Christmas Gaming 2011

Once again things don't work out as smoothly as I was hoping for in the last weeks, which is the reason for the desertion on the blog. Being a graduate student is a full time job... This might have killed the idea that I am able to update PG regularly as back in the old days, but anyway, I can't change it right now and I am hoping for better days in that sense. Let's get back to business and let me state what my personal gaming experience has come down to in the last weeks or months. Also I will detail why I am looking forward to Christmas, gamingwise. I still have lots of unfinished games lying around here at PG headquarters. They might seem old to you, but still gold to me. To these titles on my To Finish List are games like Alan Wake, Enslaved, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and maybe even Fallout: New Vegas (I might have given up on this one, realized that it is too big for me and not motivating enough since it can't keep up with Fallout 3, which I loved). Especially Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is a game I really adore. It's the perfect action adventure and I am kind of sad that I find the time to play it only once every few weeks. Plus I really want to play AC Revelations since it does not only round the story up, but as well is situated in Constantinople (later known as Istanbul) where I spend some great months of my real life. New games breaks down to Gears of War 3 and Rage for me. Gears 3 is probably the best 3rd Person Shooter of all times, I really have fun with this one. The gameplay is perfect and the online is fun. A must have for every 360 owner for sure. And Rage suits me well since it is not more or less than I expected. Rage is the definition of an old skool corridor shooter if you may, but I like it very much. Okay, the world is small and freedom of movement is an illusion in Rage since everything is "just around the corner", but hey, it's satisfying to blow up those mutants. And this might have been the nicest gaming surprise for me: Sonic The Hedgehog CD became available on Xbox Live Arcade just a few days ago. Since I am a hard core 16Bit Sonic fan who didn't own the Sega Mega CD back in the 1990s now there was not any excuse for me to miss this one. I am fascinated. It is on par with Sonic 2 and 3 and that's something since those are the best Sonic games ever made. The graphics look superb since there is an option to sharpen everything which makes the game truly beatiful on a widescreen HD TV. I just finished it but saw that there is much more to it, since beating the game unlocks Tails and also there is a time attack mode waiting. And yet I haven't really understood what it is all about with Past and Future but since levels drastically change when changing time this should add some revisit value. Also the price is more than fair with only 400 MS points. Having won in a christmas lottery over at German site Gaming Universe I was gifted with the Kinect title Michael Phelps - Push The Limit. I don't own a Kinect device since it is absolutely unnecessary for core gamers (you hear that, Microsoft?) I just traded the game in and got another high profile game I was missing out on for far too long: DEAD FUCKING SPACE 2. Well, I loved the first one, even when it nearly scared me to death and this one was far too long on my To Buy List. Now I finally have it and after finishing the first chapter yesterday I am amazed. Isaac can speak and it doesn't suck! Opposite is truer since it gives the game more depth. Gameplay seems to be improved perfection and it's so brutal and god damn scary! I am glad that I finally can play this survival horror masterpiece! Anyway, christmas is right around the corner. Christmas for me is and always has been about leaning back with the family and enjoying some quality video games (I am leaving out here on the religious part since I in RL tend to critizise the materialism mania christmas has evolved into, which seems to come with secularization and keeping traditions.). We will play a lot. My brother has marked Uncharted 3 and Modern Warfare 3 on his wish list, while I chose Batman Arkham City. I am super excited for Batman since the predecessor was one outstanding extraordinary game with a dense and believable world and story combined with gameplay perfection. It makes my heart jump that Arkham City is said to even surpass this. It won Best 360 game of the year, btw: http://www.spike.com/events/video-game-awards-2011-nominees/voting/best-xbox-360-game What are my plans for the next year? Gamingwise I still have a lot of titles to finish, as you see. And there are must haves for me like Mass Effect 3, Bioshock Infinite and Diablo III. When it comes to movies I can't wait for The Expendables II! But in general I hope to find some more time for posting on PG since I don't like the site being left outdated. Since my real life is getting heavier and heavier I won't make false promises here, however. I will use PG at least to speak out my opinion on games I play as I did with this post. I hope those of you reading this can understand. That's it from me again. Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Hans