Xbox360 – Gears of War
It’s probably the game of the year but I dun really agree. The graphics is awesome even for a 360 game but that’s about it. There’s a few improvements over 3rd person shooter, the reload system, the ducking and taking covers and some cool arsenal of weapons. And to me, that’s about it, unless I missed something. When the squad control tutorial kicks in, I thought I would get to do some fancy strategising like Full Spectrum Warrrior but it turns out I didn’t need to use the squad control.
Most of the time you just shoot behind covers and waiting for them to come out of the covers then fire away. The story started to be promising, giving you plenty of cinematics and people fighting beside u dies. But you don’t get any character attachment. No background stories, no motivation and u just shoot down everythng that moves.
I could go on, but hey, u can read the review somewhere else. Still by far, this is the best game on 360 I have played yet. Dead Rising comes very very close.
PS2 – OKami
For games, to me this is the year of Playstation. There’s alot of games that just suck you in and play on and on. Okami stands out from the rest. The visual representation is off the chart. It’s not about realism, it’s about impression and stylistic and Clover nailed the bugger.
The unique brushstroke system would be a game designer’s dream come true. For a player, it’s something you never experienced and for something new, they did it very right. The system doesn’t stop there. Anything you thought of that you can use the brushstrokes, it works. When it doesn’t work, they tell you why.
The story was pretty linear, all goodie good good and it has it moments. There’s lots of things to do, lots of side quests and even without it, the story easily rack up a good 30+ hours. Most of all, it shows you something and let you experience something you never had. Clover, RIP, we will miss you.
Xbox – Indigo Prophecy
Talking about story telling, this is the story telling at its best. The whole 10 hour odd journey was like a very long intensive movie. Again, it’s one of its kind (though many will follow from here on) and created a new genre in game. You can call it adventure all you like but you know adventure games hasn’t even come close to how Indigo Prophecy set you up for the journey.
Taking away intensive game play might be a good or bad choice. Most of the time, it’s just following key press sequences. Your character had superpowers, but you don’t get to use them at your will. Without having actually able to do so, the story just gets better.
At the end, you’d wish there is more, like every good story you knew, u hope it will never end.
PSP – LocoRoco
So what makes a good game? A catchy tune, cute charaters that uses languages you dun know and a new way of playing? This bugger has it and the moment it’s turned on, you can’t help smiling at the cheery world they painted.
WIth no story watsoever, it’s funny how you get so attach to those blobs that bounce around, breaks up and formed up again singing catchy tune. No matter what you put them through, they still live in their own world.
Man, I ran out of words, if you played Katamari, you know what I am talking about.
NDS – Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
The NDS sure lets you play games the way you have never played before. There’s been alot of innovative titles since then but making a jaded (well, quite) genre to a entirely different feel, that’s something.
The selection of songs were amazing and every tap on the screen makes the song more impactful. Most of all, it makes you feel superb once you get through the level and get all good endings.
The multiplayer was another awesome feature where you get to see another set of stories with you and your friend competiting with each other or helping each other out in a level. The novelty of single player might end after you get through with the cheerleaders but the multiplayer will give you something to hangon to before dumping the game out.
