My Top 5 Video Games of 2013

#5: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

MGR:R is easily this year’s best hack and slash game and comes in at a solid #5 on my top 5 list. The game presents a spin-off story starring Raiden, the infamous cyborg ninja from Metal Gear Solid 4. It has excellent graphics, challenge and an amazing soundtrack that bears listening even when not playing the game. On top of all that, you just have to give bonus points to a game that uses it’s own made-up word in the title.

#4: The Last of Us

Is it supposed to be Ellen Page or isn’t it? Who cares, because the real star of this game is the intense survival action. The Last of Us has successfully captured the magic that the Resident Evil series has been trying to rekindle for years now, and does it while presenting a story that is legitimately engaging and heart-wrenching. This game mixes 3rd person shooter gameplay with challenging stealth sequences that will have you on the edge of your seat. One of my favorite aspects of this game is that it really doesn’t feel like a game when you are playing it. The areas and sections of the game are so seamlessly blended with the gameplay that’s its super easy to become engrossed while playing. This is a game that will continually be referenced in the ever-ongoing “Games vs. Art” debate for years to come.

#3: Bioshock Infinite

Another highly artistic yet undeniably addictive game, Bioshock Infinite brings all the high quality FPS action you’d expect from the Bioshock series and sets the game in a truly unique world environment. The game presents a fair amount of challenge but it’s the story’s constant twists and turns that are going to keep you glued to the game, all of which culminates to one of the most satisfying, thought-provoking endings in game history. This is another one to reference the next time you are debating your friends if video games are works of art. I feel like this game is generally on par with The Last of Us in terms of quality, but I had to rank Bioshock Infinite higher simply because I enjoyed the gameplay more.

#2: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

For RPG lovers, Ni No Kuni is a breath of fresh air in a console generation that has generally been lacking in Japanese-style RPGs. This game was developed as a joint venture between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli. If you’re not aware of these companies, crawl out of the rock you’ve been living under and just know that they represent the absolute best in their respective fields. This game has amazing anime-style graphics, a heart-warming story to tell and is overall just plain fun. It reminds me a lot of Dragon Quest VIII, another of my favorite RPGs. One of my favorite aspects of the game are the familiars, who are your characters’ counterparts in battle in the same vein as Pokemon. All of this combined with a rather long quest and post-game content makes for one of my favorite games of 2013.

#1: Grand Theft Auto V

Is this a surprise to anyone? I suspect that Grand Theft Auto V will be at the top of many gamers’ lists because it is simply that good of a game. GTAV takes everything you love about GTA and just gives you more. This game, set in fictional Los Santos, is massive and full of activities, random encounters and missions to complete. I literally don’t believe that any game has as much varied content to offer gamers as Grand Theft Auto V does. I feel that the story missions and heists were especially well done and had a good amount of variety to them, which is something I think has been a weakness in the GTA series in the past. The ability to play as 3 different characters is, surprisingly to me, very well done and keeps the game from getting too stale. The story is very interesting and has some real humanity to it which also surprised me. Basically, this game is flippin’ sweet and IMO is the best game released in 2013 (and I haven’t even talked about the extremely robust and fun online mode)!

Honorable Mentions:

DMC: Devil May Cry

I’ve already said a lot about this game here, but I wanted to mention it again because it really is one of the stand-out titles in 2013. In my mind it was a battle between this and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance for the #5 spot on this list, but I had to give it to MGR:R due to the engaging challenges that game presented. DMC is a game that faced criticism from both fans and non-fans alike, but I think that this game showed that it can and will carry the Devil May Cry pedigree in 2013 and beyond.

Dragon’s Crown

Dragon’s Crown is an under-appreciated gem of a game lost in a sea of FPS rehashes. It harkens back to a time where side-scrolling beat ’em up games were king and is effectively a love letter to the genre. It has beautifully hand-drawn graphics and sprites, engaging gameplay and a killer online co-op mode spread across a deceptively long quest. The playable characters represent different play-styles and strategies and really serve to add variety to this game. If you’re a beat ’em up fan this game is sure to be a hit with you.

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Thanks for checking out my top 5 video games in 2013 list. Do you agree with my picks? What games did I miss? Be sure to let me know in the comments.

Twisted Metal game review

When I think of vehicular combat, I think of Twisted Metal. The original Twisted Metal for PS1 is a game that I would play religiously, so I was very happy to see this series finally have a presence on PS3. Is the new Twisted Metal as fun, addictive and ground breaking as the original back in the day?

This new game takes everything you like about Twisted Metal and upgrades it. The graphics look great, the driving and handling are smooth and the online modes are a blast to play. However, fans of the series will notice right that many of their favorite characters and vehicles are missing. Instead, there are only 3 actual drivers that drive all the different cars. Aside from that there is a good variety of vehicles to choose from. You might want a vehicle that is slower but has strong armor, or you might choose a sports car with weak armor and employ hit and run tactics. Your personal preference and play style will dictate what cars you are able to be successful with. There’s even a helicopter!

The single player story in this game is kind of short, especially when you consider that there is only one storyline instead of the multiple storylines and endings that past games had. Instead, you are treated to one story that covers the events of 3 participants in the Twisted Metal tournament. The cut scenes are live action and are very well done – I wish more games would do this! As part of the story mode you will engage in several very fun boss encounters, and if you are truly hardcore you can attempt to beat the story line on Hard or Twisted mode for a very formidable challenge.

The single player is fun and all, but in all honesty you will probably beat the game 2 or 3 times before you get sick of story mode. This is a game that was designed for multiplayer local and online play, and that’s probably where you’ll spend the majority of your time. There are lots of different game types, including death match, hunted, last man standing and a ‘capture the flag’ type game called nuke. The lobby screens are pretty well designed and the game has some fun features for online play including clan and party support. Playing this game online is a freakin’ blast but not without it’s networking issues. In my time playing online I have had some problems getting into lobbies, mid-game disconnections and freezing. The game has already been patched twice and online stability was improved greatly by the second patch, so I’m sure that the developers will have a lot of these networking issues solved soon enough. The good news is that the game is so fun to play that it’s easy to forgive a hiccup or two with the network.

There’s a lot to like about the new Twisted Metal. Battles are fast-paced, look great from a graphical perspective and are full of destruction. There are also some nice details that really round out the package, such as being able to design custom skins for your vehicles (via the Twisted Metal web site) and custom soundtrack support! I think this is definitely worth a purchase. It’s one of those games that has a simple premise, but when you start getting into it you are treated to a game that is deceptively complex and rich with strategy and tactics. Oh, and Sweet Tooth can morph into a robot and fly!

Who will enjoy this game?

• Fans of classic Twisted Metal games
• People with an appetite for destruction
• People who enjoy playing online but would like a break from FPS/TPS shooters
• Social gamers