THE BIG VIDEO GAMES POST PART 2

Batman: The Arkham Knight

 Gotham City is in peril once again thanks to Scarecrow and his newest partner, the titular Arkham Knight. The third title from Rocksteady Games and their conclusion to the Arkham trilogy, was hyped up by the fans ever since the title was announced last year. Undeniably, it’s current-gen iteration is the most beautiful I’ve seen in their three games. The action was superb and as always you get a pitch perfect performance from Mark Hammill and Kevin Conroy.

 However, as much as I would like to love this game, it really isn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the technical aspects of the game, and I feel it has improved a lot since Arkham City. But it just did not hook me. I don’t know. I didn’t like the whole Batmobile sequences (and there is a LOT!). Driving in video games has been my weakness ever since, and this game has a lot of it. So much so, that you can’t progress further into the story if you don’t utilize the vehicle. And I hated it.

 Good thing Youtube has videos of all the cutscenes for this game. I have no patience to solve all of Riddler’s trophies and puzzles. I know there are over 200 of those around Gotham City. It’s too bad really because if you take those out, Arkham Knight is a brilliant Batman game. It has a solid combat system. Every villain has their own play style and fuck, all of Man-Bat’s appearances begin with a jump scare!!! The story has its flaws, but it’s engaging. It’s gripping, and they almost always require you to think on your feet. You really do become the Batman when you’re playing Arkham Knight.

 But my idea of being Batman is one where I don’t drive the Batmobile a lot.

Until Dawn™_20150908003456

Until Dawn

 Sony’s sleeper hit last August is one of the few games I actually finished this year. In the advent of huge open world video games, it’s refreshing to play a short story driven game. I loved video games that you can finish in one weekend, and this is one of the bests that came out in 2015.

 Until Dawn follows 8 teenagers headed by Hayden Panettiere,  who return to a cabin one year after a tragedy befell two of their friends. What originally was set to be a reunion of some sorts turned out to be a nightmare inspired by all of our favorite scary B-movies.

 In my gameplay, I only saved 3 of the teens, but this game has a lot of choices and consequences that it is possible to kill or save them all. I watch of gameplays online for Until Dawn, and rarely do I see similar scenes per gameplay. No, it is not an open world game, unlike the other titles on my review, but there are still a ton of things to keep your attention to. There are collectibles, clues, totem poles, sometimes I delay the story so I can walk around and find loot.

 I truly enjoyed my 8 hours of playing Until Dawn, if it weren’t for my huge backlog, I would give another try with this title. Hopefully, with all kids surviving next time.  This is not Game of the Year material, far from it. But in terms of pure enjoyment, Until Dawn delivered in droves. It is tense, suspenseful and can be funny when it needs to be. I finished this game in one weekend because while playing, I found myself not wanting to let go of the controller. I wanted to find out what will happen to Mike, Chris and the other kids I got attached to in the 8-10 hours I played this game.

 

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

 Oh Kojima you brilliant son-of-a-bitch. I have played and finished most of the Metal Gear Solid games since I first discovered it in 1999. I remember enjoying all the unique and absurd things that you can find littered all over the world of Solid Snake or Raiden or Big Boss.

However, The Phantom Pain felt different. It felt unfamiliar. It looks like something new. But not the bad kind of different, don’t get me wrong. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was excellent!

For one, this game is now an open world. You are free to wreak havoc on Afghanistan or Africa in any way you want. You can be stealthy, you can go guns blazing. You can choose to have a dog as a sidekick or a robot, or a sexy sniper. There are several ways you can go about completing missions, and you are only limited by your imagination.

There is no game like this one before. My initial impression, specially after playing Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is that I’m not going to like this game. Trailers, kind of made it look difficult. Complicated. It certainly is overwhelming, if you have not played this game before. It will not hold your hand. This game will treat you like a smart person, because it expects you to be one.

Honestly, I don’t remember the story of this game that much, because majority of my playthrough of this game was spent running around the map, fultoning people and animals to bring home to my mother base. In TPP, everything has a purpose. Soldiers you kidnap will become your followers which you can use to expand your base or to complete tasks or gather more resources. Animals you fulton will go to your own private zoo. There are over 250 missions/side missions to complete in this game. Considering how much games are these days, It’s more than worth what you paid for.

 

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

Assassin’s Creed is slowly becoming a tired concept. I have played several games in its franchise with varying levels of enjoyment. Black Flag and AC2 being the best ones in my opinion. Unity, even after all of its patches remained a broken mess when I tried to play it again a couple of months ago.

Fortunately, Syndicate is one of the good ones from this series. London is a great place to run around in. Maybe because it’s finally easier to traverse the huge map, that’s why I like this game. But the thing is, it’s still the same Assassin’s Creed.

You are shown a map with its little icons for treasures, missions and sidequests that you need to check off. 10 hours in and it’s become a bit of a chore. A chore that I don’t want to do anymore.

Jacob and Evie Frye are definitely interesting characters, that may initially play different, but eventually are the same. They are interesting characters, definitely. It’s such a shame though that their world isn’t.

I guess I’m just tired of playing around the world of Assassin’s Creed. It is no longer that awe-inspiring world. I don’t feel the vertigo anymore whenever I jump off eagle’s perches. It is a stealth game that does not really feel too stealthy. Maybe I just got spoiled by how great MGS:TPP was at stealth action. Or maybe it’s really just time for this franchise to go away for a little bit and find its purpose again.

 

Fallout 4

This has been the only game I played since it came out a few weeks ago. It has totally swallowed up what little free time I have. Fallout 4 probably will be the only game I’ll be playing until the next big game comes out in the next couple of months.

So far in the 60 hours that I have played Fallout 4 I have walked all over the upper half of Boston. I found 5 Power Armors. I freed and befriended a Super Mutant, a Synth detective, a dog, a pretty investigative journalist, a Minute Man and a heavily outfitted soldier. I finally learned how to put up a decent house, and built a three-story fortress. I have started about a hundred quests and sidequests, finished only a few and still have not moved forward in my main mission which is to find my kidnapped son.

Just like all the other Bethesda games, this will devour all of your free time. Fallout 4 will keep you playing until your head hurts and your eyes begin to deteriorate. I have spent a couple of sleepless weekends already trying to find new locations on my map. But it’s because I have been a huge fan of the developer ever since I played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

I get though that this is not for everyone. Walking around the wasteland can be a bit boring. It’s not as fast as your typical first person shooter and not as engaging as your typical linear games. Fallout 4 requires you to be patient. It wants you to enjoy discovering. It asks you to not be afraid of its world.  This game has bugs and glitches, which are I guess a staple of the developer already. Some might say, that’s the game’s charm, but we’re now on the latest generation of consoles where everything is powerful now, so we expect games to not have floating corpses or flying Brahmins. That turns me off a little bit. Fortunately, I have not experienced and game breaking bugs on my playthrough.

But I guess, the question now is: is this a Game of The Year type of game?

It could be.

 (Images courtesy of Google)

BEST OF 2014

I'm not going to wait for the year to end to post this. I have work on the 31st so I don't think I will be able to have the time to write a post then. So I'll write this while working on Rizal Day.

All images captured from Google.

BEST MOVIE (International)
LAST YEAR: Gravity

The best film is the type of film wherein days after you've seen it you still think about what you saw and it still gives you the chills. Whether it's how awesome the characters are or how disturbing the story was, it still leaves something. Gone Girl is my best movie of 2014. What a disturbing movie!!! I watched it twice and in both showing, I notice how everyone in the cinema were really talking seriously about what they just saw. It was disturbing. It was emotional. It was shocking. It was a very very effective film. On facebook, whenever I post about a film I just saw, I normally just get likes, but when I posted about this, people really wanted to discuss the movie. You don't really get that a lot. And for that reason alone is why Gone Girl is my best film of the year.
RUNNER UP: Captain America: Winter Soldier

BEST MOVIE (Local)
LAST YEAR: OTJ

I know in terms of quality, the indies take the cake for brilliance in the local film scene. But in all honesty, I have not been exposed to it as much as I want to. But to be honest, 2014 hasn't really been a good year for us in terms of quality films. Even the indies had fewer noteworthy titles to choose from. So bear with me as my pick this year is reflective of the mainstream Pinoy films that we all love to hate. But then again, truth is we still pay to see these films. We swoon when we see kilig moments. And we still smile watching all the same cliche's film after film after film. Honestly, all Pinoy films tell the same story but with only different actors. Okay, enough ranting. The best of all jologs Pinoy cheesy films of 2014 is Starting Over Again. And I choose this solely because I love Toni Gonzaga.
RUNNER UP: Bride For Rent

GAME OF THE YEAR (Console)
LAST YEAR: Grand Theft Auto V

2014 is the start of the current generation of consoles, so it's quite understandable that the games are not of the same standards as the brilliant games that came out last year. Honestly, this year only 2 games are vying for the title of the best game of 2014. A choice between gameplay innovation and sheer size. Admittedly, Shadow Of Mordor's Nemesis system is the best thing to come out of video games this year. It gives players the ability to tell it's own story uniquely his. But Dragon Age: Inquisition consumed most of my idle time ever since I bought the game a few weeks ago.  I have poured in 60 hours into this game and I don't think I'm halfway done. There are literally tons of things to do in this game world and it's clearly worth what I paid for. Oh and just like with previous Bioware Games that I choose to win GOTY, it really helps that they let players have gay sex.
RUNNER UP: Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor

GAME OF THE YEAR (Handheld)
LAST YEAR: Tearaway

I bought my PS4 this year, and have played no other console as much as I did with my PS4. So my choice for Game Of The Year for Handhelds for 2014 is the only game that I played the most. Nintendo is great at creating games that allow you to kill time. With titles like Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Pokemon or even Animal Crossing, you could literally lose thousands of hours playing those games. But my 2014 Handheld game of the year is nothing like the innovative games I mentioned above. It's a return to form for classic JRPGs. Bravely Default is the best turn based RPG I have played since the time of the PS2 era JRPGs. It's tactical, challenging, and really addictive. I love getting new costumes as that meant that I will have new abilities. The characters are charming and funny and it has a very Japanese story which is quirky, imaginative and confusing as shit. Just how I like my Japanese Role Playing Games.
RUNNER UP: The Walking Dead: Season 2

BEST OF TV DRAMA 
LAST YEAR: The Good Wife

So the past few years I have been skipping on this show as the best US Drama series because there have been a lot of outstanding shows. That's why I think I've given this award to almost all of the best shows out there. That's why this year, I'm giving the award to one of my favorite shows of all time. Shameless. It's a family dramedy about a VERY dysfunctional family. The show is so taboo I don't think this will ever be allowed to be shown in our country. Regardless, the show is damn funny, brilliantly acted, and just like drugs, is so addictive. It is tasteless sometimes. It is filled with morally questionable characters and your heroes are pretty much all criminals in the making, but they are the most relatable and likeable characters on tv. I fucking love Shameless!!!
RUNNER UP: Game Of Thrones

BEST OF TV COMEDY
LAST YEAR: The Mindy Project

I am no longer the target market of MTV. I actually want to puke whenever I see something teenybopper on television these days. So imagine my surprise when I found myself glued to the television watching this year's winner. Faking It. It's a show about a couple of high school girls faking being lesbians so they will become famous in school. Just like the usual coming of age stories, one of them turns out to really be gay and falls in love with the best friend. But as cliche as this story gets, it's actually funny and it doesn't take itself too seriously (hello Glee). The show, now on it's second season, has now moved on from it's original premise and I think is getting better for it. This show may never win an Emmy, but I think it's the closest we'll get to seeing how American teenagers really are this generation. It's a cool show.
RUNNER UP: The McCarthy's

BEST OF TV (Local)
LAST YEAR: Got To Believe

What is a Gillboard Best Of post without an appearance of something directed by Cathy Garcia Molina. It would be nothing. And this year, I'm giving out the recognition of Best Pinoy TV Series to Forevermore. I love how this show makes me feel younger. It is a very Pinoy Soap Opera. It checks on a lot of boxes in the How To Make a Teleserye Handbook. The poor girl / rich guy love story. The evil future mother in law. The scene stealing supporting characters. The funny barkada of the guy. The third party. I'm pretty sure someone will get kidnapped by the end of this show. But then again, even if you do it, if you do it right. Get the script right. Get the chemistry right. Filipinos will buy the shit you throw at them. Unfortunately, I'm one who buys those shit. And come on, there really isn't anything really good on Philippine TV apart from our news and current affairs stuff. Is there? Anyway, back to Forevermore. What I like about it, is that it's smart enough that even if it ticks all those soap opera cliches, it gives us a bit of a twist that keeps us guessing if what we predicted will come true or not.
RUNNER UP: The Voice Of The Philippines

BEST IN MUSIC
LAST YEAR: Just Give Me A Reason

Let me be predictable for once. I like me some melancholy songs. And my song of the year goes to a singer who really writes great sad songs. The male or gay version of Adele as they say. Sam Smith's Stay With Me resonates for a number of  reasons. One, the song is really really relatable. Who among us have that one night stand that we wished was not just? Oh god, if I heard that song like 8 years ago, I would have sung that to that unforgettable one night stand. Two, Sam Smith. Wow, that voice!!! You could really feel his emotions in all of his songs. He's my favorite artist this year, bar none. Three. It was not overplayed unlike John Legend's theme song of the year. Four. It's just one song from an album that's full of great music. Actually, let me take back the award from Stay With Me. The Best In Music this year for me is anything from Sam Smith.
RUNNER UP: Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud

BLOG OF THE YEAR
LAST YEAR: Wickedmouth

I know I haven't been the most active blogger this year. I think I visit only a handful of blogs. And let's be honest, there haven't really been a lot of active bloggers anymore. The greats have now moved on  to better things in life. But there's been no one really who's been as consistent in writing posts as this year's winner. Regardless the posts are read or not, he still writes. I heard it's something he needs to do. For me, he is the epitome of the adage, "we write to express, not to impress". He's one blogger that I have known from like when I started blogging a few years ago, yet, he's someone I've never actually met in person. I admire this blogger because it is difficult to find things to write, but he never seems to fail to find one. From trysts, to heartbreaks, his job, to family matters. They may sometimes be deep, but they are very well written. I have given this award to people who are no longer in the blog world, but I'm quite positive, we'll be seeing his posts for quite some time more. Cheers Kuya Joms of L'Heure Bleue
RUNNER UP: Geosef's Alphabet

BEST OF 2014 NOMINEES

Continuing my year end tradition of naming the Best of The Year.

What is your choice? Point out if I missed something. Comment below, let me know.

Best Movie (International)

Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Gone Girl
Grand Budapest Hotel
Boyhood
The Lego Movie

Best Movie (Local)

Bride For Rent
Starting Over Again
1st Ko Si 3rd
Dementia

Game of The Year (Console)

Dragon's Age: Inquisition
Far Cry 4
Infamous: Second Son
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Alien: Isolation

Game of The Year (Handheld)

The Walking Dead Season 2
Bravely Default
Freedom Wars
Fantasy Life
Tomodachi Life

Best Of TV Drama (International)

The Good Wife
Game Of Thrones
Shameless
Orange Is The New Black
Homeland

Best Of TV Comedy (International)

The Mindy Project
The McCarthy's
Faking It
Modern Family
Brooklyn Nine Nine
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

Best Of TV (Local)

Forevermore
The Voice Kids
Two Wives
Pure Love

Best In Music

All About That Bass (Meghan Trainor)
Wiggle (Jason Derulo)
Chandelier (Sia)
Stay With Me (Sam Smith)
Rude (Magic)
Shake It Off (Taylor Swift)

Blog Of The Year

Citybuoy X City Songs
Geosef's Alphabet
Skeletons In My Closet
Wickedmouth
L'Heure Bleue

BEST OF 2013

I don't think I can wait anymore for the last day of the year. I have work then, and I think I'll be busy doing work at home. So let's just do this today then.

As with my other Best Of posts, I would like to first thank everyone who stuck with this blog event hough I don't post the way I do before. Even though I'm less funny, I write very rarely and sometimes I don't make sense anymore. Thank you.

So let's get it started.

BEST MOVIE (International)
LAST YEAR: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
I think this is the year where science fiction was taken seriously. It's not always about a chosen one destined to save the world. It's not always about super powered beings from another planet. Science fiction can also be simple. Something like... being trapped in space. Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity is a perfect example of a simple science fiction tale. It is unbelievable how you can be at awe at the beauty of seeing our planet from space and  the same time afraid for Sandra Bullock's character. That is the power of great filmmaking, storytelling, superb acting and today's technology.
RUNNER-UP: The Kings of Summer, Before Midnight

BEST MOVIE (Local)
LAST YEAR: Unofficially Yours
This year has brought us a surprisingly good number of awesome movies. Of course, we're still getting a bulk of romcoms, but we also got quite a number of quality films. A few of them were actually action films. If this were a different year, It Takes A Man and a Woman would have won the title, but since it's 2013, I choose OTJ as the best movie of the year. It is an awesome action film. Is it original? I don't think so. Filipino movie directors have been "inspired" by foreign films and some may compare this film to The Departed. It's action packed and it's intriguing. The fact that this is not a rom com alone gives it an edge over other titles.
RUNNER-UP: Four Sisters and a Wedding, It Takes A Man and A Woman

GAME OF THE YEAR (Console)
LAST YEAR: Mass Effect 3
Wow, this I had a really hard time choosing. While there are actually only two games that stood out, a lot of the nominees, if they were released another year would have easily won this distinction of being the best game. But how could you really choose between Grand Theft Auto V and The Last of Us? Both are really brilliant games. One has a really outstanding story with great gameplay and beautiful visuals. The other is a really huge game which no one could possibly want to stop playing. I could just make it easy and make it a tie, but there really has to be only one. I guess sky diving and dropping directly to a dirt bike then racing down the top of the mountain against a crazy drugged up daredevil, just because you followed a talking dog would trump an awesome zombie game this time. So, it is with great difficulty that I give the Game of the Year title of 2013 to Grand Theft Auto V.
RUNNER-UP: The Last Of Us

GAME OF THE YEAR (Handheld)
This is the first new title I'm giving out this year to replace comic book awards (if you don't know yet I have quit downloading them this year). I think it's only fair to separate the handheld titles from the console ones just because the quality between the two are really different. But then again this year, between my PSVita and 3DS, I played my handheld games longer than my consoles. Nintendo really had a strong showing this year with Luigi's Mansion, Fire Emblem, Pokemon and Animal Crossing. I think I spent literally hundreds of hours between the last three games. But the game I choose this year trumps them all not because of the length of time I played the game. Tearaway is a short game. But in the short time I played, it really pushed out all of the things my PSVita can do. From the touchscreen from the front back, camera, microphone, and everything else. All of them were used. Not all games could brag about that. And of course, it's got a great story.
RUNNER-UP: Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokemon X

BEST OF TV (Drama)
LAST YEAR: The Walking Dead
This is another tough category. But there are really only two shows that delivered really really strong episodes this year. Game of Thrones with Khaleesi's taking of The Unsullied and The Red Wedding. The Good Wife with it's Hitting The Fan and 100th episode. But really, only one episode is enough for me to give the title to The Good Wife. I have been a fan of the show since it's first season. But they really stepped up their game in it's first ten episodes this season. Just watch episode 5 (Hitting The Fan). I named it the best episode of any tv show ever. I clapped. I laughed. I sat on the edge of my seat. I got mad. All those different emotions just because of one episode. It's smartly written, brilliantly acted and generally just a joy to watch. I love this show.
RUNNER-UP: Game of Thrones

BEST OF TV (Comedy)
This is the other new category. Honestly, if I didn't separate the two categories, no comedy show would've won in Best of TV. I don't know why it took me five years to create this one. But I guess for one, there really hasn't been any truly strong sitcom on television the last few years. I think the golden era of sitcoms was the time when both Friends and Will & Grace were on air. Now, comedies just come and go. And this one, I'm afraid is a show that we may lose soon. The Mindy Project is a really funny series. Yes, Mindy can be a bit annoying. But really, there aren't that many shows that could make you laugh out loud or is tolerable to watch again other than this one.
RUNNER-UP: The Crazy Ones, New Girl

BEST OF TV (Local)
LAST YEAR: Be Careful With My Heart
Cathy Garcia Molina has been a strong presence in this annual thing I do, because she makes really 'kilig' movies. This year, she brought her signature work to television via my Best Pinoy TV Show, Got To Believe. This is again not originally nominated because it just started recently, but given it's newness, we it is a show that I really can't let go. I am not a fan of Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo, but I cannot deny that the couple has great chemistry. Something I last saw with John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo. The show itself is funny, charming, sweet and Carmina is an effective villain. I hate her. How can you really deny giving the title to Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Care Bear, Teddy Bear and Gummy Bear.
RUNNER-UP: Honesto, Juan dela Cruz

BEST IN MUSIC
LAST YEAR: Madness / Muse
Breakup anthems have been the most relatable songs there is. I mean everyone has gone through one. Hearts have been broken at one point or another. While technically this song is not a breakup song, it's almost one. Pink has been on a roll lately in delivering really great songs, but Just Give Me A Reason is the best on her discography. Who doesn't know the lyrics to this song? It's about a couple having a trouble with their relationship and are trying to find a reason to stay with each other. Who hasn't been in this situation? That's enough for me for this song to be the best song of 2013.
RUNNER-UP: Blurred Lines

BLOG OF THE YEAR
LAST YEAR: Wickedmouth
There hasn't been any blogger who has experienced more success this year other than Glentot himself. He's so successful he's now published. It's one thing all real bloggers would want for their blog. And that alone is reason enough for Wickedmouth to be this year's best blog... Again. I have had a chance to finally meet him this year when he gave me a signed copy of his book (which unfortunately was among the things that was taken from me by those fuckin' holduppers). Glentot, if you're reading this I need another copy of your book please!!! Anyway, if you don't believe me, just click the link and go to his blog. I'll shut down my blog if you tell me you didn't laugh in at least one of his posts.
RUNNER-UP: Alfabeto Della Mia Vita

GRAND THEFT AUTO V REVIEW

I have played Grand Theft Auto 5 roughly about 20 hours and in that time I have rappelled over a building to kidnap an FIB witness, flew an airplane and a helicopter, stole a washed up rocker's gold tooth for an elderly British couple, introduced my drug laboratory to a Chinese businessman's drugged son, and worked with a paparazzi chasing after a Lindsay Lohan-type actress trying to outrun the cops... and then stole her pink sports car after she got arrested. Just because I can.

And that's the greatest thing about this game. You can literally do anything. One of the jobs I'm about to do next is to blow up a cargo ship and steal whatever's being guarded inside it using a submarine!!! 

I guess this is the dawn of this generation's games. After 2013 it's all about the PS4 and XBox One. But the business is still strong for the PS3 and 360 as evidenced by this game's release. Just goes to show that it's going out with a bang.

So going back to GTA, this is Rockstar Games' best outing for the series. It is a culmination of all the leaps that they've done over the last few years, combining all of the strengths of all of their previous releases and adding a few more and then giving us a truly remarkable story to make this a genuine masterpiece.

Unlike any other game, GTA5 stars not just one, but three protagonists, almost all trying to make their lives better but keeps getting entangled with the criminal underbelly of San Andreas. Michael is a retired thief, Franklin is an up and coming gangbanger and Trevor... uhmmm the human equivalent of the Tazmanian Devil. 

Technically, this game is truly outstanding. There are no load times, the graphics is crisp, gameplay is pretty easy to get used to (except flying fucking planes), the voice acting is superb, and the script is sublime. It's funny, full of very interesting characters, and a boatload of things to do. In the 30 hours that I played this game I never had nothing to do. Simply driving around, you encounter random things that eventually may become integral to the overall story. I towed cars, I saved a construction worker whose truck got stuck under pipes that fell, raced an ex-lover and then met a lot of strangers and freaks.

Of course, this won't be a GTA game if you don't do the usual activities like assassinate, steal cars and intentionally or unintentionally murder a fuckload of San Andreas citizens. One welcome addition to the game are heists. These are elaborate crimes that needed multiple activities to pull off. I have only done one, a jewelry store heist, wherein I needed sleeping gas, hackers, an insecticide company van and a few reliable motorcyclists to do the job perfectly. It was an exhilirating scene seeing the plan work out. Now I'm about to start my second heist the one with the submarine and all that shit.

My initial worry for this game was that it would be difficult to play what with all three characters, I thought it will be confusing and difficult, but it actually isn't. The transition from one character to another is seamless and everything from the previous game improved. Shooting is better, even doing drive by's are easier now. Driving is still a bit wonky, but I think it's because of me. The only thing I was having trouble with is flying a goddamn airplane. But I finished that, so hopefully it'll be a bit easier.

This early, I'm already thinking of what game to crown as 2013's game of the year. I think it's going to be a really really REALLY hard decision which one is going to win with the quality of the games that came out. 

But I'm only 30 hours in... and I'm already leaning towards this game to win.

RATING: 10 out of 10 stars

THE BEST OF 2011

A few more days, and we'll say goodbye to 2011.

Normally, I post this on the 31st, but I have a feeling that I'm not going to have internet access again, just like last Christmas, I thought to just post this today. My favorites of 2011.

But before I proceed, I'd like to give thanks to all the readers, followers, contest participants, all those silent readers, the people who followed my twits and liked my Facebook page (I am hoping you'd interact with me more there, specially those non-bloggers who I really don't know personally). I appreciate your taking your time to read about what goes on inside my head, even if most of the time they're not that interesting.

Enough drama, let's get on with the awards:

BEST MOVIE (International)
LAST YEAR: Toy Story 3
This film wasn't a part of my nominees of best films for the year, and I don't really think you'd all agree that it's the best film of the year if you see it. There were three films this year that gave me a wide smile after finishing the movie. Harry Potter, Crazy Stupid Love and my pick this year for best movie... The Help. It's a period film about a girl who wrote a book detailing the challenges of being a 'colored' maid, earlier in the last century. It's a film that you'd really root for the protagonists of the story. It made you care about the characters. I don't know what it is with Emma Stone, but so far she hasn't done any bad film in my book.
RUNNER-UP: Crazy Stupid Love, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

BEST MOVIE (Local)
LAST YEAR: My Amnesia Girl
This is the year of the indie films. Before, when I hear indie movie I instantly think of gay films. This year's best film is essentially a gay film, but it defied the norm. Zombadings: Patayin Sa Shokot Si Remington didn't have mandatory sex scene. It did not portray us Filipinos as poor people. And it made me laugh out loud throughout the entire movie. Films like these and Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank gave me hope that Pinoys can do really good films and not just cheesy romantic comedies. Although I'm really looking forward to seeing Unofficially Yours next year (John Lloyd forever!!!).
RUNNER-UP: Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank, No Other Woman

GAME OF THE YEAR
LAST YEAR: Mass Effect 2
The last few months have been hard on my wallet. All the good games came out within  weeks of each other. But there was no other game this year that made me stay at home on weekends, forget that I'm in a relationship and basically ruined my social life other than The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This game literally has no ending. I'm 100+ hours into the game, yet I'm still not half into the main story. Massive is not an appropriate description of Skyrim. It's not a perfect game. I own the PS3 version and I experience (take note, it's in the present tense) lag whenever I've played more than 6 hours of the game, it's not for those people who crave action every minute into the game (you do a LOT of walking in Skyrim), and even if it's got a hundred of people in the world, you'll hear the same voices over and over again. But then it lets you kill dragons. DRAGONS for cripes sake! Nuff said.
RUNNER-UP: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Gears of War 3,

BEST OF TV
LAST YEAR: Dexter
This year I'm really torn about this category. A lot of shows really deserve being on this list. I really got hooked on all these shows this year and they really delivered the goods. But I have to make one choice. Game of Thrones. Where else can you see incest, blood, gore, sexposition (exposition while in the middle of having sex), beheadings, DRAGONS, and heroes not be safe from death? Nowhere. Well, Once Upon A Time just did the last part. HBO didn't just give us a modern day Lord of the Rings. They stayed faithful interpretation of the original George Martin series (A Song of Ice and Fire) and they gave it to us in 10 straight weeks. I can't wait for April to see Season 2 (A Clash of Kings).
RUNNER-UP: Once Upon A Time, Shameless

BEST OF PINOY TV 
LAST YEAR: Showtime
I don't get to religiously watch the primetime teleseryes, but from time to time i try to catch up. There aren't a lot of shows that I find really interesting. Like I said in a previous post, some of the stories being shown these days are recycled stories from before but only give a different twist that would at least make it seem like a new show. Lost relative. Kidnapping/hostage taking towards the end. But it's not really those scenes that make us watch them. It's in the meat of the story. The acting. The way it makes us feel better about ourselves seeing we don't have family members who want us dead. And it's always a positive if it makes us laugh. I've always been a fan of Xyriel's acting, and seeing Coney Reyes brings me back to those days when I was a kid watching my mom cry while watching Coney Reyes on Camera. 100 Days to Heaven deserves this award.
RUNNER-UP: Budoy

COMIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
LAST YEAR: The Thanos Imperative
Earlier this year, Marvel said that 2011 was going to be the year of the mutants. They did good on that promise with really great stories like Schism and Regenesis. But undeniably, this year's event is the Dark Angel Saga. Critics have been unanimous in proclaiming this storyarc as a modern day classic. Comparisons with The Dark Phoenix Saga is well-deserved, if not an understatement. This is an awesome story. The tale of Angel's descent into becoming the heir of Apocalypse is as gripping and as emotionally straining as other literary classics. It's beautiful when it started and much more how it ended. The Dark Angel Saga is a perfect example of how to write a comic event.
RUNNER-UP: DC: The 52 Initiative, Spider-Island

BEST COMIC SERIES
LAST YEAR: The Walking Dead
While The Dark Angel Saga instantly put Uncanny X-Force on the front row of this list, credit must also be given to other perfectly written series. And my hats off to Scott Snyder in making me read Batman. His Detective Comics was just riveting. A story you can't put down and stop reading. He knows his Batmen, whether it's Bruce or Dick, and he knows how to give them a challenge. Detective Comics' The Black Mirror and now his Batman's Court of Owls storylines are just some of the best stories published this year. I don't want him to leave this book as I think Scott and Batman are a perfect fit. Credits to Jock, Francesco Francavilla and Greg Capullo for giving the matching tone in terms of the art for Scott's words.
RUNNER-UP: Uncanny X-Force, Amazing Spider-Man

BEST IN MUSIC
LAST YEAR: Baby (Justin Bieber)
We don't really get a lot of quality Filipino music these days. I don't know if we're lacking good songwriters or if we just ran out of creative juice in terms of song making. What we're left with are bands with song whose lyrics don't always make sense and really good singers singing really used up remakes of songs. Then in came Zia Quizon's Ako Na Lang. It's refreshing in the ears. It sounds sosyal. It's uptempo. And you can't help but put the song on repeat. I loved this song. Whenever my phone randomly plays this song, I wouldn't listen to anything else anymore. I am not sure if her album contains remakes too (hopefully not), but listening to these kinds of songs make me hopeful in our ailing music industry.
RUNNER-UP: Adele

NEWS OF THE YEAR
LAST YEAR: President Noynoy
Don't you just hate it when Filipinos are put in bad light. I am proud to be a Filipino. I don't want to leave this country. But when you have an incompetent and bratty President, a corrupt ex-president, a boxer who longs to someday become a Vice President (or God forbid the future President), a sibling rivalry that ended up in murder between a Senator's half sister and poor brother headlining the news, it makes you change your mind a bit. Thank God, Shamcey Supsup and Gwendolyn Ruais made us forget about those thing even for just a couple of hours. They may not have won their crowns, but at least our attentions have been diverted to something pretty and not nasty.
LAST YEAR: The Arroyo's

BLOG OF THE YEAR
LAST YEAR: The Deadbeat Club
I loved short posts. They are easier to read. They don't make my nose bleed. And when done the right way, they entertain. I don't like long posts. I don't like posts written so lengthily with no direction and have no point. Bloggers tend to do that. But there is one blogger that does that, yet he still successfully gets me engaged in reading his long posts. He got me reading through his ordeal in finding an empty cubicle where he can dump his shit. I don't know how anyone could be so gifted in words. I'm jealous. His blog is not for everybody, you'd probably find this guy arrogant or snobbish. He probably won't find the time to visit your blog back if you comment on his posts. But he is a great read. This year the Best Blog is Lio's Same Shit, Different Day.
RUNNER-UP: Wickedmouth, Human, All Too Human, Ms. Chuniverse

Agree? Disagree? What were your bets for the year? And you've got til Sunday to join my little pacontest, see posts below. :)

I might not be online again on Sunday, so HAPPY NEW YEAR Everyone!!!

BULLET POINTS: GEEKY FRIDAY

Before I go straight to work mode, I just wanted to update this blog. Short things that's been keeping me off blogging and the blog community in general.

UNCHARTED 3
Great game. I don't know how many times I jumped off my bed while playing this game. It's like you're watching a big Hollywood Summer Popcorn Action Flick, with you having control of the main character. Will make a full review soon.

DANCE CENTRAL 2
I'm pretty sure I'm going to start losing weight again. Haven't found the time to dance yet, but any invite for a Kinect Party at my place, I'm game!!! I need to unlock all songs!!!

ONCE UPON A TIME
Let me promote another series that I am currently enjoying and that's Once Upon A Time. The show is about our favorite Disney characters (Snow White, Prince Charming, Pinocchio, etc.) cursed to be stuck in our world frozen in time with no memories of who they are. When I said Disney, I really mean the Disney characters from the cartoon flicks from our childhood. Watch it, it's a great show.

JIU JITSU
I want to congratulate a good friend of mine Max Nadin for winning the Gold Medal for the Master Category 57.5 galo weight in the recently concluded Rickson Gracie Cup 2011 International Jiu Jitsu Championship held in Japan. He's the only Pinoy who participated in the competition!!! Good job Max!!! Here's to hoping Sports Unlimited will take notice!!! Lolz

SOME GOOD NEWS
I'd also like to take this time to welcome back a prodigal blogger who became a friend of mine New Year's Eve last year. He disappeared for the last ten months because he had to fight off a health condition. I was able to talk to him earlier this morning, and am glad to know he's doing okay. My prayers will be with you, hoping for your complete recovery.

NOVEMBER 13
The date marks my sixth year of existence in the online journal community. I was thinking of a 'pakulo' to celebrate this milestone. My original plan was for another contest, but everyone's already started one, and I want to be different. But I might give away some swag from our little Fuel Company. We'll see.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Good vibes!!!

PARANG MAYAMAN LANG

Lulubus-lubusin ko na ang pagpapakilala sa inyo, madlang bloggers. Marahil karamihan sa inyo ay alam na marami akong kaartehan sa buhay. Marami akong hilig. Bisyo. Noong unang panahon kasi, walang pinupuntahan ang pera ko. Wala akong pinagkakagastusan.

Only child kasi. Single.

Wag niyo akong gayahin, kasi hindi naman ako mayaman. Noong binili ko ang karamihan sa mga isheshare ko, utang yun. Tipong gives. At malaking discount. Madalas nagkakaroon ako ng buyer’s remorse. Sayang. Pero ayos lang. Nadadaan sa pagtitipid.

Pipicturan ko sana yung hitsura ng kwarto ko, kaya lang ang dumi. Saka na lang, pag sinipag akong ipalinis ito.

So heto ang nagpapalibang sa akin sa aking pag-iisa.

Si Halle at Sonia ang dalawa kong cellphone. Si Halle binili ko noong isang araw, habang higit apat na taon ko nang telepono si Sonia. Meron pa akong isang lumang telepono, pero sira na siya. Ayoko siyang kunan ng litrato, kasi maalikabok.

Ang aking mga consoles. Si Bebong, ang ikalawang Xbox ko. Si Percy, ang aking PS3. Si Pepe, ang PSP at si Ken, ang ikatlong Xbox na may Kinect. Syempre kasama na diyan ang mga games. Konti lang ang original ko, mahal kasi.

Ang isa sa pinakauna kong nakahiligan bago pa man ako natutong magbasa ay manuod ng pelikula. Ito ang aking DVD collection. Konti lang ang aking pirated dvd’s. Mas gusto ko original kasi mas madaming added bonus. Nagsisimula na ako ngayon mangolekta ng Bluray.

Syempre meron din akong prized possessions, ang aking mga comics. Iilan lang yan sa aking kinokolekta, pag pumasok ka sa kwarto ko, kung saan saan mo yan makikita. Iyan ang complete series ko ng The Walking Dead. Dyan napunta ang 13^th month pay ko.

Marunong din akong magbasa. Ito ang iilan sa aking mga book collection. Mahirap silang kunan ng litrato kasi hiwa-hiwalay ang aking mga libro.

Dahil hindi naman ako kagwapuhan, kaya dinadala ko na lang sa pabango. Wala lang. At least kahit mukha akong basura, amoy mayaman naman ako.

Yan na muna. Babawasan ko na ang mga yan ngayon. May pinag-iipunan na kasi.

Tsaka madami pang utang.

KINECT

It was about 22 years ago when I was first introduced to the world of video games. Pacman and Super Mario were the most popular games back then. I remember not wanting to go home because I wanted to finish off King Koopa and save Princess Toadstool.

Video games have gone a long way from back then.

Last Saturday, I came home giddy like a child. I’ve brought home my shiny new Xbox 360 complete with their newest peripheral the Kinect.

Kinect is the newest gaming technology that uses motion capture to play their games. There’s no need to have a motion sensored remote or Move controller, you just move your body and your avatars will move like you too.

The first time I got in front of the Kinect, I immediately felt like I was in the movie Minority Report. You know the part where they were using the computers moving pages by waving their hands. It felt exactly like it.

Immediately l fell in love.

The system was responsive, that’s all I’ve got to say. Whatever I was doing in front of the camera, my character was doing it too. This is a great thing to have if you have parties because it’s a lot of fun to play with. When my mom and dad saw that I bought my third xbox, they were disappointed at me. I’m not saving money, they told me. But when they saw me play Dance Central, two minutes in, they were behind me following the dance steps on tv.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose weight now. Before when you play video games, you only sit on your couch or bed and just let your fingers do the playing, but now, it’s interactive. You have to kick if you need to kick a ball, punch if you’re playing boxing, jump if you want to jump and dance if you’re playing Dance Central. There’s even a game that helps you work out and break a sweat. I’m going to buy that one on February.

I currently have three games for my Kinect. Kinect Adventures, a party game that came with the unit I bought. This is a series of mini games that have you dodging balls, river rafting, racing and over 15 other short games. I haven’t had a lot of time playing this game yet.

Kinect Sports is obviously a sports title. Here you can play Soccer, Boxing, Table Tennis, Volleyball and Track and Field. This is a fun party game. You can team up or go against your friends playing short games. I personally liked track and field. I got tired easily playing this game.

But the best title I have in my library is Dance Central. Obviously, this is a dancing game. You don’t need to step on a floor mat with arrows anymore. You do exactly what your dance trainer is doing. There are 31 songs you can dance to, and they vary from classic disco tunes to the some of the current pop tunes.

This game is what we’ve been playing since I got the xbox. My niece was the one who got me all of the available songs because she dances very well. I have memorized I think a couple of songs and do good on some of the titles. This is my workout title. A couple of songs in, and I’m already sweating like a pig. I don’t really care if I look like an idiot flailing my arms around and doing the chooga chooga to the tune of C’mon Ride the Train. This is a lot of fun!

My early favourites are Lady Gaga’s Poker Face (because this is the easiest), Jay Sean’s Down, C’mon Ride the Train (I love doing the propeller), and Pitbull’s I Know You Want Me (this is my dad’s favourite too, I think).

Now, I’m not worried bringing people home because we finally have something awesome to do.

KINECT PARTY NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

FUN FACTOR: 10 out of 10 stars.