Ahem.
With the new year here at last, 2018 (and not a moment too soon), I find myself reflecting on the year past and I have come to a very important conclusion - I have not played nearly enough game in the last year. This is to change in 2018! Before that, however, I bring to you my list of the top three games of 2017! Because, believe it or not, there were actually some good ones that I played. And, as established last year, 2017 was not a good year for my gaming cred for a variety of reasons.
So, let's start out 2018 on a high note! Here are my top 3 games of 2017!
3. Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
Who doesn't love a good globe-trotting adventure?! Like I said back in October, Indiana Jones is a man and a mythos that needs no introduction. Born out of the pulp adventure and action serials of the 1930s, it is a series that spans three films (and one nobody likes), a television series, and a whole mess of other media including video games! Other people may enjoy other games in the franchise - one I've heard a lot about was Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine - but this was the first Indy game that I ever played and it holds a special place in my heart.
Not only that, but it's actually still pretty damn good.
It could very easily be a film in and of itself had it been made around the time of the films being made. It has all the elements. You have Indy trekking around the globe after a prized artifact known as the Heart of the Dragon. He goes to various locals - from India to Prague to China and even into Hell itself on his journey. He fights Nazis. He hooks up with an exotic, dangerously-attractive female co-star. Really, it's everything you could want and more not only a character, but a world that is larger than life.
I can look past the not-aged-well graphics and the voice acting woes (Indy's voice actor's attempt at Mandarin is the stuff of legend) and see the game for what it is - a really, really awesome action-adventure game.
2. Batman: Arkham Knight
Okay, I admit, I was a little late to the party on this one...
This was admittedly one I should have saved for Halloween given that the game itself is set on Halloween and plays up the dark spookiness to a tee. I'm not really a fan of Batman. Whereas his fanboys (and DC) revere him as some kind of marbleized demigod who is so badass that he can perform any unrealistic feat you can imagine and only have to justify it with "Because I'm Batman". I tend to look at it from another angle. Batman is a pathetic manchild who died with his parents and became a monster dedicated to "justice" with having little to no care as to who gets hurt in his pursuits.
He is not some kind of uber-badass being. He's the most unrealistic superhero to ever exist at worst and an object of fear and pity at best. You should not admire this man. You should not want to be this man. Not in any way, shape, or form.
That being said, Arkham Knight was really, really, really fun!
It is fun to feed criminals their kneecaps. It is fun to run around in the Batmobile despite the fact that the controls are absolute shit. It is fun to glide around until you find a good rooftop from which to recreate the iconic cover of The Dark Knight Returns with a well-timed lightning strike.
...okay, maybe that last one is just me.
Honestly, I can even look past the shoehorned in bits with Jason Todd being the "Arkham Knight" and even the races with the Riddler (who's quest was the only one in the game I ultimately did not complete) because of how much good is in this game. Kevin Conroy's back as Batman. Mark Hamill returns as the Joker (giving me at least one thing in 2017 that he was in that I'm not dismally disappointed by). Rocksteady is clearly at the top of their game, giving us a thrilling conclusion to the Arkham franchise. Honestly, if we never see a continuation of this, I'm satisfied. Rocksteady, you done good!
And the number one game of 2017 is....................
1. Horizon Zero Dawn
As a certain Raccoon once said, "Oh, yeah!"
Post-apocalyptic future? Check.
Fighting robots in a post-apocalyptic future? Check.
Shotguns to be used while fighting robots in a post-apocalyptic future? BIG check.
My only regret with this game is that I'm not able to play more of it. It's a fantastic piece and an awesome first effort from Guerrilla in the RPG department as I said my review proper. Very few games can make the running and fetching aspects of MMORPGs at all appealing, but Horizon Zero Dawn gives a colorful world with a lot of personality to it.
Sure, there are other things like it out there, but it's like the difference between eating ice cream directly out of a carton and having it prepared lavishly with the right toppings and sauce. The presentation is everything, and Horizon Zero Dawn nailed it!
Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope that next year will be better than the last, both overall and in terms of gaming. And speaking of RPGs, I think next week it's time for us to visit a wretched hive of scum and villainy that has propagated itself onto the internet within the last year...with no small amount of controversy.
Buckle up, kids!
First review of 2018...the Bethesda Creation Club!
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