47 - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (PS2)

Genre: FPS
Rating: M
Developer: Cavia Inc.
Publisher: Bandai
Platform: PS2 (Also: PSP)
Release Date: 2004

Based off the anime of the same name, this is a pretty stylish game. It's buried knee-deep in the trappings of  the series and as such may turn off people completely new to the world. Unfortunately, it also doesn't manage to pull off fun gameplay for anyone.

The voice acting is totally fine. In fact, it's spot on as the characters all have the same voice actors in game and are pretty good. The enemies don't sound all too incredible, but when do they ever? Something very cool about the whole game is that you can sort of hack in to someone's mind and control them for a short period of time. This is especially useful in dispatching confused enemies.

There's also a load of control options and more than one character to control. The characters control a bit like a tank, but it's nothing too terrible. It's just too bad that the game doesn't feel very fun. the levels are all dull and everything you're working toward feels really uneventful. It's too bad because the hacking and other features could have made the game stand out.

Overall... it's a game a super fan might play but beyond that it's so boring. There's also some parts that are super unclear and if they weren't confusing I probably would feel like playing it through just because. What I found especially annoying was while usually you can get blasted full of bullets, one single shot from a sniper rifle would mean instant death every time. The game has a lot of potential but it gets completely squandered from the lack of creativity.

Would I play again? Nah.

34 - Bioshock (360)

Genre: FPS, Horror
Rating: M
Developer: Irrational Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Platform: Xbox 360 (Also: Mac, PC, PS3)
Release date: 2007

When this game came out I was super psyched. It looked like an incredible shooter with horror elements. What mostly made it seem so fantastic to me was the style. The world of Rapture was a dirty, crazed art deco dream and I wanted to live in it. God damn if those initial preview videos and screenshots didn't tantalize my younger gaming self. This was without me having ever played the System Shock series, which it was a spiritual successor to. The game just looked damn great.

I can't say I remember too much about playing it those few years ago. All I really recall is the gaming audience at large shouting about how creepy the game was when my thought was "you call this scary?". Obviously everyone takes to "scary" stuff differently but it was anything but. Despite that dismantlement, the game was a dream to control. I still feel that way about the controls. They're very tight and responsive for being a console game. Maybe the difficulty is toned down, but it's not very hard to nail shots.

I still enjoy the backdrop for the game and the controls and the voice acting. The story however leaves much to be desired. I couldn't really care less about what was going on with Andrew Ryan and Atlas and whatever on earth else. It just doesn't seem a very pressing tale - and why am I helping anyway? FPSes generally aren't renowned for the tales they weave, so Bioshock can be forgiven on that count.

Speaking of easy though, this game is terribly so. Yes, I am playing on the easy difficulty but sometimes even then in other games I'll meet with an unfortunate end from time to time. There is just constant opportunity to revitalize your health that it's not worrisome. They really could have just given you health that automatically recharges and it would have been about the same. Overall, I really like the game and am about 3/4th through it right now with no deaths. I'll get back to it after I polish off other games.

Would I play again? Yes (to beat it).

27 - Cold Winter

Genre: FPS
Rating: M
Developer: Swordfish Studios
Publisher: VU Games
Platform: PS2
Release date: 2005

What can I say about this game? It's hard for me to formulate any good sentences for this game even though I enjoyed it and lasted maybe 45 minutes before dying in a firefight. Well, simply put the game is just like everything else out there.

The story isn't particularly riveting nor are the characters involved. The gunplay is extremely simple and you're never afraid of running out of ammo or body armor. Even if you were running low on armor, you can get shot all full of holes and run away as if nothing ever happened. This was on the normal difficulty too, and there was an easier difficulty below. I can only assume what that "difficulty" was like.

The graphics are average and the music... was there any music? If there was it was wholly uninspiring because I can't even recall hearing it. Something really strange that happened when I was playing was that I felt a very strong sense of deja vu. Either I had actually played this game at some point earlier in my life or this game was in fact so similar to many FPS titles that they blended together. Either way, it's not much of a compliment.

I had a fair degree of fun playing the game simply based off the fact it wasn't too complex or difficult. Frustration isn't something I typically enjoy to feel at the hands of a game. I could see myself wasting a few more hours with it.

Would I play again? Sure (to complete it).