Feature: Holiday Wishlist #6

Christmas may be over already, but that doesn't mean we can't buy gifts for our friends and loved ones for New Years.  A lot of the holiday sales are continuing into the new year, so you'll be able to add last minute items to you collection.  In other words, they're trying to make our resolutions of watching more anime, reading more manga, and playing more video games possible!  Aren't they the greatest?  I've covered anime, manga, and few merchandise items worth getting for your nerdy entourage.  This time I'll be exploring the gaming world Steam style!  Most gamers eagerly anticipate Steam's seasonal sales, ranging from 30-90% off for select titles.  Well, this year is no different.  Their undergoing winter sale lasts until January 3rd, so be sure to pick up your gaming needs before it ends.  I'll be suggesting some video games worth investing your hard-earned cash in below.  Set those goals for the fresh year to come, and work hard.  Have a wonderful New Years, everybody!

Video Game Holiday Wishlist

If you enjoy strategic gameplay and being able to modify your ships, you might get a lot of hours out of FTL: Faster Than Light.  It is a spaceship simulator with real-time battles and rogue-like elements.  The main goal is to save the galaxy from the Rebel forces decimating everything in their path.  Your ship contains valuable information that the resistance, the Federation, desperately needs.  Retain enough fuel to travel through different regions of space—friendly and hostile—to fulfill your ultimate objective.  There are plenty of text based encounters with tough decisions.  Help civilians, defeat pirates, or destroy stray rebel scouts along the way.

From amidst the sea of indie titles releasing every year, this game managed to stand out in its release year of 2012.  It won numerous nominations and awards for its straightforward concept and its deliverance of an all-around entertaining experience.  FTL’s simplistic mechanics and slick interface allow the player to easily slip into its universe.  You’ll have to use your noggin’ throughout your journey.  Keeping an eye on the health of your ship, knowing when and how to use your crew, assessing your options in certain scenarios—all these aspects force you to remain on your toes.  Fortunately, if you start to get a little overwhelmed in a fight, the developers provided with a feature that allows you to pause mid-battle.  This makes planning and giving order a whole lot easier.  Also, a phenomenal soundtrack accompanies the exploration and space battles.  The tracks are never awkward or out of place, and its fast-beat electronic tones and beeps make the player feel right at home in the sci-fi setting.

FTL: Faster Than Light is currently on sale for $5 on Steam.  Check it out.

~~

Once again from the vast array of indie titles available, To the Moon sticks out for its superb narrative and soundtrack that’s bound to sway your emotions.  It is a science fiction, RPG adventure game that released back in 2011.  Dr. Rosalene and Dr. Watts have the job of giving patients a new life—by altering their memories.  The operation is only done to people on their deathbeds, implanting artificial memories of the dreams the individuals never did.  Their most recent patient, Johnny, is slowly passing and has one last wish.  They must traverse the elderly man’s memory, revealing each new fragment of Johnny’s past to learn the reason why he yearns to go to the moon.

It’s obvious the developers set out to tell a specific story, and they masterfully produced what they had intended.  This game is something you can leisurely progress in and soak up all the details.  The majority of the characters are compelling and realistic with their troubled pasts, attitudes, and desires.  We all have dreams, but sometimes we never see them achieved before time catches up with us.  To the Moon’s writing is top-notch as it delivers a plot that makes you think—it makes you reflect on things you could have or should do in the past and future.  Because it feels more as an interactive visual novel, not everyone will enjoy it.  Also, the male doctor’s cookie-cutter personality may get on the player’s nerves, especially in the beginning.  It causes him to be awkward in a few serious scenes, which occasionally ruins the mood.  Nonetheless, even to the nay-sayers, I highly suggest they give the story a chance.  It is a beautiful, emotional experience that may tug on your heartstrings and hook you into its world.

To the Moon and soundtrack bundle is currently on sale for $4 on Steam.  Check it out.

~~

Do you purchase re-releases?  Are they worth it?  A lot of the times they appear to be nothing but greedy cash-grabs, over-priced with barely anything new.  However, sometimes developers and publishers get it right.  Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut is the enhanced re-release of the video game of the same name.  Human augmentation is a common practice in the world.  The player hops into the shoes of Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT specialist handpicked by Sarif Industries—one of America’s biggest experimental biotechnology firms.  He’s tasked with safeguarding the company’s important secrets, but his duties and life is flipped upside down when a black ops team assaults the building.  They kill the scientists Jensen was meant to protect, and the mystery of their goals grows as he starts to investigate.

This director’s cut combines Human Revolution with the Missing Link DLC, which were originally treated as separate games.  This amalgamation allows for better flow in story and placement of where the DLC occurs in the timeline.  In addition, combat have been tweaked and boss battles entirely overhauled, giving you more options in a fight.  Use your hacking to the fullest, employ your cloak to sneakily get through corridors, or go in guns blazing.  There’s stealth, action, and intrigue as the player progresses through the twists and turns of the story.  It has a clear Blade Runner vibe that will tickle any sci-fi buff’s interest.  The moral dilemmas and politics of human augmentation are explored, carrying heavy questions for you to consider.  When money is exchanged and synthetics are treated like a way of life, can you recognize friend from foe in the end?

Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut is currently on sale for $10 on Steam.

~~

You have five bucks to spare on your gaming passions, right?  I hope you do, because Portal 2 is currently on sale for $5 on Steam.  The Portal bundle for both games is on sale for $6.24.  If you’re a fan of the first game or a fan of puzzle games in general, I recommend this witty adventure.  You return to the familiar setting of the Aperture Science Labs founded by Cave Johnson, waking up in a holding cell.  A small robot named Wheatley finds you and begins explaining how you can escape the facility.  As you traverse the broken remains of the countless testing chambers, you are eventually reunited with GLaDOS, the murderous computer AI that guided you through the original game.  Her revival triggers a crazy set of events and a mad dash to achieve your freedom.

The single player is a fun ride that will last you around 6-7 hours if you prefer to take your time—it depends on how long certain puzzles will stump you.  Some of them are genuinely challenging, needing your full attention to solve them.  Its graphics are slick, and the voice acting is stellar throughout the course of the story.  There isn’t anything in terms of technical glitches in this game.  Gameplay is smooth and controls are responsive.  The writing will make you chuckle or at least wholeheartedly smile; the humor is some of the best I’ve seen.  You may find the character Wheatley a bit irritating, but his bumbling manner is endearing in some ways.  Portal 2 also has a two-person co-op mode, where you play as two testing robots developed by Aperture Science.  This game can give you hours of entertainment, especially with its active community creating tons of additional puzzle chambers every day.

~~

There aren’t many games that have pulled me so thoroughly into their universes that they give me the heebie-jeebies to such a degree.  Finding the perfect atmosphere and tone in a story takes skill.  Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite are two games that succeed in masterful storytelling, keeping the players at the edges of their seats.  Bioshock throws the player into the dark, decrepit underwater city called Rapture.  It was built by a man named Andrew Ryan, intending to be a community where “the artist would not fear the censor, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, where the great would not be constrained by the small.”  It was meant to be a utopia.  On the other hand, when moral obligations cease, powers can be abused and ramifications of certain discoveries become blurred.  Anarchy slowly takes hold, crumbling the once noble ambitions of an intelligent man.  The shell of Rapture is all that remains as you are forced to enter; you must uncover its secrecies if you are ever to escape.

In contrast, Bioshock Infinite places you in the sunny, lively world of the flying city called Columbia.  You play as a gun for hire named Booker DeWitt, a man with his life on the line and in abysmal debt.  His most recent employer has given him the opportunity to wipe his entire debt away.  The main objective is that he must rescue a girl, Elizabeth, who has been imprisoned and locked up in Columbia nearly all her life.  They are forced to trust one another as they attempt to escape, but things become difficult as the flying city’s dark secrets come to light.  Facades begin to collapse.  Division spreads throughout the populace.  And Booker’s past gradually catches up to him.

My lowly descriptions don’t do these games justice.  I’m bunching these two into one recommendation, because I don’t have the willpower to try and pick a favorite from the two of them.  They both transported me to their respective worlds and delved me into all their mysteries.  Each has compelling narratives—the first featuring a more silent protagonist, while the second has more defined characters.  They’re both solid FPS games filled with action and memorable combat.  Different powers and abilities add another layer to intense firefights.  Controls are easy to learn, and the mechanics are smooth to execute most of the time.  The games’ rich stories leave a lasting impression on the player, the details of each world prodding you to speculate and to return for another visit.

Bioshock Triple Pack is currently on Steam for $20.00.  It includes Bioshock 1 & 2 and Bioshock Infinite.  Check it out!

*image of FTL taken by me, taviastrife

*image for To the Moon from Wikipedia

*images for Deus Ex, Portal 2, Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite from Google Images