HotChops

Isn't it just [spoiler] ? I'll see if I can make a button I guess. I feel a bit embarrassed to say it, but that wasn't exactly obvious to me. I first started posting on forums back on IGN more than 10 years ago, and in those days (insert old man emoticon here) we turned the text to the same color as the post or we blacked it out. If at some point it became common knowledge to just type "spoiler" into the code, then I missed it. Fortunately I'm not too thick-headed. I saw what everyone else was doing and figured that there must be some way to do it with the given options.

Perhaps I missed a thread or post on this, but I suggest you make a thread that explains how to post spoilers. It took me few minutes, but I figured out how to do it on my own. I imagine a lot of people wouldn't be able to figure it out though. You might want to explain it to everyone, or perhaps make a new button that does it.

I've never bawled my eyes out over a game, but then I don't cry very often in general. I did tear up a bit during two games this year though. Note that these experiences struck a personal cord with me. I don't necessarily think they're intended to touch everyone in that way. The first was when I played Tali's loyalty mission in Mass Effect 2. I felt so sorry for Tali. She's had such a difficult life. The second incident occurred when I played the ending of Red Dead Redemption. Now this really made me hurt. That's also why I think Red Dead Redemption is GOTY; because it captures the gritty and unfair nature of the world.

^ *sigh* ^

I wouldn't mind if people here would expand on their answers a little. You know, why don't you want to play a certain game? I have next to no interest in Final Fantasy XIII. I played and enjoyed FFIV, FFVI, VII and VIII, but that was another time. Today, I just can't stand JRPGs. I even Gamefly'd FFXIII, but I couldn't take it after an hour and sent it back. I also don't like Halo. Again, the irony here is that I owned and completed Halo 1 - 3. Finally, I realized that I really don't like it. I love Sci-Fi, but I find the Halo universe to be very unoriginal. I don't like that the story tries to be sooo serious at times, but then you have these ridiculously childish enemies (ie: the grunts.) I hate Madden NFL. I'll admit that I was a NFL 2K fan in the days before EA decided to establish a monopoly, but I think I can confidently say that my bias plays no role in the following comments. I decided to pick up Madden NFL 11. Holy shit this game is terrible. I've never encountered a more clear-cut example of a sacred cow getting favored treatment. If Madden NFL were any other franchise within any other genre, critics would rip it to pieces! There's no tutorial mode for people who are totally new to football, the menus are terribly cluttered and confusing, the game offers less features and options than NFL 2K5 -- a last gen game that came out six f-ing years ago -- and the graphics aren't anywhere as good as they could be (look at Fifa for proof.) I think the game market is oversaturated and a lot of people don't give games a fair shot. In that spirit, I'd like to mention a couple of games that I foolishly dismissed until I finally gave them a fair shot: - Aliens vs Predator - Assassin's Creed II (I was a big fan of the original, but I wasn't interested in ACII because I thought the Italian Renaissance was boring) - Red Dead Redemption (I wasn't actually opposed to playing the game, but like many others I doubted how good it would be. I thought it just be "GTA with a horse," and it is soooo much more than that.) - Fallout 3 (Despite loving Oblivion, I thought the post-apocalyptic genre had been done to death and that Fallout 3 couldn't possibly contribute something substantial. I also thought the VATS looked corny. Again, I came to regret all those assumptions.) ... geez, uh I could go on. I think I'll just stop there though.

I have to confess, I'm struggling to think of many death/game over sequences because I don't see them that often. I rarely play a game beyond "normal" difficulty and don't seem to see it often. But, a few things have come to mind: Grand Theft Auto 4 -- Get on a motorcycle, get to full speed, slam into low barrier, and watch as Niko (or whoever) flies upward of 50 ft and then rolls and tumbles. Great physics, very painful looking. Totally turned me off the idea of getting a motorcycle. Codemasters racing games (DIRT, GRID) -- you don't necessarily "die," but when you crash you can rewind, fast-forward and play through the crash and it usually looks really cool.

I can understand what you're saying. I think Braid, Limbo and Undergarden are beautiful games, but they're mostly puzzle games and that's my least favorite genre. With Limbo I think you either love it or hate it by the end of the demo. I loved it, but frankly it's a bit pricey right now and I'm sure it'll be on sale next year. I loved the Limbo demo for a number of reasons: - It's simplicity -- it's bereft of color, overt story, or instructions. I remember when the demo started, I just sat there for a minute waiting for the game to do something before I just pushed a button and saw him wake up. I liked that. - It reminds me of an NES game. They don't tell you what to do at all, they just throw you in and expect you to figure it out. Oddly enough, I usually hate trial and error gameplay and find it outdated, but I felt like it worked in the Limbo demo. - The macabre nature of the demo. I remember the first time my character fell into a pit of spikes and died a gruesome death I laughed my ass off. I literally and figuratively didn't see it coming. I also like how the game reminds me a of a bad dream.

Lol, well that's an example of how jumping isn't a deal breaker for my gaming tastes. I love Oblivion and Fallout, and I jump like crazy in the former in order to level up quickly. But it doesn't feel realistic at all, especially once you're leveled up and it's like jumping on the moon. I actually hope TES V does away with the awkward jumping of the Gamebryo engine.

No, I'm the total opposite. Usually if you can't jump (in the traditional sense) then it feels more realistic. Most of my favorite games don't allow you to just jump whenever you want: Mass Effect, Batman, Assassin's Creed. I can't stand watching games like Halo now with everyone bunny-hopping all over the place. It's so 1990s imho.

I thought that was last year...? I grew up being a huge Ghostbusters fan so I bought it on day 1. I'm sorry to say I regretted that. When you're doing the basic ghost bust -- wrangling it with the beam, destroying everything around you and sucking them down into the trap, the game shines. The problem is that you don't do much of that outside the beginning of the game and some multiplayer modes.

Being a huge fan of Mass Effect, Alpha Protocol certainly caught my eye. I see the plot involves the CIA, would you say the plot is realistic or down-to-Earth? and I forgot another 2010 game that I liked: Medal of Honor I think Medal of Honor worked for me because I was never interested in the multiplayer. I tried MoH because I wanted a military FPS that actually felt real -- real characters, real settings, real military details. That's exactly what I got. I absolutely loved MoH's story. I can't stand when critics call it unoriginal or boring because if you look up Operation Anaconda, you'll see that most of the major events in MoH actually happened. I loved the little details like the way that your gun will accumulate dust over the course of a mission, or that the sound of gun changes as the magazine or belt runs out of ammo. I love that they constantly use military jargon and acronyms that probably sound like another language to most people, but is music to the ears of a military history junkie like me. Medal of Honor has a lot of flaws. The multiplayer was a bastardized hybrid of Battlefield and Call of Duty, and the single player is filled with bugs, glitches and faults that scream "unfinished game." For example, your squadmates never use their nightvision goggles. In one mission, Dusty runs around in the dark wearing his damn sunglasses. I think if MoH ditched multiplayer completely and focused on marketing to the authenticity/history-loving crowd the franchise could do a lot better.

We all know of the big titles like Mass Effect and Red Dead Redemption, here's the place to give your honorable mentions to games that won you over, but not necessarily everyone else. Aliens vs. Predator When I tried the online demo of the game, I found it to be horrible. When I rented it through Gamefly though, I found the single player campaign to be flawed, but very enjoyable. Strength(s): Like Batman: Arkham Asylum, AvP succeeds in making the player feel like an Alien, Marine or Predator. Weakness(s): The main problem with AvP's single player is that it's really three small games in one. Each species has it's own unique controls and nuances. Rather than having one smooth learning curve, it's like three sharp consecutive curves, like a roller coaster. Just Cause 2 Most didn't play the first JC as it was released during that transition time between consoles in 2006. Unlike Aliens vs. Predator, the demo for Just Cause 2 won me over; being absolutely massive enough that many people just played it over and over again for 30 minutes at a time. Strength(s): This game would be nothing without the Avalanche Engine, which is responsible for the gorgeous and massive Panau archipelago. The game world is so large that it can take up to half an hour or more to circumnavigate the map in a small plane, and one can free fall for up to four minutes before reaching the ground. The grappling hook is great for getting around, allowing the player to infinitely grapple and soar much like the Spiderman games of the early decade. Weakness(s): The combat is terrible. Enemies take too many bullets to die, and they constantly respawn behind the player in large numbers. IMO, this game is best played on easy mode and combat should be avoided. Transformers: War for Cybertron Transformers: WfC was fast, intense and very fun. The single player campaign (which also can be played co-op) is full of great characters and intense battles. The battle for Iacon echoes the great battle for Autobot City depicted in the original Transformers: The Movie in 1986. Multiplayer was also very strong, offering a great variety of classes, perks and abilities. Like most unsung heroes of the gaming world, Transformers suffered criticisms that frankly, weren't really true. Ammo is plentiful, most players simply didn't know what it looked like, nor did they utilize their vehicle weapons which in some cases were very powerful. Another complaint was that the levels all looked the same. Oddly enough, I felt the same way at first. Once the player's eyes become accustomed to the shiny surfaces, the differences between the levels become very apparent. Iacon is like ancient Rome with beautiful statues and large domes. The Cybertronian underground glows with energon rivers. The Kaos prison is a twisted labyrinth among a constant lighting storm. Strength(s): The gameplay and the characters make this Tranformers game the best ever made. The abilities to tranform, drive, shoot, and use special abilities blend well together to make the action interesting and fun. The Generation 1 cast is well-portrayed by the writers and voice actors. Weakness(s): Squadmates are pretty much worthless in the story mode. Their weapons do next-to-no damage, leaving you to do all the actual work. They frequently get in your way or fall behind only to spawn right behind you when you reach a checkpoint or elevator. Your turn, what games did you love, but felt were underrated by others?

Can't they also blind-fire, but you can't?

I've got one for military FPSs, particularly ones involving a squad of friendly cpu players. I hate it when friendly squadmates cross in front of you while you're taking aim or shooting. It's surprising how often this happens in Battlefield, Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. In reality, soldiers often slap their teammate on the shoulder to let them know that they're moving in front of them. This of course might not be so easy to incorporate in games, but there are possible solutions: - The controller could vibrate to let you know, but that of course might conflict with other feedback, plus not all controllers have vibration. - Simply program the damn AI not to cross in front of you while you're shooting! Aiming is one thing, but shooting? Come on, who would be stupid enough to cross in front of me when I'm firing 100-round volley from a LMG? - teach basic squad tactics in the game's tutorial. They teach players how to shoot, go prone, throw grenades and switch weapons. Is it really that complicated to teach players how to adhere to simple formations?

And Wreav sucks imo. I love Wrex. He reminds me of Chewbacca. In the first Star Wars they made him out to be some big, bad Wookie, but by Return of the Jedi we know he's a big lovable furball. [Mass Effect 1 spoiler below, highlight to view] I was so upset when Ashley shot Wrex during my first playthrough. I felt so guilty, like I could've prevented it -- which of course you can.

And hovertank platforming. Oh, and RESOURCE MINING! There's also that wicked hovercar chase in the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC. I really hope that ME3 has lots of little vehicle minigames like that. I especially hope there's a space battle where you can fly a starship

They want you to go buy ME1 so they make the default path the crappiest one possible. I thought as much the other day as I was playing it. I think you're right.

You do understand that they're going to include the crucial decisions from ME1 in an interactive comic book on the PS3 version, don't you? I'm just curious what decisions they'll include because there's a lot of decisions like that in ME1, some big, others not so much. I friggin' hate the default story branch for ME2 -- council dead, Wrex dead, Udina in charge of the council -- WTF is up with that? Back to the main topic though, my most anticipated games of 2011 are Mass Effect 3, Batman, and Elder Scrolls V. Here's my dilemma though -- I'm broke. I've got to stop buying and renting games. I'm really going to try not to buy any games in 2011 until the fall. I've got soooo many games and XBLA games right now, I need to play those more before I buy anything else.

But see, we don't really KNOW that. All we got was a little teaser, and then some info off the website the next day. Ultimately, the problem here is that SSX was never a serious snowboarding game and that trailer didn't convey that tone at all. Is it not possible though that it was just marketing? Games are frequently marketed based on what they think will capture people's interest and sell the game. CoD: Black Ops sold a bagillion copies the first week it was out. Is it any surprise then that the game's teaser felt like a CoD game? Remember the trailer EA released of Mass Effect 2 before it came out? There was no discussion or difficult decisions in it. It was just Shepard, Grunt and Thane killing people and using biotic powers. If you knew nothing about the game, you'd think it was a futuristic CoD -- which is exactly what EA's marketers wanted, and guess what? The game sold a lot of copies to people who never played the first one. As much as I hated it, their marketing ploy worked. The funny thing is that right now there's about million SSX fans who hate the trailer, but there's probably a million more who never played SSX and thought the trailer was cool. EA isn't concerned about the SSX fans. As far as they're concerned, we'll buy it as long as it's good; our purchase is almost assured. They want to go after a larger audience. Afterall, if the current SSX fanbase was enough, then they probably would've released a next-gen SSX years ago.

For me GOTY has to be Mass Effect 2 or Red Dead Redemption. If I had to choose one, I'd go with Red Dead Redemption for two key reasons: - Characters and story that doesn't make you cringe with embarrassment. There were still a few zany characters, but most were far more down to Earth and realistic compared to previous Rockstar games. I felt like Marston's attempts to reunite and protect his family was a motivation that I could really relate to. Most of all, I love how this game reflects the complex difficulties of life. Most of the characters face dilemmas and situations that are simply beyond their control. - Diverse gameplay. If you have the DLC, Red Dead provides a lot to do and it's all fun: single player, multiplayer, horse racing, poker, zombie slaughtering. Let's face it, ME2 only has two kinds of gameplay: talking to people and shooting people.

Hi, I'm HotChops. I go by the same username on Kotaku. I'm 28, and primarily a Xbox 360 gamer. My favorite games are Mass Effect 1&2, Bad Company 2, Bioshock, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout 3 and TES IV: Oblivion. At one point I was an aspiring game journalist, but that career peaked and fizzled out after going to E3 in 2005. Today I'm just a super smart nerd who can't get a decent job; talking about String Theory with my coworkers at Subway. I haven't been active on a forum in a long time, but I'm pretty sure Gawker is about to kill the commenter community on Kotaku, and so here I am. Nice to meet you all.