Monday, December 31, 2007

Welcome!

Welcome one and all! This is the inaugural post of The Gamers P.O.V. blog. I've created this blog not only for long time gaming fans but also for people new to gaming. I'm no pro-gamer and I do not play long hours everyday. This blog is for everyone who wants unbiased opinions on the gaming industry. My intention is to look beyond the hype and provide fair review or opinions on games. I feel like some of the bigger gaming news publications don't always give fair assessments on games and I intend on making it easier for people to decide whether to get the game or not. I will review games, give my opinions, you can agree or disagree, and I will also try to bring news stories from the gaming industry. I will try to focus not only on the big games and the big studios but also the little guys trying to make an impact. Lastly but no the least we will have some fun doing this because it is video gaming after all! It's supposed to be fun and entertaining. So let's get started without any further delay!

Since today's the last day of the year 2007 I will start out with my list of the games of the year and also take a look at some of the major gaming news of this year.



2007 Game of the Year

My choice for 2007 game of the year is Infinity Ward's intense shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The guys at IW have done it once again, making an excellent game with some of the most intense action sequences ever created in a video game. Although some complained about the short single player campaign I think it was well made because of the different variety of missions created. When the game did end I was glad it ended because I didn't know if I could stand another four to five hours of high intense action. Level design specially the AC-130 gunship level was memorable and lots of fun to play over and over again. The arcade mode provides depth to the single player mode and has a nostalgia factor. What makes COD 4 really stand out though is the multi player mode. With it's excellent levelling up system the game does not loose the fun factor and adds some gusto even after repeated sessions. You are always looking forward to unlocking new weapon attachments, completing new challenges, and changing your own online build. The possibilities are almost endless it seems with the create a class system. There are plenty of online maps to choose from and a lot of modes. From the classic team deathmatch to the one-on-one battle there's plenty of online modes to choose from. The only problem I have with this game is the lack of co-op play and the lack of online split screen mode. I hope IW will implement these features quickly because it will only make this terrific game even more better. Overall COD 4 set the bar very high once again for a war shooter so let's hope the rest of the gaming industry has been paying attention.

Runners Up: Mass Effect, Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter 2, and Rainbow Six: Vegas.



2007 Most Over hyped Game of the Year

This award goes to the much beloved Halo 3. The third and hopefully last installment of the Halo franchise shattered all sorts of records upon it's release. I never was a Halo fan but I decided to go buy me a copy of this game. After playing through the mostly mundane single player mode I asked myself, "What's the big deal about Halo?", the game doesn't look like it's anything special in terms of graphics. Next to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Halo 3 looks quite shabby. The fact that the protagonist is named Master Chief is beyond me. It's sort of like Ricky Bobby, having two first name. So what are you? Master or Chief? Anyway, after trudging through the mindless single player mode I decided to try my hand in the online mode. Granted the multi player mode offers different variety, like the Forge mode and the ability to record your online session, it still isn't anything remarkable. We've seen this style of game play on Unreal Tournament already. Bottom line, Halo3 does not come close the the hype it received and I think there are plenty of better shooters out there.

Runners Up: Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City (When is it coming out?), BioShock, and Madden 2008.




Other Games & News Stories of 2007

2007 was an exciting year with big name franchises coming back and new franchises getting started. With the release of Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare gamers were in gaming heaven (if such a place exists) and will be entertained for the next coming months with new packs being released to the market.

Mass Effect, BioWare's epic sci-fi story was one of the best games I've played in years but still it lacked the depth or the emotion of their previous works like The Knights of the Old Republic. Hopefully the sequels will have more depth.

We saw pc gaming push the limits of technology with releases of Crysis, Supereme Commander, Neverwinter Nights 2, and etc. Crysis specially was a remarkable achievement considering maybe a handful of people can maybe run it close to a decent framerate. This coming year might actually provide gamers with the necessary hardware to play that game at a moderate to high specifications.

Couple of big name mergers, specifically EA and BioWare will hopefully result in great games and not diluted products. Let's hope a company like BioWare can keep doing what they do best and hopefully EA will not meddle too much.

Well this turned out to be quiet long for a first post but hopefully you enjoyed reading this. That's all for now and I wish everyone out there a very happy and safe New Year's! Peace!