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This could be any game released this year, from spelunky to halo 4.
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Personal favourites include Xenoblade and the new XCom game. Although in all honesty, 2012 has been kinda bland in terms of game releases.
I see Halo 4, CoD: Black Ops 2, or Assassin's Creed 3 as the best choices.
Not saying these are the best, but they're well-known and really good anyways.
I see Halo 4, CoD: Black Ops 2, or Assassin's Creed 3 as the best choices.
CoD has never won a GOTY by anyone reputable, and there's gonna be something bad about ACIII because of the ending.
Again, looks like Halo might be taking it home.
Again, looks like Halo might be taking it home.
Yeah, pretty sure. Haven't really played games in 2012, so I have a sort of limited view...
Anyone else got any good games?
I mean in a good way. You have missions and tasks you have to complete just like the others. They've added some new things as well, doesn't look like they took a big step away from gameplay.
The other games had a more sandbox feel to them. Large, open and intricate levels where you decided how to kill the target. There were always several ways to do so in each mission ranging from replacing a nonfunctional pistol with a real one in play to poisoning someone's dog and dropping a chandelier on their head. Or, you know, just go in guns-blazing and kill every sucker you see. I recall several missions where there were no less than six ways to kill the targets (and still get the best rating). Disguises worked the way they ought to and you only broke cover if doing something suspicious (I brought this up for a reason).
Absolution is more...streamlined to put it nicely. For one, the levels are no where as large or varied as the previous ones. There is always one or two 'signature' kills in each mission where doing a very specific set of steps leads up to the 'erfect' kill. Since they implemented a score system in this one, you are essentially punished for not doing the hit in that one way. Sure, you can still kill them other ways. Yet you won't get as high of a score at the end of the mission, and the chances of you being spotted (and thus killed nearly instantly) are much higher. I say 'get killed nearly instantly' because although they give you a set of guns to play with (found only in mission, Silverballers notwithstanding), you are not encouraged to use them. Once you are identified as a hostile, every NPC on the level knows and rushes to kill you. Even if you managed to survive and lose suspicion, your score will suffer drastically seeing as any non-target kill takes a chunk off of your current score. so it less and matter of smarts and creativity as dieing over and over again until you learn how the game expects you to play out the mission.
So just stay disguised, you say? If only it was that easy. They added a new bollocks disguise system in this one. The new system has it so that anyone wearing the same outfit as you (such as cop, plumber, waiter, etc..) instantly is suspicious of you. You need to drain your Instinct meter (another knew addition) to displace some of the suspicion and get out of their view ASAP. It is insane to think that everyone in a given group or career path knows everyone else in that same group.
All that said, it is not a bad game, per se. For someone new to the Hitman series, they won't be missing out on anything. They will just see it as a new, fun game where you are a one hardcore assassin. Which is what the game still is, playing as Agent 47 and completing missions.
Yet someone who has experienced and played the older ones will feel let down due to the more confined areas and narrows choice of killing the target. It feels less like being a kid exploring a candy store (filled with death and guns) in wide-eyed excitement in anticipation of all the options and store in front of them, and more like being placed in a cramped candy store with less options that just simply look prettier and sound nicer. And you'll be punished for not choosing the 'best' available candy.
tl;dr:
Too bad. Be literate.
I recall several missions where there were no less than six ways to kill the targets (and still get the best rating). Disguises worked the way they ought to and you only broke cover if doing something suspicious (I brought this up for a reason).
Yeah, after watching some gameplay of the older ones (I own the games, but don't have a ps2 or xbox to play them on), the new way disguises work isn't to my liking. Can't move around much without instinct. I suppose their reason for doing so is to encourage more stealth gameplay, but I didn't see a problem with the others.
Also, did they take out that one thing from the previous games where after a mission you could decrease your notoriety (think it included other things as well, like weapon upgrades). Showed a newspaper then a list of things you could do iirc.
I'm gunna be brave and go mainstream, Halo 4. Yeah I'm not very diverse when it comes to games and that's the best of the year probably IMO.
Also, did they take out that one thing from the previous games where after a mission you could decrease your notoriety (think it included other things as well, like weapon upgrades). Showed a newspaper then a list of things you could do iirc.
There really is no after mission feedback. You get your score, find out what gave you your score (kinda sorta?) and tells you what what largely useless skills you gained (Increased aim with sniper rifle and faster pistol reloads? If only I was allowed to use these skills!). Then off you go to your next mission. I loved the newspaper article in Blood Money. Told you how many bullets fired, how many hit or missed, how many people killed and how they were killed. It just felt amazing reading about what you just did. The best part was when you did in Silent Assassin ranking. The news article more or less read "Yeah, this person died in a horrible accident. And then this person as well. How sad. And not at all suspicious." Best moments ever.
Every mission has the same set of points additions/subtractions. Killing non-target NPCs and being alerting hostiles at any point detracts score, killing quietly and hiding bodies increases score. Oddly enough, if you kill a non-target NPC (and incur the massive point loss) you still can not break even if you kill them without anyone noticing and managing to dump the body into a freezer or the like. You still take a hit to score for killing the NPC. Because the game does not want you to kill people outside of the target. Yup.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the melee combat. Hand-to-hand specifically. It's all QTEs. Every time. Hit buttons that appear on screen to not lose. Yeah, that's great. I really love QTEs instead of playing the game! No, really! I MEAN IT. It's the best thing ever in games. *storms out screaming blasphemies and kicking open doors*
Oh, I haven't played Skyrim but I saw a few VODs and it looked like a lot of fun. I'm personally holding out for Fall Out 4 for a RPG type game. Skyrim just assumed a re-skinned Fallout series. Which was a re-skinned Elder Scrolls series. lol
Oh, I haven't played Skyrim but I saw a few VODs and it looked like a lot of fun.
But, you know, Skyrim came out in 2011. Release date was 11/11/11. So...yeah.
And I'm confused that it sounds like you are responding to someone else.
I don't have much else to say about Absolution, the things you brought up are spot on.
Comparing these two missions from Blood Money and Absolution.
In Absolution it doesn't look like you roam around as much, there aren't many areas to climb on or many alternate routes, can't walk around without being suspicious (even with a disguise), the way you can see through walls and it highlights your target makes it easy mode, you don't have to worry about hiding the bodies most of the time.
Blood Money did well with the maps/missions. If you wanted to take out someone or the target(s), you had to time it just right to get away silently. However if you wanted to do it differently you still could, like dropping a chandelier or poisoning their food. There were several ways to off them, and with most if not all you still had a chance to get away silently, they were just more risky.
That reminds me, I remember it bringing up the screen of your target(s) when they would do certain things. Like at the retirement home (or was it somewhere to get clean?) it'd show someone making soup and another getting alcohol out of a globe. You were able to poison it then it would bring up the screen of him dying. Good times.
Guards/police would patrol everywhere, so hiding bodies was very important. Just something to add more suspense. Wanted to take out a cop to get into a building? Make sure you time it right, change, then hide his body quickly before you get caught.
I'd prefer to be able to walk around freely with a disguise instead of constantly crouching or making sure I have enough instinct to pass people. As for seeing through walls/etc, you don't *have* to use it, but it's one of those features that irks me. Like unlimited pistol ammo in Splinter Cell: Conviction, made a game that used to be difficult and require a lot of thought too easy.
In Blood Money you had to know what the character looked like and overhear conversations to find their whereabouts, but in Absolution it's as simple as seeing through walls...
Absolution did well with the soundtrack though, I've been keeping up with the walkthrough of it and it's so pleasing to hear. It's been a long time since I played Blood Money (and the others) but from the videos I've seen I don't hear anything besides character and NPC actions. Occasionally there's music, but it's just things from the Opera or dancing/disco music that goes away when you get far away enough.
The areas where Absolution really trounce Blood Money (and the rest of the series) is in sound and voice-acting. The rest just sort of falls flat for me. Even the story fails to really interest me. In the others, you knew why you were killing these people. The before mission dossier on your target told you a lot of info on the target such as their history, prior convictions, current occupation and (most importantly) the reason for someone wanting to kill them. They were all really horrible people, spare one example, and it was satisfying to not only murder these people but also get paid for it! Yay!
Compared to now, where it is more of a "Well, you started off getting revenge and that turned into fulfilling a dieing wish and back to revenge. You know what? Kill that jock/scientist/whatever as a designated target. Just do it" spiel. The one assassination that would of been the most interesting is the very first one. That happens largely though in-game cutscene. Yup.
Now for a bit of Blood Money love gushing:
In the entire game, there were only a few missions I did not totally fall in love with (House of Cards, Flatline, A Dance with the Devil). One that really stands out is the very first mission. It's a friggin' huge amusement park that was shut down because of dangerous rides that killed a kid. The owner is now in debt and has started producing and selling drugs on the grounds. It sets a great mood for the rest of the game simply because this one target in in the grey zone when compared to everyone else you have to kill in the game. He did not mean to kill the kid, and he is plainly remorseful about it. To me, it was a reminder that not -everyone- you are hired to kill is outright evil. Bad things happens, and those have repercussions. The repercussion in this case happens to be a claw hammer buried in your skull. Sorry.
hmmmmm quite hard to say their have been quiet alot of good games this year
The Walking Dead Game won GOTY from The VGAs.
Don't worry, I'm shocked that it was even nominated too.
On related news, Journey won Best Indie Of The Year.
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