Top 5 Games of 2010

I know a lot of people write "Top 5" lists, and this one is going to be no different.  I play a lot of video games and this is just one way for me to look back, and see what kind of great games there were.  It's important to note that this list consists of only games that I've played and completed.  So while many other websites have given Red Dead Redemption their "Game of the Year" award, it's still sitting unopened on my shelf, waiting to be played.  With that out of the way, let's jump in!

#5. Limbo (Xbox 360)

Limbo is less of a game and more of a dark, twisted fairy tale.  The mood, the environment, the story all make Limbo special.  While the gameplay is enjoyable, it's not Limbo's strongest point.  It succeeds in drawing the player into it's world and not letting go.  The game is short; about 3-4 hours your first time through, but every minute is engaging and exciting.

#4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Xbox 360)

Not only was the movie amazing, but the game gives Bryan Lee O'Malley's creation another great adaptation.  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an old-school throwback game.  It's brings back memories of River City Ransom, Double Dragon, and the Final Fight series.  It's a beat 'em up in the purest sense of the word.  Great characters, great music, and great gameplay.

#3. Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)

What can be said about Halo: Reach?  It's Bungie's crowning achievement in the Halo franchise.  Unfortunately, the single player campaign didn't have the impact that previous games in the series had.  I don't know if it was Reach's more serious tone, the characters, or it's lack of epicness, but it didn't quite live up to the previous games.  Regardless, it's still an amazing game and I cannot wait to see what Bungie does next; post Halo.

#2. Bayonetta (Xbox 360)

Yeah, yeah, it's a game about a witch who fights creatures from Heaven and whose clothing is comprised mainly of her own hair AND she doesn't even wear it for half the game, BUT you know what; it's fun!  Sure, the story makes little to no sense and the humor is way over the top (and predictably Japanese), but the gameplay is pure joy (pun intended).  I can honestly say I haven't had as much fun playing a game this year then I did when playing Bayonetta.

#1. Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)

No one left behind!  I have never felt the sense of achievement more than I did with Mass Effect 2.  While Bayonetta may have been the most fun I had, Mass Effect 2 was the most enjoyable experience, period.  BioWare has carefully molded and polished the Mass Effect universe into a REAL "choose-your-own-adventure" story.  The experience I am having is MINE.  I make the decisions, and because of that, the consequences are my own.  If someone dies, it's my fault.  You have to be the best that you can be, and for that, Mass Effect 2 is my game of the year.

Can It Be!? A Hot Tub Time Machine!?

Sadly, no.  But Julie and I did have a great time this past weekend.  We headed down towards Indy to see our friends Sam, Mandy, Andrew, and Brianna.  It was an evening full of food, drinks, laughing, and oh yes, hot-tubing, thanks to our hosts Andrew and Brianna.  They were kind enough to open their home, and hot tub, to us.

The great thing about a hot tub is that it is a year-round activity.  While the temperature dropped to a cold 17 degrees, with rain, sleet, ice, and finally snow, the hot tub stayed a nice 104 degrees and made for an awesome good time.  We did not end up traveling back to the 1980's, but we did reminisce about the past; the great times we had and hopefully the good times to come.

Now the questions arises; when will Julie and I give in, and buy our own hot tub?  Hmmm...

Final Thoughts - The Last Airbender (DVD)

This is how one man can kill a franchise.

The Last Airbender is a horrible film.  Horrible!  The television show, which the film is based on, is a delightful experience.  There is humor, adventure, drama, and interesting characters.  Over the course of three season, the viewer gets to know these characters, see their motivations, and create a bond that draws the viewer in.

The film does none of this.  At all.  Ever.

What's so bad about this film?  For starters, the story, the dialog, and the writing.  The actors in this film aren't great, but from previous work they've been involved in, they're not bad either.  The problem is in the dialog, or the little dialog there actual is.  Most of the story is literally TOLD to the viewer.  The characters narrate events that were shown on the television series.  This takes away the chance the viewer has to connect to the characters and gives you nothing more than a history lesson.  Why am I supposed to care about anything that happens?  Because the movie told me so?  Yeah, that works.

And is doesn't help that the actors give flat performances.  If they at least showed some emotion at times, I MIGHT have been able to looks past the horrible writing.  But instead, we get a cast that looks like they're straight out of a after-school special; complete with awkward looks and a lot of fake crying.  The television series prided itself on it's humor.  The show is made for kids after all, so you would think that humor would be, at least, a part of the film.  The few moments where they attempt to make the audience laugh fail because the bad acting.

Finally, we have M. Night Shyamalan to thank for this film.  Right there should have been my first clue about what I was getting into.  I've said it before, but I think Shyamalan is a great director of photography, but a horrible storyteller.  He thinks too much about the visual impact of the film (which, I will say, is the one good thing about the film) and not enough about engaging the audience.  Pretty pictures don't make a movie.

For all this, at least we still have the television show, which is amazing.  And with any luck, the new series will capture the feel of the original, and make this film nothing more than a footnote in the franchise's history.

Final Thoughts - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Xbox 360)

First impressions are everything. Assassin's Creed 2 was an amazing game. That was my first impression with the series. I'm glad I played the second game in the series first, because the first game was mediocre at best. The newest game, Brotherhood, is really more of an expansion to the second game in every manner of the word. The story follows that of Ezio Auditore da Firenze and continues just moments after Assassin's Creed 2 ends. It seems to me that these two games together actually make what the developers had originally planned; a single game.

Simply put, the game is great, with lots of new material and content to explore. If you were a fan of the second game, there is no reason to pass this one up.

But, with that out of the way, I want to focus on the true story of the Assassin's Creed series. Stop reading if you haven't played any of the games, because we're going heavily into SPOILER territory. You've been warned.

The real protagonist of Assassin's Creed is that of Desmond Miles, and it's his story that has really pulled me into the series. Living in the modern day, he is forced to relive the memories of this ancestors in what basically amounts to virtual reality, searching for ancient artifacts in the middle of a war between the Assassin's Guild and the Templar Order. As his story progresses though, it becomes much more than that.

The games introduce the idea of ancient civilizations, the birth of man, alien (maybe) technology, and the coming apocalypse; it's far more interesting than the history lesson that the games portray. It's in these brief moments as Desmond that I am truly engaged. These moments bookend the games and the end of Brotherhood is a doozy. It leaves WAY more questions than answers. Unlike Assassin's Creed 2, where the ending was pretty clear about what was this was all about, Brotherhood takes this information, throws it across the room, and makes you question everything you know up to this point.

THIS, is a great story telling mechanic and I applaud the developers for making this game series thought provoking. Julie and I sat around for two days after completion, discussing the story, the implications of certain events and dialog, trying to figure out what comes next. Story is everything and it's great to see developers focusing more on this as well as design and gameplay. Brotherhood impresses and I CANNOT wait until Assassin's Creed 3.

I Think I'm Going To Start Blogging Again

Yeah, I think so.

It's been a while since I've actively blogged and I've been feeling the itch to write.  There a lot I want to talk about, review, chronicle, and give my thoughts on; in more than 140 characters.

Blogging was a great outlet back in grad school and now that I find myself in the day-to-day grid of a full time job, it gives me a chance to think about something OTHER than work.  It's not going to be a daily thing, but I will try to update frequently.

I tried using tumblr as my blogging platform this past summer, and while I liked the service, blogger is simply a more powerful blogging tool (duh).  So I'm back here and starting anew.  The archives are intact; everything from the past 5 years is there for you to see (although it looks like I didn't write anything in 2008, must have been a busy year).  Game on!

danrhine.com

danrhine.com has a new face! I’ve started using a service called flavors.me and it’s working great. It’s basically a landing page for all my other content scattered about the inter-webs. This should make things much easier in regards to keeping information up-to-date.

Take a look and let me know what you think!

rhinephotography.com will be the next site to get a face-lift, probably in the upcoming weeks (it needs a lot more design work, rebuilt from the ground up, should be fun).

First Impressions - Halo: Reach Beta (Xbox 360)

I had TWO first impressions with the game.

At first, it really wasn’t working for me. It seemed like Halo was trying to be Call of Duty. My first couple of games were chaotic and messy. Nothing felt right.

Then, we found the fun.

After getting elbow deep into it, the mechanics start to make sense and it DOES feel like Halo. There are a couple of weird decisions that I hope are taken care of before the game ships (really, did the controls need to be different from EVERY other Halo game made before) but I think there is a very good game here.

First Impressions - Super Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360)

I suck.

I haven’t picked up a “Street Fighter” game in years and now I’m paying the price. While the game is fun and brings back memories of old, I can’t help but feel like it’s going to take a lot of work to relearn what I once used to know.

365 Update

I know I haven’t posted too many pictures recently, but I’m still taking them. Going to try and get an update done tonight.

I’m finding that as I continue with this project, I’m taking MORE than one picture at a time. I’ll shot my one picture, but then I’ve got my camera in my hand, so I shoot a little more.

I guess this is the ultimate goal of the project, right?

Final Thoughts - Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360)

This game blows.

It’s slow, repetitive, and boring. There are literally only FOUR things you can do in this game. And after you do these same four things for 10+ hours, I want to pull my hair out. You can ask my wife; I was at my wits end!

Go play the second game…

First Impressions - Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360)

After the first reviews came out, I decided to pass on Assassin’s Creed. When the second game came out and got amazing reviews, I picked it up and thought it was a great game. Seeing as how I know enjoyed the series, I picked up the first game, only to find that it is… boring.

I am about 1/3 of the way through the game, and so far there are only four… FOUR things you can do. You either climb tall buildings, save civilians, collect flags, or assassinate people. The first three you do a couple HUNDRED times and the last you do 9 times. Boring.

First Impressions - The 11th Doctor

Epic.

I was afraid I wouldn’t be a fan of Doctor Who after David Tennant left, but after watching the series 5 premiere, those doubts are gone. Matt Smith is going to make a great Doctor.

First Impressions and Final Thoughts

I am a big fan of all things media; music, books, videogames, films and television. While I believe that reviews are subjective, my believe is strong in that the way you feel when you first see something and the feeling you have when it’s all said and done count for a lot.

That’s why, I’m going to start a little mini-review of various things I come across. Whether it’s a new game I’ve just started playing, a new TV show I’ve started watching, or maybe even a new gadget I just bought. These are not going to be long-winded posts going into every detail, but more quick thoughts, seeing how I feel about something at the beginning, and how I feel once it’s done.

I’m going to throw a few out today, but continue to look for more in the future.

365 Update

While I have been taking my one picture per day, I have yet to get them online for the last few days. Be patient, as a large update should happen tonight. Thanks!

Fail

I missed my photo yesterday.

Now, to correct this, I have to take two pictures today.  The first of two is coming up soon.

An Exercise In Photography

I am a photographer.  That is what I went to school for, it’s what I do as a professional, and it’s something that I enjoy.  With that said, so much of my time doing photography now rests in the professional field and I need to do something different; an exercise to get the creative juices, as it were, flowing again.  It has been four years since I’ve worked on a project that was just mine.  I’m ready now to step back into that world and do my own work.

But as I work towards some grand idea, I’m going to be exercising my eye, my skill, and my technique.  It’s easy for me now to look at a project and say “this is how my client would like this shot.”  What’s not easy for me to see is how I would shoot a project.

For the next 365 days, starting at 4:24am on February 27th, I am challenging myself to take ONE picture per day.  One photo.  No test shots, no balancing, no adjusting exposure.  How I take the picture is how it will be presented.  Blurry, out of focus, overexposed, underexposed; it does not matter.

When the exercise is finished, the images will be released as a book, along with written commentary on the process and the reasoning.  As I progress through the exercise, I also hope to keep a video log to be released as a short documentary/podcast detailing my journey of one picture per day.

The images, video, and all related content will be released here at danrhine.com