holabendez blog

Played a lot of sequels (more often than not second sequels), and generally with video games sequels turn out better than their predecessors. That was certainly the case for many of the first sequels to games that had their second sequels released in 2011, however for the most part those second sequels were unable to top their predecessors. Gears of War 3 was the notable exception where the game just got even better.

A great conclusion to the story, loads of great action set pieces, and hands down the best multiplayer experience I’ve ever had. Before I’m done with this game I suspect I will have played more of it than any other game on my consoles, it’s just that good.

Top 5 Games I played in 2011:
1. Gears of War 3
2. Saints Row: The Third
3. Uncharted 3
4. Killzone 3
5. Dead Space 2

Favourite game of 2010: Mass Effect 2

As an ardent GTA fan I’ve never really been able to accept any of the imitators to the genre and particularly the Saints Row franchise which always seemed like the poor cousin. However in Saints Row: The Third, Volition have absolutely stepped up to the plate and delivered the perfect batshit crazy game of complete insane mayhem that GTA: San Andreas should have been.

Where Rockstar took GTA IV in the direction of realism and stronger character and storytelling, Saints Row: The Third goes down the path of all out mayhem, and does so with such amazingly fun results. One of my favourite games of the past year, without question.

Respect to Treyarch for creating a different narrative technique for their Call of Duty game but after Modern Warfare 3 I was kind of sick of military shooters. I think I need some time out from that kind of game. Also, Sam Worthington can’t do an American accent to save his life.

An interesting gameplay mechanic involving shining a torch on your enemies before shooting them – a solid survival horror game with a solid story.

Always been a fan of the Gears of War series, and the third game ties up the trilogy brilliant. A polished, well refined game, with excellent graphics and tight gameplay. It also has immense replayability through all its online features. This is the first game where I’ve truly gotten into the online multiplayer side of things. I’m still playing the game to this day and I suspect I’ll be playing plenty more of it for weeks to come. A must have for any Xbox gamer, along with its predecessors.

Zombies. Lots of zombies. My first properly foray into online co-op multiplayer was with this game, and it’s pretty fun. You really need to work together in order to get through the levels. It was frustrating at times, but overall a good game.

The original was a great puzzle game, and this one steps it up another notch. With a decent narrative this time it was good fun and a nice mind bending. The additional of the online co-op was the icing on the cake.