Hello, I’m Paul Goodman and these are my top 5 games from 2013.
As much as I have a love/hate relationship with horror games, I’d have to say that Slender: The Arrival was definitely one of my favorite games from this past year that I really enjoyed playing, even while I was dreading every minute. While a touch too short for my liking, Slender has all the makings of a good survival horror title- isolated environments, dark shadowy corners, and an antagonist that’ll stalk you relentlessly throughout the game. It scared the crap out of me more than any other horror game I played this year.
I love a good turn-based strategy game, and last year’s XCOM definitely ranks among my top best strategy games list. This year’s stand-alone expansion, Enemy Within, brought a whole new host of goodies to the table, making it feel XCOM feel like a whole new game. Since picking it up, I’ve had a blast trying to hunt down the crafty new EXALT faction, battling heavily armed alien Mechtoids, and creating genetically engineered super soldiers and powered armored troopers. And you know what one of the best parts of Enemy Within is? You can upgrade one of your mech suits with a rocket-powered fist and then start punching aliens in the face with it. In the face! It’s like Pacific Rim, only on a smaller scale!
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Tomb Raider, what with it being a sort of gritty reboot of the series, but after the first few hours I’d have to say I was pleasantly surprised and found myself glued to the screen for each chapter of Lara’s story of survival. Filled with all kinds of action and challenging gameplay, Tomb Raider was a great game that made me eager to see where the series goes from here. Plus, the bow was the most kickass weapon of Tomb Raider’s entire arsenal, and there wasn’t anything quite as satisfying as nailing a rampaging cultist from across the map with a well placed shot.
The Last of Us, in my opinion, had one of the best narratives in gaming this past year. Nate and Ellie’s journey across a post-apocalyptic, danger-filled landscape an engaging experience and I had to pick my jaw off the floor more than once with the many twists and emotional punches it threw at me. I also really enjoyed how The Last of Us blended action with survival horror, featuring nerve-wracking segments where you’d have to sneak past horribly mutated Clickers or engage in brief, teeth-gritting hand to hand combat versus human bandits. It was an intense and at times unforgiving experience to say the least.
What can I say about Saint’s Row IV? Well, tons of things, really – It’s a funny, over the top action-adventure with tons of junk-punching, weird and unusual weaponry, melodramatic aliens, sarcastic one-liners, Keith freaking David and a whole lotta wub-wub. Suffice to say, Saints Row IV doesn’t take itself too seriously in the least, and was a great game where you could just play around in the world and still feel like you’re accomplishing something, even if it’s just seeing how many cars smash using your super powers or how big of a dance party you can throw with the dubstep gun. God I love that thing.
