A Long Overdue Bullet List:

• Aliens - 4/5, great sci-fi/horror sequel.
• Prometheus - 4/5, astonishing presentation and cast with a fumbled and flawed story.
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - 4/5, Better than the first in every way, good chemistry between Downey, Jr. and Law.
• Die Hard - 5/5, One of the best action movies of all-time with grade A performances by Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman.
• Star Wars: Episode I - 4/5, Don't understand the hate. Sets up two great movies that do the Star Wars trilogy justice. Darth Maul and Podracing FTW.
• Madagascar 3 - 3/5, Best of the series, but still weak despite some good laughs.
• The Descendants - 4/5, George Clooney's finest performance in a gripping, emotional story.
• The Matrix - 4/5, Smart sci-fi plot with bad writing and kick-ass special effects even after all these years.
• The Godfather Part II - 5/5, Not better than the first at all, but still a masterpiece mob movie with amazing acting.
• Rear Window - 5/5, a classic. One of my favorite horror/suspense films. Hitchcock, Stewart, and Kelly all put their best work into it.
• The King's Speech - 4/5, great acting and set pieces make this film stand out.
• Anchorman - 5/5, my favorite comedy.
• inFamous: Festival of Blood - 8.0/10, with a $4 price, it's a steal that I enjoyed. Top notch inFamous gameplay with a decent story and plenty to collect. 100% trophies
• Batman #13 & #14 - 10/10, Scott Snyder resurrected the Joker into comics for his arc which is setting up perfectly. Amazing books, Snyder is the best in the biz folks.
• Nightwing #13 & #14 - 9/10, Lady Shiva vs Nightwing is a dream match-up of mine. Higgins wrote a great pair of books to make it come to fruition.
• Batman & Robin #14 - 8/10, the zombie arc didn't have time to flesh out due to the surely better Joker arc that spans across the Batman universe, but it does have some perfect Bruce/Damian moments.
• The Walking Dead Season 1 - 7.5/10, if you can get past some poor acting, plot holes, and gore, there is great drama to be found here. I'll be sure to continue through seasons two and three.
• Dragon Ball Z season 2 - The boring part of the Namek saga, but the nostalgia alone makes it awesome. Great action anime that I'll be sure to keep reliving.
• Pick-ups of October and November include The Departed/Aviator/GoodFellas blu-ray collection for $10, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for $6, Dragon Ball Z season 3 for $15, Dragon Ball Z Movie Pack 1 for $12, Scarface on DVD for $3, and The Dark Knight Rises blu-ray!
• I now have over 1, 500 trophies on PSN and I just passed level 14.

To continue my Game of the Years Past blog, it's part two:

2007 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

COD4 was 'the game' back in 2007. It was revolutionary, addictive, and very well done by Infinity Ward. It's the best Call of Duty and every other title has fallen short of it in quality and innovation. The leveling and customization is something every multiplayer game after it has looked to for inspiration. The campaign was thrilling with plenty of memorable moments, but it was the multiplayer that made it amazing. Great maps and gameplay along with the genius matchmaking. Countless memories with this game's multiplayer.

2008 - Fallout 3

2008 was a great year for video games. The 360/PS3 generation was just settling in with great runner-ups such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid 4, Battlefield Bad Company, and Call of Duty: World at War. Fallout 3 is my favorite of the bunch. It's art. Bethesda gives you this massive post-apocalyptic wasteland full of unique characters and locations, and it is completely up to you as to what you want to do. You can be a bad guy and just look out for yourself, killing all in your way or you can be the wasteland's savior like I was/am. I say 'am' because I am STILL playing the game after all these years. There are hundreds of hours of content this game allows and it is very addicting. I'm 100 hours in and I can say that it is one of my favorite games of all time. The level of choice, the looting, the VATS combat, the exploration, the characters, the scenery, music, it's all brilliant.

2009 - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

So many amazing titles to choose from. Batman: Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed II, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and inFamous are all in my Hall of Game as some of my favorite games. Uncharted 2 may be the best game this generation though. It makes movies boring with its interactive, cinematic gameplay. Uncharted 2 is a masterpiece of a video game. It makes you look back at how far this form of media has come from Atari and such. You play as Nathan Drake, who is out looking for another treasure when things go bad and you are hunted down by a mass murderer who is after the same prize. With many unforgettable characters and atmospheres that range all over the world. The story is great and so are the visuals, but it is of course the gameplay that makes it a great video game. An action adventure shooter with platforming that is beyond smooth and very fun. Uncharted 2 is a masterpiece.

2010 - Red Dead Redemption

Runner-ups include Heavy Rain, Bad Company 2, Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Red Dead Redemption is my favorite game this generation and that will not change. Such a great game with a jaw dropping atmosphere and stunning visuals. Deep story that left me with a tear in my eye, and an interesting cast of supporting characters. The combat system is perfect. There is so much to do in the west from hunting, gambling, taking bounties, robbing banks, shootouts, treasure hunting, club challenges, and many side missions. Just exploring the world of RDR is worth the price of admission. So much effort went in to this work of art and it turned out amazing. The multiplayer simply takes the game's world and gives it to you, your friends, and strangers. The west is then what you and you and some friends make of it. The best time I've ever had playing a video game was teaming up with my buds and messing around with Red Dead. If you haven't played RDR, you are missing out beyond belief.

2011 - Batman: Arkham City

Runner-ups that never stood a chance were L.A. Noire, inFamous 2, Skyrim, and Uncharted 3. I am a huge Batman fan, you all know that. Nothing is a better Batman experience than Batman Arkham City, it's perfect. It has all the Batman characters and villains you would expect, and then more. The plot, written by Paul Dini, is in the top 5 best Batman stories ever told. It's every kid's dream to be Batman, and video games are as close as it gets to dreams like that coming true. I was 17 then, and my childhood dream came true, a Batman video game that puts you under the cowl of the Caped Crusader in Gotham City. Arkham Asylum was cool, but Gotham City? Awesome! The game itself has strong and fun gameplay with all the gadgets, great visuals (gliding through Gotham at an amazing rate looks great), and the voice cast is the best of all time. This game was well worth the wait and somehow exceeded my high expectations.

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Looking back at these great years in gaming is pretty depressing when you look at this year's lineup. Unless FarCry 3 takes me by storm (it could), it will be one ugly pick for Game of the Year when you compare it to these other gems. Either way, I'll be posting my third annual Game of the Year Awards with well over 40 awards some time in January, should be fun! Off to go watch TDKR on blu-ray and then play the Ni no Kuni demo if it's installed yet. Thanks for reading and please comment with some of your old GOTY picks.

- Dylan