Well the new site is out what better reason could there be to post a new blog. I hope everyone's holiday season was a good one. I hope people got to spend a lot of time with family and friends enjoying the real reason we celebrate during this time of year. With a new year comes new resolutions, new friendships, and new opportunities. While we have to look toward the future, it's never too late to take a look back at the past to remember the good and bad things we've experienced and learned along the way. So in staying with my passion I would like to take a look back at the games and movies of 2010 and share my favorites with a top 10 list from each medium. My list is based off of the games I played and enjoyed so no reviewing is going on here, just my feelings for the games I played.
Games:
10.) The Sims 3
-This game was my first venture in the the world of the Sims and it was a good choice. I believe this is the first Sims title to be ported to console and if so then the controls were done very well. A few improvements could be made but overall I had fun controlling other people's lives. >=)
9.) Singularity
-Here we have an underrated game that should have gotten a lot more media attention than it did. Created from the Bioshock engine it almost feels like the same game, but it is definitely it's own title. With some fun ways to manipulate time and space you can destroy enemies and find secrets along the way. Once this game is cheaper I'd recommend you give it a try.
8.) Halo: Reach
-I can't say much more about Halo: Reach that hasn't already been said. It was a great send-off for Bungie and is by far the best Halo game so far. The campaign was great and I've actually gone through it a few times, which I usually don't do with Halo games. However with all the improvements it's still Halo, and I felt like I'd already been playing it for so long after Halo 3 and got bored too quickly.
7.) Bioshock 2
-The sequel to one of my favorite games of all time came out earlier this year and didn't do too bad. They went 8 years into the future from the last game and let you take control of a Big Daddy. Unfortunately you are the original Big Daddy and thus weaker than the others, so much so that even a small group of Splicers could take you out if you weren't on your game. From what this game was trying to achieve, putting you in the Big Daddy Suit, it should have felt more empowering. The multi-player was a nice feature as well, this time taking place in the past as the chaos first starts.
6.) Call of Duty: Black Ops
-After all the chaos with Infinity Ward many people thought this game wouldn't sell as good, but with a title like Call of Duty, you're bound to sell big. And sell big they did with the best selling COD so far and some really great multi-player changes to boot. I really love the currency system where I can buy my own upgrades as I level and bet my credits in wager matches to try and gain more and more. Addictive gameplay just like the past CODs has had me playing this game on and off since it's launch.
5.) Fallout: New Vegas
-Deemed Fallout 3+ by many, this game shouldn't be mistaken as a large expansion pack. Sure the game runs on the same engine and looks nearly the same, but there is a big story happening and lots of great improvements to be found. You will not have any trouble spending 60+ hours on this game if you really get into it. Especially if you try for the best weapons and armor.
4.) Red Dead Redemption
-Rockstar really knows how to create great open world games. Since GTA has started to fizzle out Rockstar needed to find a new direction to go. With this game they really did find a niche. There hasn't been a decent Western game that I can think of until RDR. This game mixes the controls and openness of GTA with the old west seamlessly and beautifully. Riding horses to your missions and lassoing the bad guys is some of the greatest and most addicting gameplay you could have had this year. With a solid multi-player as well this game delivered on all fronts and will probably keep on going with expansion packs through the new year. Get this game.
3.) Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
-This game was amazing. After the second game in the series was finished and I completed it 100% I just couldn't wait for more. I was a little worried to see that you would play as Ezio again instead of finding another ancestor to live through, but in the end it was a great choice. With only one city to explore you would think they toned down the game this time. Nope. This one city of Rome was a huge expansion from the second game and also made improvements to just about everything. Travel was faster, attacks were more fluid, and there was a lot more things to do besides look for meaningless flags and feathers. If you haven't already I'd say pick this game up whenever you can.
2.) Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
-Ah Blizzard you really know how to please your fans. Just build up the tension of your games by not saying a release date and waiting more than 10 years to give us a sequel. But that wait really paid off big in SCII:WoL. Keeping all the things that made Star Craft great and adding on things to only make things better. Better graphics, new units to control, and an improved Battle.net experience. If you have a PC for gaming and even only tried RTS (real time strategy) games a few times, you have to try this game out.
1.) Mass Effect 2
-Bioware makes good RPGs. That's really all I have to say here. This game was great on all levels. With dialogue choices and consequences, using the choices from Mass Effect 1 save files, and revamping the battle system, this game has been on the top game of 2010 list since it first came out early last year. The story really makes you feel like a part of it by letting you control the outcome of the game, including who lives and who dies. You could even decide if the main character is going to die or not, though the decision is based on more than one choice but rather all the choices you make in the game. With the third game coming out soon I'm willing to bet it will also be on the top of my list next year, so if you haven't already played ME1 and 2 I'd have to slap you and tell you to pick up both and play through them so you can have a save file to upload into Mass Effect 3.
Biggest disappointment:
Final Fantasy XIV -
I don't play many MMOs and if I do they usually only like a month or so. However I did find my calling in Final Fantasy XI, which I played on and off for about 6 years. When they announced XIV was going to be an MMO I got excited. So excited I rushed to my computer and pre-ordered the collectors edition. The game was supposed to be Square Enix's dive into Next-Gen MMOs and with the great game FFXI was we all had faith in them. To be honest we would have been happy if they just slapped new graphics on FFXI and called it FFXIV. But that's not what we got. What we got was a game that had horrible controls right off the bat, a menu interface that takes longer to navigate than it takes to kill an entire group of mobs, and a complete and udder lack of a marketing system. They tried to make improvements after the release but it was so bad that they ended up changing the entire development team and made the game free-to-play for an extra 3 months. Now they are pumping out updates monthly and hoping to bring back the people that left, like me. I will check back in after awhile, but for now I've canceled my subscription and the game case just sits there taunting me.
Movies:
10.) Get Him to the Greek
-After seeing the trailer to this movie I was sure it was just going to be a slapstick humor with some penis jokes thrown in. It was. However they did it in a good way. It wasn't just over the top humor all the time they did mellow out at some points and really made you feel out the characters motivations. It kept the story going while still finding time to make fun of things. A great movie to rent with a few friends.
9.) Book of Eli
-Oh look another post-apocalyptic movie how original. I do love the good sci-fi action movie however so I went to see this, and was instantly in love. Not only is one of my favorite actresses (Mila Kunis) one of the main characters but Eli kicks all kinds of ass. This movie really shows what it would be like after nuclear holocaust and how people would live, and survive. However unbelievable you may think the ending is I still loved this movie and would say to anyone to at least rent it.
8.) Easy A
-A story about a girl who pretends to have sex and becomes known as the school whore starring the incredibly gorgeous Emma Stone. What guy wouldn't want to see this movie. Well I did see it and was really entertained through the entire thing. The dialogue is sophisticated and not some "reality show" BS that you see on TV. Funny situations through lots of misunderstandings creates a great plot to watch unravel and is really enjoyable for anybody who gets all the innuendos.
7.) Toy Story 3
-Pixar's top series comes to an end with this movie. After it being so long many people raised on the first movie are now full adults. This worked fine for the movie because it brought in the kids who liked the look of it and also the adults that wanted to relive their childhood. This movie was great too. There is a whole new storyline with new people to meet and more adventures to be had. Some of the best animation Pixar has done so far really makes this movie look great. A fun movie for all ages I'd suggest you buy it to share with your kids in the future.
6.) Black Swan
-A movie that has to be seen to be explained. The movie is a great cinematic event to behold. I really can't do it justice in this small paragraph so I'll just say this. Watch. This. Movie.
5.) Tron: Legacy
-The sequel to a movie that didn't really need one, this movie picks up 20 or so years after the first (about the same amount of time between the movies). We follow Sam Flynn, son of Kevin Flynn from the first movie. His adventure into the Grid is beautifully rendered and is a great improvement from the first movie. I was forced to strain my eyes with the bright lights in the first movie, but everything was just so...so... pretty this time around :P. With the soundtrack by Daft Punk all the music really fit the scene and there was no recycled sound bytes floating around. The movie is a great blockbuster movie and as a sequel out of nothing I was really impressed at how well they pulled the story together and drew me in. If you haven't seen it in theaters yet then you're missing out on a great experience.
4.) Iron Man 2
-The first Iron Man was the spark that really started the comic book to movie trend. There had been other movies but none had really fared well in the box office. With the sequel they had a lot to shoot for and most people were expecting it to be worse than the first. It wasn't worse, but not better either. The movie really shines just like the first one and really reminded me of a great cartoon series that makes you want to keep watching as the episodes unfold. The movies really blend together and bring the best out of the cast and the action. If you enjoyed the first movie you will enjoy this movie just as much.
3.)
How to Train Your Dragon
-I. Love. Dragons. However I don't go see a movie because it has dragons in it. Actually the opposite is true, I usually avoid those movies because they are horribly done and end up making the dragons look cheesy or just ruin them completely(e.g. Dragon Wars). This movie really takes you back to the time where an animated movie made you feel connected to the characters and really care for them. The movie didn't do so well it's opening weekend but because of word-of-mouth it rose to be one of the top grossing films of the year. With so many people saying so many good things, you know this movie is just plain good. Great movie for all ages and a must see for dragon lovers.
2.) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
-If you couldn't tell by now I love me some video games. So when the trailer for this movie came out I nearly passed out. I watched the trailer religiously until the release, and couldn't wait to go see it. I ended up seeing it 3 times in theaters, each with a different group of friends. I can't tell you how much awesome is in this movie for gamers and comic book nerds alike. I think I got a little too much nerd-gasming in this paragraph so I'll just stop at that.
1.) Inception
-After such a huge hit as The Dark Knight you'd think they would have chained Christopher Nolan down and forced him to create another sequel, but they actually gave him free rights to make anything he wanted, and thus Inception was born. A movie he'd been toying with in his head for years now came to the big screen and delivered big time. This movie has a great cast of characters with an engaging storyline, and amazing special effects. Though we don't really get to know most of the main cast as well we should. That seems to be my only criticism with the movie besides the ending. I'll voice my opinion on the end. [spoiler]
He's not dreaming!!! [/spoiler]
Biggest disappointment:
The Last Airbender -
Live action movies based on comics and cartoons are a very delicate art. There are different interpretations to take into consideration as well as time management, or what things you're going to have to cut from the movie. This movie is based off of the show Avatar: The Last Airbender, where a boy is chosen to be the next Avatar (master of all the elements, water, earth, fire, and air). This boy named Aang (pronounced like "sang") runs away from this duty and ends up getting frozen under the ocean for 100 years. He wakes up to find that the world is at war with the Fire Nation who are trying to conquer everything. Aang is awakened by Katara and Sokka (Sock-a). He is a light hearted 12 year old who has tons of energy and is always finding things to laugh at. The people of the world use "bending" or the ability to manipulate the elements. They use this bending through martial arts all based on actual moves. But enough of the re-cap.
The live action movie takes the names of the characters and has at least 3 of them pronounced wrong. Now this is an American cartoon... where they pronounced the names for 3 seasons. BUT THEY STILL CAN'T GET THEM RIGHT!!! If you couldn't tell that really really really really pissed me off. The bending in the movie is horrible with cheesy special effects. The people are just waving their arms around with no sense of what they are doing. It's supposed to be martial arts creating bending, making each movement mean something. Also there is almost no laughing in the movie. The cartoon is one of the funniest on television and they movie turns it into a drama-fest. I could go on with this for days so I'll stop here and say that I think M. Night Shamalan was just trying to kill The Last Airbender from the start. There is no possible way you could mess up a movie about a show this bad without trying... it just can't happen.
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So there's my list and some added commentary. If there is a game or movie I horribly overlooked chances are I didn't see it or it just slipped my mind. I'd love to hear your thoughts though so feel free to comment or message me. I hope you all enjoy the new year to come and welcome it with open arms. I'll try to add to my blog more often this year so check back for more movie/gaming talks.
Till next time!
-Matt
