which makes it even more puzzling. Another plot thread is Cortana’s rampancy, which is really the only thing conveyed well in the game’s story. It makes you wonder why so much effort was put on that part of the story and not the main portion of it. It’s confusing, albeit straightforward. Halo 4 has an alright campaign, but it could’ve been better with some better storytelling.

Halo 4’s campaign also continues the tradition of semi-open areas for firefights. While there’s a good mix of small and large areas, which look amazing by the way with its’ gorgeous backdrops that will make you wonder how a console is doing this, on some of the higher difficulties firefights become a major issue of stop and go. At certain points the game will become a puzzle in terms of you figuring out how to pass them, due in part to the game’s poor AI. It’s frustrating to know that a single shot can ruin four or five minutes of progress because the game failed to load a checkpoint. The new enemies in the game, the Prometheans, aren’t all that fun to fight either. They essentially have Flood like numbers, but require the amount of bullets it usually takes to kill a Covenant Elite. You’ll constantly be scrambling for new guns and ammo, leaving you defenseless. While you can appreciate the variety the game is trying to promote, running out of ammo is often the line between progress and reload, a very harsh mistress indeed. What’s also harsh is the loss of firefight in favor of a new cooperative mode, Spartan Ops.

Spartan Ops is a short, mission-based, 5 chapters per week for 10 weeks mode. In this mode, players go throughout an area and kill all the enemies until the end with a cutscene start and finish. Ultimately it’s a short, filler mode that serves little purpose other than to keep people interested in the game for more than a week or two because of other shooters on the market. It’s not an equal substitute for Firefight, but it does an okay job to fill the gap if you get bored, or want more experience than what you’ll get from multiplayer. Halo 4’s multiplayer is a bit more Call of Duty like than Halo Reach. While there aren’t class loadouts for each playlist, you get points to unlock weapons, abilities and armor pieces. While armor pieces are automatic unlocks for various milestones such as getting to Spartan Rank 5, at each level you get 1-2 points to spend how you see fit on Weapons, Grenades or abilities. It’s an adequate system since it promotes choice to peoples’ play styles. What’s not right about it is how the game decides to show you what you can unlock. Instead of laying out everything from the outset, getting kills, gaining levels, and more allow you see what is ahead of you. It’s not tempting anyone to choose variety over a preferred style of play that makes them have a good time. It’s not a fundamental problem, but it’s enough to be a noticeable problem.

Halo 4 does a lot right. It’s graphically impressive, it sounds and controls beautifully. It does a few things wrong as well, most of which are inexcusable. But for the most part, despite its’ flaws, it’s probably the most fun you’ll have with an online shooter this year. That, in and of itself, is why is succeeds.

Score: 8.5 out of 10
+ Looks Amazing
+ Great Multiplayer
+ Good interaction between Master Chief and Cortana

- Terrible Storytelling
- Spartan Ops is disappointing
- Unlock System tedious, cumbersome past weapons

NFL 2012 - Week 11 Predictions

Sorry for not posting my NFL weekly picks last week, as I was busy.

As always, my picks are noted in BOLD

Thursday Game
Miami @ Buffalo

Sunday Early Games
Arizona @ Atlanta
Cleveland @ Dallas
Green Bay @ Detroit
Cincinatti @ Kansas City
NY Jets @ St. Louis
Philadelphia @ Washington
Tampa Bay @ Carolina
Jacksonville @ Houston


Sunday Afternoon Games
New Orleans @ Oakland
San Diego @ Denver
Indianapolis @ New England


Sunday Night Game
Baltimore @ Pittsburgh


Monday Night Game
Chicago @ San Francisco


Overall Record: 89-56

Assassin's Creed III Review

When Assassin’s Creed III was announced to take place in the American Revolution, there was a lot of excitement and concern about the direction the series could. The excitement being centered around, of course, that American History would be the focal point. The concern would be how much will the game sacrifice from the Assassin’s Creed series mechanics to make it functional and proper. While I can tell you that there were no sacrifices made, with the exception of all the bad mechanics introduced in Revelations, last year’s entry, the game re-introduces a lot of the negative elements from the first game to make you wonder if the Assassin’s Creed series has been good or bad for the most part.

The first thing you’ll notice about Assassin’s Creed III is the amazing atmosphere and visual presentation. It has just the right amount of detail to not look like it’s going overboard on realism while keeping itself in line with the rest of the series’ art design. It’s a testament to the new engine that has been created for this game that such fidelity was achieved. But with a new engine comes problems, as framerate drops and screen tearing are somewhat prominent. The game ranges between 15 and 60 fps, although it hangs around 30 for most of the game. The game is also incredibly buggy, akin to the original Assassin’s Creed. Sometimes the game will force you to reload checkpoints because something didn’t trigger. It’s ultimately frustrating to see the game have these bugs because they do ruin the experience. While you may be reliving history through a computer in a video game that they say ‘this is kind of buggy, don’t worry about it,’ you do end up worrying about it since it presents itself time and again. It’s also more prominent because of the slower than usual pacing.

Combat has never been a strong suit of Assassin’s Creed, and this game follows that trend in spades. While the combat is easier than ever before, it is also extremely slow and obnoxious at times. You’ll be waiting a lot longer to counter enemies, which in some cases is the only way to kill enemies. It really drives home the game’s slow, tedious nature that is seen in other areas of the game. There’s too much build up without enough payoff to keep you motivated for very long unless you are an absolute diehard fan of the series. The game’s tutorial takes 5-6 hours to get going, but it takes about that same length for the game to reach its’ proper conclusion. It feels as though something major was cut along the way, but I can’t put my finger on it. While the game has plenty of side missions and the usual Assassin’s Creed fare, the areas created by the end are still unfamiliar to you, which is a shame since the other Assassin’s Creed games made sure you knew where everything was by day’s end. The only outright shining example of excellence in this game is the ship combat, which is both simple and complex to make sure anyone can enjoy it thoroughly. But that’s just a small portion of the game, but there are still gripes that make up the same portion, if not more of the game.

Chases sequences are a prime example of this. They are terribly designed, and some can go on forever if you don’t know what you’re doing. This really drives home the point that the game doesn’t properly convey things to you. It feels like a game manual would help with these grievances but some publishers have done away with them to save money, even though developers act like they’re still there. If you fail some of these missions, I hope you didn’t waste any items along the way, because you won’t regain them if you reload a checkpoint. It’s appalling that this type of punishment exists in a game like this, and it makes you feel helpless and demoralized to know your one good weapon is gone forever because of a simple failure or glitch. And that’s really what Assassin’s Creed III feels like, a glitch; something that shouldn’t exist because of its’ series history.

While Assassin’s Creed III has a lot going for it, but the expansive nature about it makes it feel unfocused and unpolished. It feels like the series’ yearly iterative cycle has finally caught up with like Revelations was alluding to last year. Instead of falling on the side of 2 and Brotherhood, 3 fell on the side of bad with the original and Revelations. Assassin’s Creed III may delight some fans, but it will disgust and bore the majority of them, just like so many saw it before the series’ inception.

Score: 6.5 out of 10
+ Great Atmosphere
+ Great Soundtrack
+ Haythem Kenway, that dapper fiend

- Extremely Glitchy
- Too much like Forest Gump, where Connor is everywhere, doing everything
- The story has a terrible ending

NFL 2012 - Week 9 Predictions

Here are my NFL Predictions for Week 9 of the 2012 Regular Season.

Winners are in BOLD

Thursday Game
Kansas City at San Diego

Sunday Early Afternoon Games
Denver @ Cincinnati
Baltimore @ Cleveland
Arizona @ Green Bay
Chicago @ Tennessee
Miami @ Indianapolis
Carolina @ Washington
Detroit @ Jackonsville
Buffalo @ Houston

Sunday Later Afternoon Games
Tampa Bay @ Oakland
Minnesota @ Seattle
Pittsburgh @ NY Giants

Sunday Night Game
Atlanta @ Dallas

Monday Game
Philadelphia @ New Orleans


Overall Record:

Week 1: 11-5

Week 2: 6-10

Week 3: 8-8

Week 4: 11-4

Week 5: 10-4

Week 6: 4-10

Week 7: 9-4

Week 8: 8-6