My 2013 in Games

So much for blogging more... This is the first blog entry I've made in two months, since I resolved to write more to get the most out of my new computer. But I suppose the new year give me a new opportunity to try again. I'm not going to make a fancy declaration, just a casual determination to have the most productive year ever. And since this blog only received less than 20 entries in two years, it really shouldn't be too difficult to surpass that. We shall see, of course.

Looking back at 2013, it was pretty productive clearing out my backlog. A little too productive, perhaps...

As sacrilegious as it may seem to some of my friends, I actually sold pretty much all of my old-generation games and consoles. NES, SNES, N64, Dreamcast, PS2, Gamecube, Wii... all gone. I sold off hundreds of games this year. I don't think it was a mid-life crisis. I just reflected upon how little I ever dig out those things, how much space they were taking up, and how ugly they look hooked up to a big HDTV. Also, achievements/trophies have really changed the way I play games, it's hard to play anything that's not giving me that little reward for doing so (Which is also why my 3DS and WiiU are so underplayed). ). I do love HD remakes, and there are scores of games I would immediately pounce on if they got the upgrade.

As far as my 360/PS3 backlog, I trimmed it down considerably as well. I cut my losses on a bunch of games I don't want to bother with, and been working my way through a lot of the rest. Three racks of games have been reduced to nearly a single rack. However, my digital games have EXPLODED! PS+ is evil with all their free games. My PS3 hard drive has been full for quite some time, and I hardly touch the digital games... since I can't sell those, I concentrate on finishing disc-based games I can then get rid of.

I've also been sooooo much better at finishing new games that I start. There's only a few games that came out in 2013 that I have left unfinished. But I haven't given up on them! All but 2 of those are digital games, so they fell into the distracted-by-disc-games category. Those other 2 are ones I'm taking it slow on, so I don't run out of things to play on my PS4...

Actually, there were several Ninendo games I started, and just totally forgot about. Oopsie.

Here's how the year in 2013 breaks down:

Finished 88 games:

36 of those I had begun in previous years (a few I had to start game from beginning again)

15 were games released in previous years I didn't start playing until this year

37 were games released this year

That's an improvement over 2012 where I finished 57 games, 17 of those I began in previous years. It's even a slight step above the 87 I beat in 2011, the year which I set out to improve my completion percentage (31 of those were already started).

Going forward into 2014, I don't see much need to make any big changes in my gaming style. Just keep being proactive with my backlog, and finish what I start. I nearing the point in my backlog where it's a lot of lengthy RPGs, so I'm not sure how well my backlog trimming will look this year. Maybe I'll avoid playing mediocre looking new games so I'll have more time for the rest? Probably not, but we'll see how it goes.

And for those interested in such things, here's a list of my finished games of 2013, by date of completion:

Dungeon Siege III - 360

Borderlands - PS3 (finished on 360 years ago)

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days - 360

Borderlands 2 - PS3 (finished on 360 previous year)

Battlefield Bad Company 2 - 360

Midway Arcade Origins - 360 (Played each game at least once)

Ghost Recon Future Soldier - 360

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom - 360

Fracture - 360

Watchmen The End is Nigh Part One - 360

The Outfit - 360

Eat Lead The Return of Matt Hazard - 360

Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway - 360

Turning Point Fall of Liberty - 360

WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 - 360

Aliens Vs Predator - 360

King Kong - 360

        - All of these listed above were finished in January 2013! It gave me high hopes that I would be able to blow through my entire backlog before year's end. However, that was only because there hadn't been any new games coming out yet. Productivity dropped sharply once I started playing new games instead of just ones I already started.

Dead Space 3 - 360

Aliens Colonial Marines - PS3

Lego Lord of the Rings - PS3

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance - PS3

Naughty Bear Panic In Paradise - PS3

Left 4 Dead 2 - 360

                I only had to complete the last campaign for this one. In my original run through, I was knocked OVER the final objective at the last minute by a tank. My squad had no way to get to me so they finished without me. It took me a couple years to get over that crazy sucker punch to try again.

Crysis 3 - 360

Tomb Raider - 360

                I think this is my favorite game of 2013. I have yet to play any Xbox One games, and there wasn't too many other stand-outs this year. I'll be getting this again when it's released on PS4.

The Walking Dead Season One - PS3

God of War Ascension - PS3

Rag Doll Kung Fu - PS3

Haze - PS3

                A big thanks to my nephew for helping me trudge through this horrible game. My first co-op partner surrendered years ago, and I knew I didn't want to finish it on my own.

Walking Dead Survival Instinct - 360

Gears of War Judgment - 360

Army of Two The Devil's Cartel - PS3

Bioshock Infinite - PS3

Defiance - 360

Injustice Gods Among Us - PS3

Tales From Space Mutant Blobs Attack - Vita

Star Trek The Video Game - PS3

Poker Night 2 - 360

DMC - PS3

                This was an incredible looking game. I'll buy anything from Ninja Theory just for the gorgeous visuals. I can't wait for the next gen projects!

Spec Ops The Line - PS3

Metro Last Light - PS3

Saints Row The Third - PS3 (finished on 360 previously)

Fast & Furious Showdown - PS3

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - 360

Fuse - PS3

                How does the company that makes Ratchet & Clank put out a game with so few (and uninteresting) guns?

Alan Wake American Nightmare - 360

Sniper Elite V2 - 360

Remember Me - PS3

                My most disappointing game of 2013. It was suffocatingly linear, both in level progression and ability growth. There was no hacking minds of random enemies, just the preset bosses. The rest of the game was straight up walking from one battle arena to the next. And terribly repetitious combat. And it looked so damn promising.

Prey - 360

FEAR 3 - 360

Castlestorm - 360

Uncharted Golden Abyss - Vita

Deadpool - 360

The Last Of Us - PS3

Little Deviants - Vita

Little Big Planet - Vita

Just Cause - 360

Dark Messiah Might & Magic Elements - 360

Brutal Legend - 360

Hellboy The Science of Evil - 360

Little Big Planet - PS3

Overlord - 360

Mafia 2 - 360

Stranglehold - 360

Project Gotham Racing 3 - 360

Warriors Orochi - 360

Disney Infinity - PS3

                So far they've only released play sets for Pixar & Johnny Depp movies. They're missing an enormous opportunity with this game.

Saints Row IV - 360

Splinter Cell Blacklist - 360

Killer Is Dead - PS3

                This was one of those "what the hell am I playing?" games, but the gameplay didn't really match the bizarre everything-else. I wish they'd put a little more creativity into the dull combat so I could actually recommend people play this.

The Darkness - 360

Dead Or Alive 5 - 360

Grand Theft Auto V - PS3

Rayman Legends - PS3

                An incredibly fun fun  fun game! I loved it, with the exception of the remixed levels at the end that want you to play through levels without relying on your eyes! What?!?

Iron Man - 360

Beyond Two Souls - PS3

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean - PS3

Lego Marvel Super Heroes - PS3

Batman Arkham Origins - PS3

Knack - PS4

Killzone Shadow Fall - PS4

                This game bored me to no end. Traded it in by the time I synced my last trophy.

Warriors Orochi 3 - 360

Journey - PS3

Incredible Hulk - 360

The Saboteur - 360

                Here's a hidden gem of a game from a few years ago. Loads of fun, even if the climbing is a bit slow for today's standards. Throw in some co-op and you've got an awesome sequel waiting to happen!

Dead Space - 360

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag - PS4

                This game was definitely a consideration for my favorite game of the year. The sheer fact that I enjoyed the crap out of the ship battling is an amazing feat, as that was one of the things I hated most about the last game. I would have gone for the platinum trophy, if only they'd dump the multiplayer (they should just make multiplayer a separate game for those who enjoy it. Perhaps a free-to-play game).

Contrast - PS4

As you might be able to tell from this list, I shifted to more of a PS3 player since Microsoft essentially stopped supporting the 360 in 2012. I still bought a few new 360 games, mostly co-op games, or because of mistakes in my preorder (Tomb Raider) or games I thought might have bonuses from playing previous entries (Saints Row IV) or those only available on 360 at my rental store. Going forward in the new gen, I'll probably lean towards PS4 for my single player games, but I'll keep more of an eye out for exclusive bonuses that could sway me in certain directions. The vast majority of my friends list is still Xboxers, so until some more of them get a PS4, co-op will still be primarily on Microsoft's console.