Buying new video games for the PS3 is always an expensive occasion, for any of the games worth playing that is. Since I got my new HUGE SCREEN Panny I have been going through my old PS3 collection replaying some of my favorites so I figured what a great time for a list of video games that I have ended up enjoying for their replay value over and over again.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Fallout 3
Now, I have these in my collection and I enjoy watching Jason play them and they are breathtaking in their scope as games go. They are HUGE games and there is a lot of gaming and replaying you can do in these things.
BUT… eeeeeh not really.
They unfortunately can take forever to start up and get going. You have to generate a character to play the game which I find pretty dang boring because it takes SO DAMN LONG. Then, once you are actually involved in the game it is so big that you either keep playing or you wind up getting lost. They require keeping track of a long narrative and I would much rather pick a game up or put it down based on what is going on. I don’t want to HAVE TO set aside a whole week or so to play through a single game.
These two games sold incredibly well and have proven themselves to provide endless fun for lots of people since one is your typical huge ass Dungeon RPG and the other is a well conceived Post Apocalyptic Sci-fi nightmare but I find them just too demanding of my attention and when they finally get it… well, I find them intimidating and not the type of games I want to pick up for a fun couple of hours.
I want to frolic, not trudge, my way through a game dang it!
Saints Row 2
inFamous
Borderlands
Now these selections may shock you and to be honest, the fact I liked some of them despite their particular subject matter shocked me. inFamous turned out to be superhero fest of running through a city kicking bad guy butt with a twisted story line while Saints Row 2 I thought would be yet another Grand Theft Auto rip off…
AND IT WAS!
But! They were trying to rip off the fun Play Station 2 days type Grand Theft Auto of Vice City or San Andreas not the overly complex and hard to control “buzz kill” we ended up with in the PS 3 Grand Theft Auto IV. Saints Row 2 was a real surprise in that even though the graphics sucked and the whole thing frankly you have seen and done before in other games. The mix of the simple game play and the humor and the fact you had a huge city to explore just kept me involved and heading out to the next challenge. The only problem is the same one the original Grand Theft Auto suffered from. Can you handle all the gangsteristic “yo bro” crap? If that is not a problem you just may enjoy Saints Row.
Last but not least is Borderlands. I love this game. I HATE HATE HATE Hated the ending, but loved the rest of the game. It’s a shooter, and I generally dislike shooters, but it’s a Sci-fi shooter which I guess I kinda like with ugly monsters and mysterious futuristic women seeking to use and abuse you and tons of humor and you can do just about anything you want in the game… collect weapons, go on a monster killing rampage, see how fast you can speed through the main storyline so you can then watch the truly miserable disappointment of an ending.
Borderlands is my example of a “kinda weak” game that has several really great game mechanics.
1. Character customization that does not take an hour. Just choose something and go and you will figure out if you made the wrong choice for your style of playing soon after.
2. Tons of short goal driven sub-games to keep you busy for a few minutes without having to commit hours to the main storyline. And! The ability to just wander around and check out the sights without having to do anything.
3. A simple to remember main storyline. I can start an old game and with a few checks here and there I will know where I am in the plot and what I need to do next.
4. The game does not take itself seriously. There is humor involved.
I can totally grab Borderlands for a enjoyable afternoon of shooting and chuckling at the jokes. Which I guess means it’s not really that weak of a game. I keep coming back for more.
Bioshock 2
Red Dead Redemption
I am still deciding on these two games as far as if they will be as highly re-playable in my collection. They are decent games but they are mostly here because they represent my latest purchases and you will see people talk about them because they are the latest BIG GAMES.
Bioshock 2 is OK. I like how they let you play the game as a Big Daddy and I still found it fascinating and dark fun just as the original was. I feel the original Bioshock was still more single player oriented and had a more complex interesting storyline while this one had a solid multi-player ability but not many twists. So maybe it’s one of those choices… IF you like multi-player geared games (I don’t really) with a shorter, less complex, single player mode get Bioshock 2 and if you like a great single player experience stick with the original Bioshock.
Red Dead Redemption is again… OK. It’s hella-fun to play Clint Eastwood running around the wild west and doing cowboy things. BUT! The game was a glitchy mess. There were quests I could not complete because they disappeared on me. There were times I fell through the floor or got stuck in a wall. These are the same folks that gave us Grand Theft Auto so they should know better than this shit. The controls are just as bad as GTA IV. Having to continually press a button to run forward is freaking annoying people! IF you can overlook all that stuff it was a fun time with some great promise but it unfortunately has another ending I HATE HATE HATE HATED.
With all these games though it is not so much about the endings as it was about all the fun I had during the journey which is why I still pick them up and continue playing them whenever I want a fun afternoon.
Feel free to suggest your favorites.
Tags: Video Games
erastes wrote,
I agree with you about Oblivion – it is my first real experience of that kind of game, (I had played FF7 years back on the Greystation, but never got more than half way through it) and what I am not good at is the minutiae needed – e.g. making sure you’ve got THIS attribute or THAT spell (frankly, I haven’t really even worked the spells–I use hero vision or whatever it’s called so i can see monsters even behind walls, and heal – and that’s about it. I don’t think i need to stress that I’m playing it on super easy…) But yes, if i put it down for a week (or longer, which often happens) I can’t remember what the hell i’ve done, or where everything IS – I can’t find a fence right now, which is annoying. I really just want to be able to play without having to have a 400 page book of hand written notes beside me…
I haven’t got many PS3 games, for the expense reasons, but I have really enjoyed Metal Gear 4, even though the non auto save facility is fucking irritating (when you are used to it with all the other games) and you get cut off because of the electricity cuts off or you just forget – and find you are right back at the beginning…. arghle. You need to be used to the MGS games and just let the hours and hours or preachy cut scenes wash over you, but playing Snake is worth it, I have to say.
But my favourite of all is Assassin’s Creed 2. Loved AC1, but all the irritants of that game such as the repetition of having to run down the mountain every single time had been removed. I was disappointed at the hang glider section not being bigger (after the trailer made so much of it) and that you couldn’t replay the bloody missions AT ALL, but hopefully they’ll address that in the next one?
A successful game for me is one which makes my real life a little odd – because I find myself looking at buildings and assessing how quick I could scale them (if i was a super hot, fit buff young man with buns of steels and not an old bag who can hardly toddle into the kitchen without puffing) – or if I’m in a car park with CCTV I find myself trying to work out how to get past them without being seen….
Link | June 27th, 2010 at 10:00 am
TeddyPig wrote,
I tell people if you like Oblivion then you will love Fallout 3 same company and same attention to details.
Assassin’s Creed sorta got shorted by me since I bought the first game and felt ripped off. Maybe if I catch a sale or something I will give 2 a shot. They did not do themselves any favors with the first one.
inFamous 2 should be out at the end of this year so there is something I am looking forward to.
Oh and Borderlands and Bioshock 2 and Red Dead Redemption and Fallout 3 have tons of Down Load add-ons coming out which is the latest thing to keep the games going with add on content.
Unfortunately most of the add-ons are of the multi-player variety. Which is fine but I like to play alone.
Link | June 27th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Assassin’s Creed 2 | The Naughty Bits wrote,
[...] I told erastes I would give this game a shot and the good news is I finished it in a week. I loved the wandering around in history part of the storyline. I also loved that they had totally re-engineered the game play from the original. [...]
Link | August 7th, 2010 at 8:00 am