• 23Dec 10

  My 2010.

  So, 2010 is coming to an end. A pretty good year for gaming, I suppose. Played Resonance of Fate during the June holiday, clocked up to 60-70 hours but yet to see the ending. Anyway, I found Resonance of Fate to be a decent JRPG fix. I've lost faith in FF since FFXI... FFX was the last one I finished. And for this December break I'm getting my hands on Valkyria Chronicles. Yeah, I'm outdated. But no choice. Since my PS3 is at home, I have to stick to PC gaming during my undergraduate semesters. And inevitably I lost track of PS3 games. So let's move on to PC.

  Personally speaking, my PC game of the year has to be Battlefield: Bad Company 2. It's my first experience on the Battlefield series. I didn't catch BF2, and Bad Company 1 was not released for PC. I find playing FPS on consoles harder than riding a unicycle. The learning curve is too steep for a casual gamer like me. Back on topic, my story with BC2 began when I saw its trailer that promised a destructible environment dubbed as 'Destruction 2.0'. That hit a sweet spot. And more than just destructible, the environment in BC2 is beautifully destructible. Buildings have to be destroyed part by part -- they don't simply collapse after a specific number of explosive hits. You have to destroy the corners to bring the structure down. But 'Destruction 2.0' is not just a flash in the pan. BC2 is also technically awesome, with high-res textures, fog & snow effects, and most importantly its superb sound design. The game dishes out just as the title says: 'Battlefield'. The maps are big, with exceptions of squad-based maps. There are multiple flanking routes, and teamwork becomes a more decisive factor rather than pure shooting skill in winning the game. Of course, big maps come with lots of camping spots as well, but destructible cover and vehicles helps to counter the nasty snipers. My favourite class is the Engineer. Not because for its cheap rocket-against-infantry, but because I simply love setting tanks on balls of fire and Humvees being catapulted in different angles as they hit the anti-tank mine. And contrary to the majority of FPS players who love sniping with Recons, I only played Recon to unlock its weapon tree. Feel free to stalk my stats. Obviously I'm not a hardcore pro, but not a total beginner either.

  

  Averagely average. Yeah!

  Another game on PC that I wasted a lot of time on is Just Cause 2. I gave it an average score, but it turned out to be one of those games that grows in you. The main story itself is about 10-hours long, the side missions account for another 10 hours, and the rest is self-exploration, trying new vehicles, new tricks and so on. It's a bit unfortunate that its shooting mechanism is rather shallow and loose. Headshots are relatively easy in this game. Vehicle driving, on the other hand, can be a hellish experience. The sedans can be hard to turn on one moment, and incredibly drifty on another. Luckily blowing things up and whacking the heck out of the army troops overcome these blemishes.

  

  BANG!!

  And to tie the loose end on this entry... Surprise, surprise. Call of Duty: Black Ops. Oh well. We just can't separate BC2 and COD:BO this year, no? Both of them are furiously debated online and offline, with objective comparisons sitting side-by-side with fanboy cries. But here's my take in a few sentences: I enjoy both. I play BC2 whenever I feel like destroying stuff, COD:BO when I want to play in higher tempo and improve my shooting skill. Although I have to say, the connection issues on its PC version can be annoying. It's not recommended for impatient people with high blood pressure. All in all, if I have to choose only one to play for the rest of my humble life, I have to choose BC2. Hey, it's a free world we live in. I have both of them, I have seen each of their own positives and negatives, and I make my own informed choice based on my personal preferences.

  

  Welcome to Laos.

  I guess I'll call it a day for now. I just finished my exams, have a lot of free time to write more but my mind is not cooperating. Next time I will go deeper and definitely funnier. Hahaha.

  Other PC games that are in my current playlist:

  - Dead Rising 2

  - Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

  - Anno 1404 (aka Dawn of Discovery)

  - Football Manager 11

  My most anticipated 2011 games:

  - Diablo 3. Of course! I think D3 will define 2011 in terms of games, even if it's released in Q4.

  - Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. I love AC series since AC2 on PS. Also the main reason for me to take up aerospace engineering course in university.

  - Alice: Madness Returns

  - Metal Gear Solid: Rising

  - Deus Ex: Human Revolution

  • Posted Dec 23, 2010 8:15 am GMT
  • Category: Games
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg

See Previous Blog Posts »