Note: As I only have an outdated Playstation 2, my games list will be of little importance to most people. Feel free to ignore.
Bully
Bully was this year’s escapist guilty pleasure for me; a private school to take over, a town to explore, numerous interesting characters to interact with, and tons of side missions and bike races. The environment and surrounding people have the breath of life Rockstar always endows games with, and it makes the whole thing so much less like a game and more like a micro-lifestyle.
Rockstar Games (the guys behind Grand Theft Auto) released Bully late last year, to a small roar of parental anger over the subject matter. It turned out to be mostly benign: The worst parts of Bully simply reenact scenarios already in kids’ movies like The War, giving the lead the opportunity to punch opponents or knock them silly with a potato gun. What parents should’ve known is that Bully is a game that encourages kids to go to school: It requires the player to maintain a strict schedule of class, lunch, class, evening shenanigans, and an early bedtime in order to effectively achieve goals. As in GTA, players are given the free will to do what they please, but with the implications of truancy cops, fatigue, and unstoppable adults, “free will” transforms from a anarchist sandbox into a true simulation.
Call Of Duty 3
The mother of all WWII games for the PS2, COD3 dispenses of silly things like health packs (and a health meter altogether), instead crafting a full experience around realistic squad combat and copious amount of explosions and people yelling at you. Far more fun than its predecessor, COD3 is also much longer, and playing it on Hard mode is a worthwhile and memorable experience.
Odin Sphere
This Penny Arcade best sums up Odin Sphere, a bizarre super-hybrid of gameplay types, mixed with the hand-drawn gorgeous graphics of old-school Neo Geo fighting games. It’s quite literally a side-scrolling role-playing-game where you feed plants with the souls of enemies and use them to make pastries that you eat so your health bar can “gain experience.” Oh, and did I mention that you can combine objects, but their “numbers” multiply each other, and the destruction of objects with higher numbers and the correct second digit releases soul energy? I guess I didn’t.
Despite what sounds like complexity, Odin Sphere is actually a focused, simple delight: Fast-paced 2d-combat with beautiful enemies and a longggggg storyline.
Portal
I didn’t even PLAY this game, but I must name it one of the best games of the year on principle. The concept itself, the videos of gameplay, and the delicious closing credit song make Portal one of the most original games to hit consoles in years.
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