I didn't play too many games this year, so I'm just sticking with 5.
1. Wonderful 101 ; I have been waiting for this game ever since it was announced. Being a huge Kamiya and Platinum fan, my excitement was off the charts. I went into the game mostly blind, having avoided the demo and most media coverage outside of a few trailers. After finishing the game, I can safely say I love it from the bottom of my heart.
Most action games have the player control a single character fighting large groups of enemies. Wonderful 101, however, has you controlling a large group of heroes huddled together against small groups of large enemies from an isometric viewpoint. The player can draw several shapes on the Gamepad with the touchscreen or right analog stick to transform the group of heroes into a weapon; a line for a sword, a circle for a fist, a curvy line for a whip, etc. You can draw multiple weapons and let the AI take control of those weapons while you do what you please. The bigger your drawing, the bigger and more powerful the weapon will be, although the maximum size of your drawing depends on how many heroes you have available. Drawing weapons works excellently, due to the unique shapes ensuring the player doesn't accidently summon the wrong weapon. The player can also send heroes to jump on the enemy and start pounding on them, similar to Pikmin. As the game progresses and the player unlocks more abilities, fights start to become even more hectic; in a good way, of course. You'll be dodging, blocking, juggling, managing your team, timing special moves, executing crazy combos and more. The combat in Wonderful 101 is an absolute blast.
However, the combat isn't the only great thing about Wonderful 101. The level design is absolutely top notch as well. There's always something exciting or different happening, ranging from puzzles to new enemies being introduced. To add to this, you also have a large array of incredibly fun, unique bosses. I mean, one of the fights has you...Well, I won't spoil the surprise. You have to see it to believe it. Trust me. Then you have several bonus missions, hidden characters, easter eggs, collectibles, multiplayer, and of course, multiple difficulties and rankings. Trying to get Pure Platinum on every level is extremely challenging and rewarding, especially on the higher difficulties. There's an absurd amount of content hidden in Wonderful 101, including hidden cutscenes that most people will probably never even stumble upon. Packed with pure, unfiltered fun, Wonderful 101 is an absolute joy from beginning to end.
Wonderful 101 feels like a Saturday morning Superhero cartoon in the form of a video game. It's happy, over the top, silly, and simply pure fun. The main cast of characters all have very strong personalities and quirks, guaranteeing the player will find at least one character they love as they progress through their adventure to save Dearth-- I mean, Earth, from the evil GEATHJERK. The story is a rollercoaster from beginning to end, and boy, does it get crazy. For the love of god, it somehow managed to
destroy Bayonetta in the crazy department. Your mind will melt, your heart will explode, and you'll have a smile on your face the whole time.
In the end, W101 turned out to be one of the best action games to date. It's unique, innovative, and a pure joy to play. There's a staggering amount of love and care put into it, and it shows. Unite Up and go buy this game, everyone.
2. Shadow Warrior ; I didn't really know much about this game going in. I played very little of the original Shadow Warrior, but so many people recommended this I had to check it out. I'm glad I did.
Shadow Warrior offers the most satisfying first person sword combat I've ever had the pleasure to play. You can unlock several moves that are easy to remember thanks to a brilliant control scheme, and use them to create crazy combos. Lo Wang, the protagnist, also has some magic up his sleeve; he can push enemies away, levitate them, and much more. As you fight hordes of enemies with your Katana and shurikens, limbs will go flying and blood will pour. Lots of blood... Lots of limbs. The Yakuza and the Police are the best enemies to fight with the Katana, as they take much less damage than the other enemies and literally fall apart after a couple of well placed slashes. I truly believe the Katana in Shadow Warrior is one of the best weapons in a video game ever. It's unbelievably fun. That said, the Katana isn't the only weapon Lo Wang has in his aresnal. There's an Uzi, a Flamethrower, a Shotgun, a Rocket Launcher, etc. The guns pale in comparison to the Katana, but they're still quite fun. As you progress through the game and upgrade your guns, then they get REALLY fun. On top of basic things like damage increase or ammo capacity, you can also unlock abilities for each weapon, including the option to dual wield Uzis and use laser guided rockets to control a rocket manually. When you kill demons, you have a chance of being able to pick up a Demon Heart, which when squeezed will instantly kill any of the smaller enemies nearby. You can also rip off certain demon's heads and use them to shoot devestating laser beams from their eyes at other enemies. Shadow Warrior's combat is absurd, varied, and succeeds in making you feel like a goddamn badass as you
destroy large groups of enemies surrounding you.
There's a decent cast of enemies for you to fight, each of them equipped with their own unique traits and abilities. None of the enemies feel cheap or annoying, with the exception of the poorly designed bull. Shadow Warrior also has a few giant bosses, and while they're certainly a spectacle, they're kinda...Boring. They're far too simple, and sometimes feel like they drag on. Still, most of the encounters are highly enjoyable and challenging, although it can start to feel rather repetitive.
I was pleasantly surprised by the characters and story. Lo Wang and his demon parter in crime Hoji are absolutely hysterical. They work great together, one of my favorite duos in video games. The fortune cookies hidden throughout the game crack me up too, each filled with a humorous message. There's actually a touching story hidden beneath the comedy, which took me totally off guard, told through beautiful comic book style drawings.
Fans of FPS games should definitely check out Shadow Warrior. Go get some Wang.
3. Rise of the Triad ; ROTT is an excellent old school FPS. No ingame cutscenes, no waiting for Sgt. McSoap to open the door for you, no regenerating health, no need to reload. Once you start the mission, it's go time baby. It's fast paced and ludicrous. The developers took all the strengths of the original and improved on them. The Monks are no longer a pain in the ass, the level design is much better, and the boss fights are a huge improvement. They've also added a new enemy and made other small changes. On top of all this, the already incredible soundtrack has been recreated and fused with the power of HEAVY METAL. A faithful reboot through and through. The levels are large, filled with traps, several collectibles and secret areas. Perhaps my memory is off, but I believe there are a few areas where a door will close behind you and you can't backtrack to explore if you'd like. Bit of a minor gripe. I'm also not a fan of the platforming sections. It's rather hard to control yourself in midair and leads to some frustrating moments. The weapons are a blast to use, especially with the added secondary fire option. Slam dunking a nuke into a batch of enemies is devilishly fun. There are some great powerups too, particularly, God Mode & Dog Mode. The former grants you invincibility and lets you fly around, destroying everything in sight with energy blasts, while the other turns you into a Dog that can bark and bite people to death, or give one last great howl before exploding and taking out nearby enemies. It's a silly game, but that's most definitely a positive.
The developers have put tremendous effort into the game, and you can tell they had a blast making it. They interact very well with the community, host Saturday night meetups, have released tons of free content such as a superb map editor, worked hard to fix several glitches, and more. It's a shame that ROTT had a rather buggy launch, but at this point in time it runs like a dream. The multiplayer is an amazing arena shooter, and if the population was higher, I would be playing it much more. Fans of the original owe it to themselves to play this.
4. Tearaway ; Tearaway is filled to the brim with charm and delight. It's artstyle is breathtakingly beautiful, almost unbelievable when you're walking around in it. The world is full of fun characters and a variety of wonderful locations to interact with. The levels have loads of secrets and paths off the main road for you to discover. The creation parts of the game allow you to express yourself in some really neat ways. You can draw items for you or other characters to wear, decide what snowflakes look like, record noises with the Vita microphone to be used in-game, use the Vita camera to take a photo and use said photo as material for an item, etc. Combat is simple, but efficient; some fights require use of the front or reach touchpad, or you can throw enemies after dodging them. The platforming feels smooth, with some very tricky obstacles scattered throughout.
It's the essential Vita game. Built for the Vita, it utilizes all of its features excellently. Tearaway simply would not work on any other system. Vita owners owe it to themselves to play Tearaway.
5. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ; The first two Call of Juarez games were met with lukewarm reception. Call of Juarez: The Cartel was offensively bad. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger turning out to be so good is a shock to the system.
Gunslinger is an arcadey shooter set in the Wild West. You play as Silas Greaves, an old infamous Bounty Hunter. One day, he stumbles into a bar and is recognized, then asked to tell stories of his adventures as a Bounty Hunter as a younger man. You play through the levels with Silas Greaves narrating. Sometimes, one of the bar patrons will correct a mistake you made, or Greaves will lie to make the story more interesting, and the level will rewind / change accordingly. There is an astonishngly brilliant merge of story and gameplay here. You'll encounter several historical figures, including Jesse James and Billy The Kid. Collectibles offer history lessons on some of the featured characters. It's an entertaining story from beginning to end.
The action is fast and furious. You can fight your way through hordes of bandits,
pull off delicious combos with the help of bullet time, invest XP into talent trees that unlock abilities and upgrade your weapons to become the greatest bounty hunter ever known. The arcade mode focuses purely on the action, challenging the player to maintain the highest possible combo and score possible in order to earn a 3 star ranking, or dominate the leaderboards. This addicting mode might just be the highlight of the entire game. Last but not least, there's Duel Mode, in which you fight several AI opponents in a quickdraw duel. You'll have to maintain your focus and keep your finger on the trigger to make sure you shoot first...Although if you'd like, you can get a little dirty and pull the trigger before the countdown finishes.
If you like the Wild West setting, or FPS games, you'd be crazy to not try Gunslinger. It's easily the biggest surprise of the year.
