arnELEPHANT

10 Favorite Playstation 3 Video Games (in my collection)

I’d like to think that my golden era of video gaming was in middle school, when I would play Final Fantasy games, Zelda games, and about any game that scored a 9 or higher at IGN.com. But thinking back on those days, I think my era of golden gaming started sophomore year of college. The reason why? I hardly ever beat a game when I was 11 years old.

During college, when I bought a game, I always bought it on some kind of deal: B2G1, B1G1/2, etc. And before I got another batch of games, I would wait until I beat the 3 games that I spent money on; and money is very valuable when you’re going to an overinflated-tuition-hiked university.

And so I discovered that during these times, I played games to enjoy their visual gameplay, characters, and their stories. So here is my top 10 favorite Playstation 3 video games, at least from what I’ve played.

10: Assassin’s Creed II

Now I haven’t played Brotherhood or Revelations yet, because I still have a huge queue of game to go through, but I can definitely say it’s much better than Assassin’s Creed I. Every possible problem with the first was fixed here. But what did it for me was the engaging story. The missions tied so well with the story Ezio and the side missions were there for the fun of it. Also, the characters you meet in the game (here’s looking at you Leo) made it a fun way to retell history. Also, the decision to space the game out in made it an engaging way to tell the story of Ezio. Throw in the easy to learn stealth tactics and you’ve got yourself a great game.

9: Infamous

Again, I still haven’t played the sequel, but for what it’s worth this was such a surprise. In a realm of big brand name games such as Spiderman, Batman and X-men, it’s refreshing to see a new take on the super hero genre. And indeed, this game can easily sit next to those famed comic book characters. The choice between good and evil has its consequences here as you determine your relationship with the one important person of Cole’s life. Great attacks and gameplay make you feel like a God. Give it a try, and try the rail/powerline grinding; it’s great fun.

8: Rockband 2

I really liked GH I. And I LOVED GH II. Then Harmonix left, and Activision destroyed the series. Today Harmonix has found more success in the Just Dance series, which is also great fun if you haven’t tried it. But what made Rock Band 2 such a great game were the song choices. The original Rockband was great, but 2 had such a great lineup, such as “Go You Own Way,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Anyway You Want It,” and “Spoonman.” And there were songs that introduced me to astounding bands such as Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, and Vagiant. If you haven’t played this game in years or never played it, find 3 other people, some beer and you’ve got yourself a party.

7: Spiderman: Shatter Dimensions

I remember playing Spiderman for the first time on the original Playstation, and it was great. After that, I never played one again. But after seeing the visual style of the game, and the choice to control 4 Spidermen, Stan Lee’s friendly web crawler caught my attention once again (at least in the video game world). The game has some RPG elements, and cool alternate suits to play the game in. Also the trophy system is pretty easy as well. My favorite part of the game rested with the Noir side, which borrowed a lot from many stealth games, mostly I think from Batman: Arkham Asylum. But what made this game really stand out from a lot of other super hero games were the boss fights and collectability feature. Plus Spiderman is way awesome.

6: Batman: Arkham City

Another comic book superhero game (as you can tell, I love super heroes). This was a tough call when you compare it to Arkham Asylum. Bad things first: no character development of the villains, way too short, and Dead Shot. But what made this game superior was the gameplay. Fighting enemies was so fluid. Once you get your combo going and you get your groove on, 50+ was really easy. New Game + had a new difficulty, which took out counter icons, so you really had to watch what you were doing. But playing God of War games made that pretty easy (remember the part before the final sister of fate in GOW II?). Also, the Mr. Freeze boss battle was one to remember, especially after the disappointing final battle of the first game.

5: Heavy Rain

This game is among the most depressing games I have ever played. The story of what one man would do to save his son really resonates with video gamers since their parents just don’t understand them. Yeah. Right. You play as four characters, and the actions of each character determine which ending you get. The game is fairly short depending on how you play it. If you kill off all characters except one, the game is roughly 6 hours long. It wasn’t a movie, but a full immersion with the characters. You really got a sense of who the characters were and whom they stood for. Even the antagonist was likeable. Also there’s nudity. Perverted, polygonal nudity. And you’re also sick if you cut off the finger with the scissor. You know what I’m talking about.

4: Fallout 3

This is one of the most nerdy games I admit to ever playing. At first I was cautious to play this because it was the same engine as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. And that game was … Nevermind. This game really made me realize how much I love video games. I sat myself in front of my TV for two hours in order to get used to the game mechanics; and I did. This is a definitely must play for any video game fan. Personally, I think it is the archetype of how RPGs are today. The bottom box with numbers and meters is now gone, replaced by action oriented gameplay and HUDs. Now if I love RPGs so much, why wouldn’t I put FF XIII on the list. Simple. This was an engaging experience. The nonlinear environment immersed me in a post apocalyptic world of pure exploration. And that final perk, explorer – many say isn’t worth it – is worth it to me. You also have the good and evil dynamic again, and the dialogue during battles was hilarious. Nothing like hearing your targets scream in pain. I never beat all the side quests, but by the time I decided to beat the game, it was really, REALLY easy. Check this game out if you want bang for your buck. The main story is only about 30 hours long. But if you do you side quests, it’s at least 150+.

3: Borderlands

Borderlands and Fallout 3 share so many similarities. You’re looking for the Vault in Borderlands, and you come from the vault in Fallout 3. Then you have your post apocalyptic world with bandits and raiders. They both have RPG elements. So what’s the difference, and why choose one of the other? Visual style is my preference. The cell shaded graphics really put a spin on the environment. It wasn’t as depressing as Fallout 3 in terms of visuals, but it was just great fun. Also, I chose this because of the level cap. Keeping a high level cap keeps me more engaged, because there is more incentive to keep playing. Then you have the choice between 4 different types of characters with different abilities. I can easily say that Borderlands 2 is one of my anticipated games of 2012.

2: Deadspace

In space no one can hear you scream. Yes, Dead Space is pretty much Alien. You’re onboard a spacecraft that has been taken over by necromorphs, and the only way to kill them is to shoot their limbs off – that’s right, not the head. Which makes your plasma cutter the best tool for the job. But why choose this over the sequel? I loved the second one; don’t get me wrong. But the problem was that it was more action oriented. And when I’m in space alone with a bunch of aliens, I want it to be suspense driven. The game wasn’t completely nonlinear, but the fact that you had to traverse back and forth in a given level was such a great thrill. You really were alone in space. And at midnight with the lights turned down, in an empty house, no one can hear you scream.

1: Bioshock

As you’ve probably noticed my preferences, I like to get sucked into video games that have RPG elements. Bioshock does it in such a way that you’re not even aware that at its core it’s as nerdy as you can get. You’re a guy who finds a sunken city. You have magic & you shoot guns. You can level up your magic & guns. You have to save little girls from big evil scary creatures. But when you look at the environment that Bioshock is set in, you’ll find that you are no longer playing a generic pearl of nerdom. You’re playing a game filled with psychos, “Rand”-ian logic, and twisted features of the human brain. It is all based in a time location that we have almost forgot. Immersion is what makes a video game for me, not a high score. I look for the experience in a game, and see what it does for me. And the same goes for music and movies as well. Would you kindly play this game, because it is my core reason for playing video games.