What a year

It's the moment you've all been waiting for: the time ?to vote for your favorite game of ??E3!

Click below and make your selection, then tell us about it in the comments! There's cert?ainly no shortage of AMAZING games to choose from this year!

The post Vote now for the Destructoid ??E3 2015 Community Choi??ce Award! appeared first on Destructoid.

We snuck around the convention and surprised these 10 games

Recently, amidst the hubbub of PAX East news and previews, we had the audacity to ask you to vote for your favorite game on the sh??ow ?floor. The nerve of us! Forcing you to choose from such a vast array of amazing videogames!

Well, vote you d??id, and the results point to yet another amazing year for gaming. Read on to see which awards took?? home the prize!

Before we unveil the winners, I would like ??to thank all the community members? who helped Caitlin hand out awards to the developers. I hear it was a great time, and many of the developers were honored to receive their awards. Thanks again!

And now, without further adieu, your top 10 games of PAX East?? 2015, in ord?er of votes received!

Splatoon
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Necropolis
Enter the Gungeon
Xenoblade Chronicles 3D
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows
Overwatch
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
The Behemoth's "Game 4"
Code Name S.T.E.A.M.

Talk about an awesome group of games. Between this list and our staff's picks, 2015 is going to be a great year for gamers.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote?? in our poll!

The post Here are the winners of Destructoid’s PAX East 2015 community choice award! appeared first on Destructoid.

Democracy in action

Ah, PAX East. What a wonderful, sexy convention you are.

Are you in Boston this weekend, hanging out with fellow Dtoiders and having a blast? If so, I am totally jealous! Luckily for me and the millions of others in my shoes (why are all of you people in my shoes?!), we can s??till enjoy PAX vicariously through the magic of the Destructoid PAX East 201?5 community choice poll!

Below is a list of the games making an appearance at PAX East this year. Scroll on down and vote for your favorite! Did I miss your favorite? Shame ??on me! Please do write it in. We'll unveil the winner next week alongside all our official picks, so cast your votes soon!

Have fun!

The post Vote now for Dtoid’s PAX East 2015 community choice award! appeared first on Destructoid.

And the winner is...

What a wild year it's been for? us gamers. In spite of all the insanity this industry inevitably attracts, when we look back on everything that has happened over the last 12 months, I think there's ??one thing we can all agree on: there were a lot of really, really good games released in 2014!

To help pay tribute to the thing that has brought us all together, over the past week Destructoid shared its official picks for best multiplayer design, best mechanics, best world design, best narrative design, and our overall game of the year, and several of our staff have shared their personal picks as well. But now, it's the moment you've been waiting for! We're finally ready to unveil YOUR pick for the best game of 2014!

And for the first time in a long while, the stars have ??aligned...

A 10 out of 10 Destructoid review. Destructoid's Game of the Year 2014. A??nd now, th?e jbsgame.community Choice Award for 2014! Not a bad year for everyone's favorite gun-toting witch!

And what's not to like? Combining nearly-flawless gameplay, gorgeous art design, and one kick-ass protagonist, Bayonetta 2 embodies just about ev?erything one thinks of when they think "videogame." I can't think of a better compliment than that!

So congratulations to Platinum Games and Bayonetta 2, the? winner of the jbsgame.community Choice Award for 2014!

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Wondering how the rest of the bes??t fared? Here are the top 10 runners-up, in order of votes received:

• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
• The Wolf Among Us
• Dark Souls II
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
• The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
• The Walking Dead: Season 2
• Shovel Knight
• Alien: Isolation
• Mario Kart 8

From AAA to indie, platformer to racer, that is one stellar group of games! And,?? considering the above list constitutes nearly two-thirds (63%) of the total vote this year, one thing is for sure: you all have very similar tastes!

Thanks to all who voted, and we'??ll see you next year!

The post Destructoid’s Game of the Year 2014 Community Choice Award! appeared first on Destructoid.

The jbsgame.community Choice Award

Another year has come and gone and holy sh*t w??ere a lot of videogames released in 2014. Did you folks play any this year? I played a few, but mostly I just watched Netflix because it ha??s achievements now.

Anyway, some of you were bound to have played a videogame or two in? 2014, and if so, we want to h?ear which one you thought was the best! To participate, just vote for your personal game of 2014 in the poll below, and then let us know your choice in the comments so we can all argue about it because, well, this is the Internet god dammit.

In the coming weeks, the Dtoid?? staff will be unveiling our own awards (we're doing things a bit differently this year, so stay tuned for details!), after which we will count up the votes and unveil the official Destructoid Game of the Year 2014 Community Choice Award!

Have fun!

The post Vote now for your 2014 Game of the Year! appeared first on Destructoid.

Witch game won your hearts?

Last week, we asked you to weigh in on your favorite games of E3 2014. And weigh in you did! There were approximately eleventy bajillion votes cast and hand-counted by yours truly, making this one of the most popular E3 a??wards we've ever held. Thanks to all who voted!

Now, before we unveil the winner, I'd like to congratulate this year's entire massive list of E3 standouts. There were more great games on display this year than I could ever hope to play, ensuring everybody has something ?to look forward to in 2014 and beyond!

And now, without further adieu, the winner of Destructoid's E3 2014 Community Choice Awar?d is..?.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt!

Not only did CD Projekt Red's third entry into the fantastic Witcher series impress the pants off our own Max Scoville (not to mention numerous other editors), but it won your hearts and minds as well, blowing the rest of the competition out of the water! And what's not to like? The world is enormous, the graphics are gorgeous, and the gameplay promises to expand on the already successful Witcher formula; sounds like a winning?? combination to me!

So please join me in congratulating CD Projekt Red and The Witcher 3, winner of the Destructoid E3 2014 Community Choice Award?!

----------

Here are the nine runners-up, in ord??er of vot?es received:

Zelda U
Super Smash Bros
No Man's Sky
Splatoon
Bloodborne
Xenoblade X
Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain
Batman: Arkham Knight
Halo: Master Chief Collection

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote! Until next yea??r!

The post Behold, the winner of our ?E3 2014 Community Choice Award??! appeared first on Destructoid.

Then defend your decision in the comments!

E3 has been all about the games this year, which means it's been a very good year to be a gamer indeed! Now that all the major press conferences have come and gone and the majority of the big reveals have made their marks, it's time once again for you to pick your favorite game of the show!

Below is a lengthy list of the games that will soon be joining your libraries. Which one are you the most excited for? Check the box and cast your vote! Then after you're done, go argue about your choice in the co?mments.

If you need a refresher about any of the games below, click here to check out our continuing E3 Unfiltered coverage. And st??ay tuned next week when we unveil the winner of the jbsgame.community Choice Award for E3 2??014!

The post Vote now for Destructoid’s E3 2014 Community Choice Award! appeared first on Destructoid.

Best of 2013

Oh my god this was an amazing y??ear for gaming. There were so many extraordinary releases from studios big and small that I may never have a chance to play them all -- talk about a wonderful, lucky "problem" to have!

But of course, at the end of the day, only one game can take home the coveted jbsgame.community Choice Award. So after a week of intense voting, debating, and a surprising lack of name-calling, we are finally ready to unveil your pick for the best game of 2013. ARE YOU? AS EXCITED AS ?I AM?!

And the winner is...

The Last of Us

I've made no attempt to mask my absolute adoration for Naughty Dog's dismal tale of survival and redemption. It was my favorite game to grace the PlayStation 3, as well as my favorite gaming moment of the year. Jim Sterling was equally impressed, awarding it a 10 out of 10 in our official review. In my mind, it is as close to perfection as a videogame can get, and many, many of you agreed with that sentiment; in fact, The Last of Us received more votes than BioShock Infinite, Super Mario 3D World, and Grand Theft Auto V combined!

So congratulations to Sony Computer Entertainment and Naughty Dog, ??winners of the 2013 Destructoid Game of the Year Community Choice Award! And thank you, from all of us who had the chance to enjoy your beautiful cre??ation.

Here were your runners-up,? in order of votes received:

• BioShock Infinite
• Super Mario 3D World
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Fire Emblem: Awakening
• Dota 2
• Ni No Kuni
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
• Tomb Raider
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Congratu??lat?ions to all the nominees! And thanks to everyone who voted!

The post The winner of Destructoid’s best of 2013 community choice appeared first on Destructoid.

Vote now!

All week long we'll be bringing you the Dtoid staff's nominees for various game of the year genres and categories, and tacked on to each will be a community choice poll where you can weigh in with your choices for which games you think should win. But because Game of the Year is such a?? weighty category, we decided we'd best give it its very own post!

Below are many of the most noteworthy games released this year. Go pick your favorite! Just?? fill in your choice, click the vote button, and then hit the comments to argue amongst yourselves. We'll be pulling quotes from the community when we recap the votes ?next week, so if you liked a game, sound off!

Tune in December 24 for the results. Have fun!

• Nominees for Destructoid's 2013 Game of the Year
• Destructoid's game o?f the year 201??3 community choice poll
• Nom?inees for D??estructoid's best of 2013 portable game
• Nominees for?? Destructoid's best of 2013 PC?? exclusive
• Nominees? for Destructoid's best of 2013 console ??exclusive
• Nominees for Destructoid's best of 2013 multi??platform
• Nominees for Destructoid's best of 2013 visuals
• Nominees for Destructoid's best of 2013 story
• Nominees for Destructoid'??s best of 2013 platformers
• Nominees for Destructoid's best of 2013 shooters
• Nomine??es for Destructoid's best of 2013 role-playing game
• Nominees for Destructoid??'s best of 2013 action game
• ??Nominees for Destructoid's best of ??2013 fighting game 
• Nominees for Destructoid's best o??f 2013 strategy game 
• Nominees for D??estructoid's best of 2013 adventure game
• Nominees for Destructoid's best of 2013 r??acing game
• Nominees for Dtoid's best o??f 2013 competitive multiplayer
• Nominees for Destructoid's best of 2013 co-op ??multiplayer
• Nominees for Destructoid's best of 2013 character
• Nominees for Destructoid's ?best of 2013 soundtrack
• Nominees for Destr?uctoid's best of 2013 add-on DLC
• Nominees for Destructoid's best of?? 2013 o??riginal concept

The post Destructoid’s game of the year 2013 community choice poll appeared first on Destructoid.

So many good memories

Last week, we asked you to share your favorite gaming memories of the year with the community, and the response was FANTASTIC! Seriously, the love you people expressed for s??ome of your favorite games of 2013 was downright?? moving, and I enjoyed reading each and every comment.

Here's a brief recap of some of your responses. WARNING: Spoilers abound for man?y new games, so read with caution!

SeymourDuncan17:

Getting all morally grey with The Last Of Us.

The snowy sections are among gaming's best moments. Ellie has been the best female character this year and of many other years, even far outdoing Elizabeth of ?Infinite in every ??aspect (personally).

And those little back and forth's between Joel and Ellie, with some even happening out of the blue. I would be just checking out an optional house,? looking for loot, crafting items, when Ellie just casually walks up to me and starts talking. Then Joel tells her to go back downstairs, and I continue doing my thing. Stuff like that made the game and it's characters so real and memorable.

DeadnBuried:

The Last of Us. All of it. Every moment was just fantastic.

The story and character interactions were wonderful, and the gameplay was so d??esperate and intense that every single minute of that game felt important and memorable. Can't even remember the last time I felt that way about a game. It was perfect, genuinely.

Dustylope:

When Henry shot himself in The Last of Us. I knew what had happened to ?Sam the second that Clicker jumped on him. I knew he got bit, and that he would turn. The cut scene that follows however, is one of the most powerful ones I've ever seen in gaming. Although voice acting and motion capture have been around for a while now, for the first time I felt like what I was watching was believable and real. These were real people reminiscing about a cross country bike tour they once took, or admitting fear of ending up alone. By the time it's morning in the cut scene, my emoti??ons are already a mess and just to fuck with me the worst thing that can happen, does. Even though it wasn't much of a surprise that Henry killed himself I gasped and heard "jesus christ, no!" coming out of my mouth. Cut to black. Druckman and Straley pretty much ruined my week and I loved it.

Grethiwha:

The ending of The Wonderful 101. That game had so much pure unrestrained ludicrous spectacle that I didn't think it was ?possible that they could end it in a way that still felt climactic in the wake of everything that came before, while still utilizing the same mechanics and everything you'd learned to that point – being climactic on that level as well – but... holy crap. That whole final mission is jaw-dropping; they knocked it out of the park.

AlexTHVK:

The final battle of The Wonderful 101 is one of the must incredible and hilarious endings I've seen in a game this year, and in quite a long time. The game was already over the top, and then the ending comes and its one part Bayonetta, two parts Power ??Rangers season finale with a dash of Michael Bay bom??bastic.

desert dragon:

The ending of The Wonderful 101. Just... the whole thing. As well as the fi??rst boss, which, well, just LOOK AT IT:

Benny Disco:

Dismembering someone in The Wolf Among Us.

Dreamweaver:

It would have the be the Battle Royale game mode in Anarchy Reigns' multipla??yer. The thrill of trying to survive in a 16-player free-for-all in an open environment where random stuff like airstrikes, earthquakes, or getting attacked by a frickin' Kraken happens, is just so much fun. I recall spending HOURS on end playing Battle Royale just because it was fresh and new.

flintmech:

Playing Hawken with an Oculus Rift at PAX Prime 2013.

Paradox me:

First setting foot in Columbia in BioShock Infinite. The familiar setup gave way to something that I wasn't expecting: some of the most powerful 15 minutes I've spent in a game, culminating in the scene where the b??arbershop quartet sings "??God Only Knows."

greyXstar:

The scene in BioShock Infinite at the Grand Floridian-looking place, when Elizabeth is dancing around???? on the pier. Straight-up Disney princess stuff.

siddartha85:

BioShock Infinite. The Cathedral at the beginning, the barbershop quartet, playing guitar, the cult headquarters, recognizing "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" playing at a bar, Comstock House, Elizabeth. I'm a fan of the series and this was my favorite BioShock. Nothing else came close for me. It w??as a series of special moments??.

Occams Electric Toothbrush:

The first two hours of Bioshock: Infinite. It felt like experiencing a different take on Rapture. I drank in every building, every person and every moment as I wandered through C??olumbia. Also, every damn moment I encountered a remade version of a modern song was magical and made me so very happy.

Also, every boss fight in Killer is Dead. They felt s??o much like a spiritual successor to the Killer 7 characters that I couldn't wait to get to the next fight.

Batthink:

Ni No Kuni's best moment appeared when Oliver and company took the trip to the Fairyground. When I was informed that I had to enter the Fairy Godmother to hel?p ??her 'littlens', little did I know what was about to hit me.

When Oliver arrived inside, it was a damn playschool. With a teacher's rest room. It helped that Joe Hisaishi's score changed from broad orchestral to a lead recorder with gentle orchestral backing once there. I laughed out loud with this discovery, and I had to just go 'DAWWWW' when? I saw the little baby fairies (in the shape ?of eggs).

RenaudB90:

Completing Shin Megami Tensei IV on the Neut??r?al path on my first (and only) playthrough. The satisfaction was immense. Nothing quite like reclaiming the post-apocalyptic world from the hands of both the Angels and LUCIFER HIMSELF and giving mankind their freedom back!

SolidSamus926:

There's a moment in Shin Megami Tensei IV where you reach the second major location in the game,? and ??you and your companions just stand there looking over it, stunned, and the overworld theme starts playing. I felt anxious to explore the world, scared of what I might find, and the music just made it that much better. I thought that was marvelous.

Voodoome:

Playing through Persona 4 Golden. The game became one of my favorite games of all time. As far as a moment from the game that was my favorite ... I would have to say watching the intro scene. Upon wa??tching that, I just knew that it would be a special game that's ??unlike anything else currently available. That art style... Wow.

crackedbat:

Playing through The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Because it's full of heart... stars and h?orse-shoes.

sonc429:

I would have to say these are my top 3:

Realizing I could get console-quality experiences on the 3DS. Kid Icarus Uprising, Animal Crossing, Lugi's Mansion, Mario Kart 7, Resident Evil, and Mario 3D Land all blew me away as some of the?? bes?t experiences I've ever had on a handheld.

Seeing gaming return from the brink of the brown military shooter and move into more original territory. Street Fighter x Tekken, Wonderful 101, Sonic All Stars Racing, and the return of Jet Set Radio. Plus those wonderful indie games!

The Wii U tablet in general. IMHO the best thing to happen to gamin??g in the last year. I know a lot of you aren??'t sold on it yet. But I have a raging hard on for it. Next gen has been great thus far.

Jesse Johnson:

One of my more favorite moments this year was not playing a game. It was playing console games on the Wii U gamepad. It's great to be able to continue my game when my wife kicks me off the TV. It's extremely under stated HOW GREAT the second screen on the Wii U is.

HanTheMan:

Playing wrecking ball in Grand Theft Auto V. Nothing better than picking up cars with a c???argobob and swinging them into pixelpeople.

falsoman:

Plants vs. Zombies 2.&n??bsp;A pure joy to play for me, and for free. No play limit, looks great, plays awesome and introduces a lot of new things.

Jamvaan:

Little brought such a stupid smile to my face as battling it out on the open seas and boarding ships, crashing through their crew, and taking it for my own in Assassin's Creed IV. It?'s a special kind of game that has you doing somethi??ng over and over again and it being fun every goddamn time.

Honorable mention goes out to the one on ones with Senator Armstrong and Jetstream Sam in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Even those fights have great moments in them, like Bladewolf throwing Raiden "The Sword" (you know the one) ?or the "Let's Dance" before the two best tracks?? in the game hit. My god, it was all so good.

Sephzilla:

The beginning of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. An opening ??moment of an awesome game, and when it happened it shot my hype levels through the roof.

Gh0stbusttyler:

Honestly, it might sound a bit absurd, but just the entirety of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

I had completely written off the game when it came out because I thought it was stupid and unnecessary. I had also heard that it was incredibly short at $60 made me even more sour towards it. A couple ?months after it came out, I found a copy on Amazon for half off so I decided to take a risk and bought it.

It was honestly the most refreshing thing I've played in? a long time. The story is so dumb and over th??e top that I actually looked forward to cutscenes. It felt like a parody of all the "serious" typical Modern Warfare games.

The combat just ??felt incredibly fluid and was really fun, with a difficulty curve that doesn't break your arm off. I had played a few Platinum titles before, but the combat in this one felt the best, not to mention that slicing a boss up into a million pieces in slow-motion after you've killed them never felt old.

The crazy action in-between the?? over the top story and insane combat made me say holy shit more times then I ever have when playing a game. Even when replying the game multiple times, I never not get excited when running across missiles to attack a Metal Gear, or when fighting any of the other members of Desperado.

But most of all, this was my first Metal Gear game, and it got me to go into the series. I only had Nintendo consoles growing up so I never had the chance to get into it before. I'm thankful that I took the risk on buying Revengeance, and I owe it as well as the rest of the Metal Gear Solid s?eries for giving me one of the best summers in gaming that I'v??e ever had.

thwiplash:

Best moment? The entire fucking ending of Tearaway.

Goddammit, I held myself together through the end of The Walking Dead Season 1, but the reveal at the end of Tearaway caused me to shed a solitary tear.

ShadeOfLight:

My favorite moment was most definitely beating the final "boss" of Super Mario 3D World with a friend.

We had been playing that game for about eight hours straight,? and after beating Bowser the second time, we were shocked to find that there was still yet another world to do. I could tell he was ge?tting tired of the game (he's not nearly as big on platformers as I am), but I convinced him that we'd just rush through the final few levels to get to the final boss and beat the game.

When we finally got ??to the boss... it was the most glorious thing ever. We were s??houting all the way through about Bowser doing... that! And then the red flash followed by the other thing! (It's so hard for me not to spoil anything here; trust me though, you'll want to see it in-game first, and you'll know it when you see it.)

In the end, I ended up getting us th??rough the chase sequence as Toad, and my friend managed to score the final hit as? Luigi. It was the most awesome thing in the world; best boss ever.

Come to think of it, this is going down as one of my favorite gaming moments of my life.

GoofierBrute:

Getting married in Fire Emblem: Awakening. When the game came out, I went into it mostly blind to the new features; I knew about the reclassing system and the pairing system, but that was about it. So as I'm playing the game for the first time, my character, who I have creatively called Steve (I thought it would be funny) decides to start being budd??ies with Lissa, the first healer that you get in the game. She's pretty cool, she makes sure I don't die, but most importantly, when we pair up, my character is like Kentaro from Fist of the North Star. We have some support conversations, my character pranks Lissa, she pranks him, things seem pretty cool. Until one day, I find that I've unlocked an "S" rank conversation. I select it, and the next thing I know, my character proposes to Lissa, she says yes, and it ends?? with a close up of her talking about how awesome it is that we're getting married.

When I first saw that, I was ??honestly stunned. My character was the first one to get married (even before Chrom, who by default has to get married as part of the plot), and before long I was putting characters?? together to get married, to see what would come from it. Of course, this was before I discovered that A) your characters have kids, B) they have different stats based on who their parents are and C) your Avatar can be married to anybody so long as they are the opposite gender. Though in my case, I always end up marrying Lucina in every subsequent playthrough. I know that for a lot of people, there are more powerful moments, but for me, that first time my character got married really came out of nowhere, and it showed me that sometimes it's best to go into a game blind.

RampagingSoul:

Fire Emblem: Awakening and its support conversations: This was probably my favorite thing in this game besides the music. The localization of this game was top notch! The conversations just urged me to play more and more of the game and I'm continuing to play the game to this day. All of the marriage scenes and the goofy interactions with the characters like Lissa pull??ing pranks on my character to the naked Chrom poster that Frederick puts up to have people join the army. Ah, some much charm from that game. Plus, when Emmeryn falls of a cliff and?? the music in the next chapter picks up, just the feels!

OperationDickDrop:

The first death scene in Tomb Raider. It affected me not only because of how violent it? was, but also how much I didn't expect it considering how tame the other games in the series are.

VincentX:

Chapter 1 of Corpse Party: Book of Shadows really stands out for me. For me this game had the best story and characters of the year and this chapter is one of the reasons. The way it goes from showing the happy times ??Seiko and Naomi had and then diving into the horrifying and depressing events in? Heavenly Host was just incredible. This chapter made me laugh, made me scream and most importantly, made me cry.

Also, the "true end" of Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory. I honestly can't remember the last time before this game that I immediately played through a game a second time just to get the best ending. But I did this time and it was worth it! I loved this game as it constantly made me smile and this ending was the perfect way to cap it off and when the credits rolled for that second time, I got a little misty eyes because I knew it was over. Thank you Compile Heart and NISA, thank you for this game and eve??ry wonderful moment it brought.

Handy:

Being Trevor. GTA always let you run wild ??but often at the expense of the cohesiveness of the story. But with Trevor you finally had free reign to lose it, it no longer broke the atmosphere, you we’re finally free to ride quad-bikes in your underpants and set giant penis shaped gasoline trails on fire without undermining the narrative.

solidturtleman:

Oh man! The mission "Girls' Night Out" in Saints Row IV really touched me. After taking space drug to gain infinite super powers, I was pumped. But then the music started and the Shaundis started playing tag. In a game full of impurity that felt like such a pu?re moment. It ??was about power, fun, and being more than you could on your own. Games have a magic that cannot be replicated.

JackSlack:

Papers, Please. Day 11. Jorji Costava shows up again. And try as I might, try as I desper??ately need to, try as I hopelessly, cannot manage...

I find nothing wrong with his paperwork.

Seriously, stamping him "appro??ved" was the m??ost horrifying thing I've ever done. I waited for the pink slip, knowing I'd be punished for this. And it never came.

Holy cow, Jorji got the right paperwork.

Psycho Punch:

I haven't played a game released in 2013 in 2013 so?? does this count?

Firion Hope:

That one time where I actually played? a ga??me and didn't just watch others play or read about them.

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Story of my life.

Thanks to everyone who? took the time to participate! You people are wonderful <3

Miss any of our other recap posts? Check 'em out!

• Most hated new characters
• Favorite new characters
• Favorite songs and soundtracks
• Worst new games

The post Here are your favorite gaming moments of 2013! appeared first on Destructoid.

My god, it's full of sh*t...

Last week, I asked you to share your stories about the worst new games you played all year.

I am so sorry I asked.

Sephzilla:

The correct answer has to be Aliens: Colonial Marines. I got a coupl??e levels in and couldn't even bother to finish the game, it was that fucking bad. I only paid like 5 bucks for the fucking thing on a Steam sale and I still feel like I was ripped off. Whomever let this game see the light of day should really be ashamed

Occams Electric Toothbrush:

Aliens: Colonial Marines was pretty damn disappointing. The whole alien universe is so rich and terrifying and amazing and for such a shoddy product to be released, it made me sad as it no doubt set the franchise back in terms of productivity and sales. I hope one day ??we get a new aliens game that captures the horror of the universe.

The Defenestrator:

Aliens: Colonial Marines. I? stuck through the whole thing just to experience the awfulness in it's fullness. Years of MST3K have given me great tolerance for terrible, terrible shit??.

Shane Saiyan:

Aliens: Colonial Marines. Though in my defense I did only ??play it for about twenty minutes.

Rokee:

Ride to Hell: Retribution. This game made me re-think my perception of games. It's unbelievable, how absolutely broken and flat-out bad this game is. It might very well be the absolute worst Action Adventure game of the last generation. Whenever you think you've reached the lowest possible point, this game kicks you in the balls with another broken segment, terrible music, glitched graphics, ??missing sound effects, horrible voice acting... you get the idea.

Aliens: Colonial Marines may be terrible, but Ride to Hell may very well go right to Hell.

chero666:

Ride to Hell: Retribution. This game was so shit, I couldn't make it past the one hour mark??. I tried so hard to find something redeemable in the game too. Visuals look awful. Music is bland and boring. Voice actin??g falls between laughable and offensive. Controls are a trainwreck, especially when playing with a mouse (mouse sensitivity was constantly changed when aiming with a gun). Bike riding was a joke.

There were no redeeming qualities to Ride to Hell. ??It's a gam??e that makes movie tie-ins look amazing.

Tylericous:

I would say Army of Two: Devil's Cartel. I rented it, and it had so many fucking problems. I did somewhat enj?oy myself every once and a while in the five hours I played, but that was just because it actually worked during those times

Runner up is Aliens: Colonial Marines. Only played the first two missions, which were some of? the worst I have experienced. Multiplayer was mediocre, which is better than bad I guess.

Sir Shenanigans:

Due to the expensive nature of videogames I rarely play truly awful games, but the worst new game I played this year was Dead Space 3. A complete departure from what made the series ?great, with new features that frankly ?sucked. I can't think of a single new addition I liked. A big disappointment.

Stealths long lost brother:

Beyond: Two Souls. Has to be one? of the most patronizing and insulting games I ave?? ever experienced, I would go on about how flawed the story is and how much of a cynical bitch Jodie is but I am too tired to care.

Also "The Mission" chapter has to be the most dense thing ever. How anyone in Quantic Dream did not see the huge inconsistency in that scene must be bli??nd.

Dreamweaver:

I might have to cast my vote for Deadpool: The Game. The action was so bland it almost put me to sleep, the levels felt really uninspired, save fo??r a couple, and it was a really barebones package. I will say that Nolan North as the Merc with the Mouth is just top-notch, and some of the jokes/gags is really humorous (I rarely laugh out loud in general, but this gam?e managed to get a few chuckles out of me), but overall the game was just a waste of 30 bucks (which I got it for), much less 60 bucks.

Wedge:

It's possible the only game that came out this year I've played is Tomb Raider. Which coincidentally is also rubbish. It's a shame because there were clearly some very awesome gameplay mechanics lying largely unused and forgotten under the mountain of boring man-shooting and "interactive" cutscenes. I think I gave up after killing a hundred or so armed and organized castaways. Seriously, for a mysterious hidden island you're off on a treasure hunt for, an awful fucking lot of people seem to have found it first.

long john:

I think probably Saints Row IV. I expected it to be really good but it's actually boring. ??I keep trying to play it and they start talking and I do one mission and exit it. I created a shitload of characters, but playing it was just... boring.

ooktar:

Gone Home. In my opinion, the mos??t overr?ated game of the year.

Now before I get a shitstorm hailed at me, Let me start off by saying I had no problem with the gameplay (Or rather Lack of) or the execution. I actually really liked the idea of exploring a house and searching for clues to piece together a story. I loved The Stanley Parable and Proteus and I don't have any problem with games tha??t set aside gameplay?? in order to focus on the narrative or exploration.

Of course that said, the story has to be pretty fantastic in order to make up for the lack of interactivity, and Gone Home is severely lacking in a gripping narrative.

I felt the story was dull and predictable and many ??of the "controversial themes" that the game tries to convey are undermined by some of the cliche elements that fill the story. By the time I was about 1/4 of the way through, It became pretty apparent of the direction the narrative was going and from there on I just felt like I was continuing the game just for the sake of beating it rather than to actually see the ending.

I'll admit though that my thoughts before going into the game may have affected my opinion. Everything leading up to the games release pretty much labeled this game as a mystery where you were actually exploring a strangers abandoned house in order to find out what happened. In that sense, I was expecting like a Murder Mystery or something like that. Instead it turne??d out to be you exploring your own house which just felt silly.

grysl:

Hard to say what?? the "worst game" was since I try not to p??lay those games.

That said, and I know I'll probably get a zillion people telling me I suck, Wonderful 101 was easily the biggest disappointment. Definitely Platinum's first high?-profile misfire. The control system, especially when it came to switching weapons, was just absolut??ely awful.

Wanted to like it. Hell, I still keep trying to se??e if something will click. But it's just not a good ga??me.

SeymourDuncan17:

I'll be the only one throughout all the Internet to say this but... Electronic Super Joy. Absolutely atrocious. The perf?ect exa?mple of how not to do a challenging game.

It starts challenging. And any sensible developer knows that you just don't do that, even remotely so. Even Demon's/Dark Souls, Super Meat Boy... Super Hexagon even gave y??ou a little bit of a jump start (although, it wasn't much because the game was meant to not last very long). You need to gradually ease the player into the game or risk frustrating them early on, and I don't exactly welcome frustration.

Scrustle:

Can't really think of any game I outright hated.? I tend to have a pretty good gut feeling about whether I'll like a game or not.

A few have been disappointing though, with the biggest probably being Grid 2. I've never been in to off-road racing games, so I was so happy to finally see a sequel to Grid after all the Dirt games Codemasters pumped out. Really enjoyed the first a whole lot. One of the best racing games of this generation. Then I played the sequel and found i??t to be?? pretty dull. There isn't really anything "bad" about it, it just feels very uninspired, and it just couldn't hold my attention for long. A real let down after waiting so long for a sequel to a game I loved so much.

I guess BioShock Infinite was somewhat of a disappointment too. I enjoyed it my first time through, but I'm strug??gling to find the motivation to continue my second playthrough. I've already had the mystery in the plot revealed, and now I can't help but see flaws everywhere. The game kind of feels like it's designed to be several things at once, and those things all clash against each other. All those things feel like they're taken from other games too, instead of the game having its own identity, gameplay wise. But still, I don't hate the?? game, and I liked it the first time just as much as everyone else.

Gamemaniac3434:

BioShock Infinite. Not because it's purely a bad game, but because it was my biggest disappointment of 2013. [Note: There were so many arguments in the comments in relation to Infinite that I could barely find something quotable that didn't take up the entire space allotted for this article. So instead, I went with these short and sweet ones. For the full story, click here and read the discussion that follows. --Andy]

D-Volt:

My personal worst game of 2013 had to be Corpse Party: Book of Shadows. I really could write a blog on how atrocious the writing was, let alone? the lazy uninspired artwork, but I'd have to finish the game to do? it. How I slogged through four chapters of that mess I'll never know.

Roth Sothy:

Remember when The War Z released unfinished on Steam? (Now renamed to Infestation: Survivor Stories.) [Never forget --Andy]

Script:

I'll just say Fuse even though I have only played the demo.

chero666:

I had a one hour "preview" of Fuse that lasted 25 minutes before I gave up on it.

jackleapp:

Does Cookie Clicker count?

----------

Oh yes. Yes it does.

*goes back to Cookie Clicker*

Thanks to everyone who participated! I obviously couldn't include every quote for every game you hated, so click here for the full recap (including tons and tons of arguing about BioShock Infinite). Until next year: PLAY BETTER GAMES!

The post Here are the worst games you played this year appeared first on Destructoid.

*Cue noodly air guitar solo*

All week, we've been asking you to sound off on some gaming-related topics for our end of the year recap. Many of you took the time to chime in on our favorite and least favorite character posts, and the same rang true for our favorite songs or soundtracks call as well! BECAUSE MUSIC!

Our eardrums were rocked with some killer songs and OSTs in 2013, so let's crank? up our speakers and take a listen to some of your favorites! If I were you, I'd also go ahead and bookmark this post for later, because there is a TON of awesome gaming music about ??to hit your face...

Baby Choo Choo:

The Anarchy Reigns soundtrack gets my vote. It was so damn good. It's easily the hypest s??oundtrack I've heard in a w??hile.

AlexTHVK:

I was a big fan of Madworld and I bought the soundtrack as soon as it was ??out.
When the soundtrack for Max Anarchy got r?elease??d, I didn't even care if I had to pay more for it than the game itself to import it.

crackedbat:

The music in Super Mario 3D World is yet another work of art in what is already a masterpiece ??of a game. "Switchboard Falls" is?? the perfect jazzy song

SeymourDuncan17:

End credits music from Super Mario 3D World. No contest. New classic for me.

Jazz has always interested me, but never hooked me in enough to become someone that sought out jazz albums or anything like that. But, mixing in jazz with Mario melodies really brings out the fun and soul of your better modern Mario titles. Jazz is about raw expression and high spi?rits, which is very Mario. It's so? damn happy.

It's something I can't help but snap along too. And that wind down towards the end into the ???climax gets me everytime. So fucking good!

psycoticdev1l:

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance's OST. Never has a soundtrack make me feel hyped fighting radical bosses than thes?e songs.

Jamvaan:

Metal Gear Rising's soundtrack is so fucking awesome. You could have a whole separate category for "Best Song in Metal Gear Rising" and still have a debate.

WraithA1:

The music made Revengeance so fucking good. You can't fight those bosses and tell me your heart rate didn't take off when the soundtrack started blaring, namely when you were nearing the end of t?he fight when the music really picked up.

Samsneeze:

Mighty Switch Force! 2. Jake is really good at what ??he does. The credits song from that game is one of t??he best things ever.

kingsharkboi:

Fire Emblem Awakening's OST.

Fire Emblem = F.E.
Should be 
F.E. = Fucking EPIC

El Dango:

GLOO GLOO

GLOO GLOO GLOOOOOOOO (Rayman Legends)

AngerWagon:

The soundtrack to Guacamelee. The whole thing. I'm not even a guy who's into that kind of music, but they did? such a good job on it, and it fit the game so incredibly well, that it has earned a near-permanent spot on my tiny mp3 player.

Of note: Forest del Chivo. Th??em haunting brass instruments coming in, man. I love them so.

Jamvaan:

Killer Instinct. That main theme was just too good.

Agent Venom:

Killer Instinct's title theme is pretty great. Soul Hackers is great all around. I love the shit out of Blood Dragon's OST.

I can't decide!

ZeroAE:

Blood Dragon would be the OST of the year for me. Most soundtracks ?are ambient-like. This one is ??pure adrenaline!

DarkAX:

For me it has got to be Arkham Origins intro ?track. It was so fitting to the point I could see it bein?g in a Batman film.

Keiichi Morisato:

Ni No Kuni. Joe Hisaishi is a god.

Oridan:

TEARA-FUCKING-WAY

No other game has given me such lov??ely folky wub wub nonsense.

Marche100:

Shin Megami Tensei IV nailed it with its soundtrack.

Xzianna:

Right now, I'd have to say the Shin Megami Tensei IV soundtrack ?is my favorite soundtrack this year, and the first overworld theme in particular. So haunting, so amazing.

humpback:

Probably not the definitive choice, but I enjoyed the smooth jazz reworks in Tiny Death Star.

xseedatlus:

I just love the OST of A Link Between Worlds.

ooktar:

I know its not original, but when the choir sings "Will the Circle be Unbroken" at the beginning of BioShock Infinite it actually brought tears to my eyes when I first heard it. I don't know why, but just the first 20 minutes of that game resonated with me very deeply. I can play that part over ??and ove?r and it never gets old to me.

theflink:

BioShock Infinite, without a doubt in my mind. Hearing "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys and C?CR's "Fortunate Son" out of nowhere was really amazing, and a welcome surprise. And of course, "Will the Circle be Unbroken" which is, by far, the most beautiful song I've heard in a videogame. Hearing the full version actually brings tears to my eyes.

Kaminari683:

If you listen to the OST of BioShock Infinite, there's a full version of Elizabeth Singing "Will The Cir??cle Be Unbroken" and it is, simply put, beautiful. If you really list?en to the words, it really pulls at the ol' heartstrings.

First time I heard it, it brought back a tidal wave of memories. There's a verse that ??says "one by one there, seats were empty. One by one, they went away. Now the family is p?arted, will it be complete one day?" then she sounds like she's holding back tears as she's singing. I lost it. Reminded me of family and loved ones who have passed away... haven't cried that hard in a long time.

TechnicolorDewDrop:

For all of it's flaws, BioShock Infinite had?? one of the best soundtracks of the year. "The Songbird" is, in my opinion, the ??best original piece on the soundtrack.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

The feeling I got when this track started playing as I was escaping the monument with Elizabeth and the Songbird proceeded to destroy everything around us was... something else. Once I wound up on the beach, I immediately quit the game, reloaded the save, and played? that part over to witness that part again. I still do that. That is what they call a memory card moment.

crackedbat:

I really enjoyed the "7pm" music from Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

gajknight:

The Last of Us soundtrack. It's amazing how so little can make you feel so much. Ab??solutely faultless.

STVR:

Risk of Rain's music is so immense I just can't tire of it. It captures the mood of a foreboding alien world so effectively. Most of the tracks are influenced by the flow of the gameplay in that they possess a "calm before the storm" buildup to s?et things up. Then once it gets to said storm, it ramps up to 11 just as you start being overrun by monsters as you desperately fight for survival and a way out. I'm not sure personally how well it stands on its own; but as a soundtrack it's top-notch.

----------

And that's just abou??t all the awesome music we can fit into one post! T??hanks to everyone who participated!

The post Here are?? your favori??te songs and soundtracks of 2013! appeared first on Destructoid.

Surprise: not all scruffy white men

Earlier in the week we asked you to sound off on your favorite new videogame characters in 2013. Here are the results!

From cartoon characters to muscular senators to a young woman who just will not stop dancing, a wide range of new characters were represented from just about every genre imaginable (no farming simulators this time, sadly). Hell, most of them we??ren't even unshaven white men with gruff voices!

Most of them, anyway.

AlexMorgaen:

Mr Drippy makes me proud to be Welsh. A?t least, as proud as you can be of being Welsh.

KyleGamgee:

For me that is definitely Mr Torgue. Meeting him in his own DLC and then really seeing the char?acter fleshed out personality-wise in Tiny Tina's DLC has made him? easily my favorite character this year. I bought his Thanksgiving-themed mini-DLC (no achievements!) because of him and him alone.

Rammstein:

Link from A Link Between Worlds.

Since Zelda fans are split between Toon Link and adult/realistic Link (I'm for the adult Link myself, but don't mind the toon one as much), A Link Between Worlds is just that: the best o??f both worlds. He's got t??he cuteness of Toon Link, but the style of adult Link. Even his grunts and sounds are a mix.

Marche100:

My favorite character is most definitely Simon Blackquill in the new Ace Attorney ga?me. Didn't think I would?? end up liking him so much before I got the game.

He's like a samurai criminal/prosecutor that speaks in old English. Yeah. He's? not your average character from the get-go. He's also a psychological genius, using the power of suggestion to manipulate the judge and witnesses. Oh, and this guy's got some interesting mannerisms, to boot. He's strong enough to rip apart his prison chains and he can slice through stuff by flicking his fingers, as if he were swinging a sword. No lie.

I could go on, but I won't bother giving away his whole character. He's a brilliant prosecutor. Never dull or annoying, great design, fun mannerisms, manipulative yet never too much of a douch?e to hate, this guy's pretty awesome. Not that we haven't had awesome prosecutor characters in the past, but this guy really surprised me. I honestly didn't think I'd like him. But here we are. Best character.

Pascuz46:

Joel from The Last of Us for me. His development as a character was really great in that game. You understand the choices h??e makes and what drove him to the person he becomes in the end.

EtosiGiR:

Joel. There has never been a better representation of the savagery and kindness that can exist within a single human being in our most beloved industry. Troy Baker's performance? and Naughty Dog's writing wer?e spot on.

CornflakeJustice:

Honestly? Joel from The Last of Us. Never has a game made me feel so much for such an inherently flawed character. TLoU ?was quite frankly the best story told this generation. I was pretty taken aback by Naughty Dog's choice ?to tell the story they wanted instead of giving the players a choice in the end. Also one of a very select few games that has me wanting to play through it again and again and really get everything out of it.

Gamercents:

Ellie, from The Last of Us, was my absolute favorite character this year.? Why? Well, when the game started, I found her insanely annoying. She wouldn't shut up and I just could not stand her. T?hen, as the game progressed, I found that she was endearing and I grew to really enjoy her character. Of all the female characters this year, she was definitely the best written one, but also was one of the best written characters this year. That arch of "annoying to endearing to celebrated", for me, was what made me appreciate her as a character.

SephirothX:

Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

The guy shows up to be the final boss of the game, and pretty much steals the show with all of the ham and cheese he injects into every scene. He's pretty much the perfect late 80s WWF villain. He's like Sgt Slaughter meets Big Boss Man meets Mike Haggar meets Dick Cheney. And he has the best (and shortest) explanation for his superpowers, which still fits in pretty well with Metal Gear lore.

Somewhat spoiler-ish. When you fight him he first pilots a massive Metal Gear, and then he discards the Metal Gear bec??ause it's simply not as good as doing it the old fashioned way with fists. Anyone who tosses aside a Metal Gear because it's simply not a good enough murder machine has to mean business.

Jamvaan:

Senator Armstong may be the most Metal Gear part about MGR, but my favorite character was Jetstream Sam. He was Raiden, but so much better. His boss fight was a highlight of my year, his DLC was a fucking blast, and in a game with an amazing soundtrack Sam had the best music. I played?? through that game probably three times this year and Sams was always the best part.

KingSigy:

If I had to pick one, I'd just say the children from Rogue Legacy. The way the game draw??s ??a lineage between your deaths makes it feel very personal.

Occam's Electric Toothbrush:

Every moment with the Luteces. It's like they are the set ??up and the punchline of some joke that's forever being told at that bar where Sam from Quantum Leap ends up in the last episode and God is the bartender.

Raycon:

Wonder Red from Wonderful 101. Not the deepest, most comp??lex guy around. But sometimes I just wanna play a??s some crazy hero guy. That's all it takes to be my "favorite."

AlexTHVK:

Wonder Red?? was one of those rare cases of main protagonist being my favorite. He really brings the team together an??d he's the one who brought the most hilarious moments.

GoofierBrute:

I know I'm probably cheating by saying this, but my favorite characters were the cast of Fire Emblem Awakening. On their own, they aren't all that deep, but as whole they each add something new to my multiple playthroughs. From the Knight Kellam who no one can see, to the no-nonsense Sully, each of the characters in Awakening were entertaining to interact with and use, and made?? each new battle all the more e??ngaging.

STVR:

I've kind of become a JRPG cynic in recent years like most folks, but the team in Tales of Xillia are the first cast in a JRPG I've genuinely liked in years. Leia and Elize/Teepo could be rather irritating, but they definitely were useful in battle, and they felt right at home in the skits. It's surprisingly rare to see an old character among heroes in games these days, but Rowen is greatly capable in the adventure and is absolutely full with personality. Alvin should be almost unlikable, but he embodies the lovable rogue archetype so well that I just loved his wisecracking and flirtatious moments. Jude is a pretty nice guy and very determined. He had a cool design and I liked seeing a protagonist who was a medic/martial artist as opposed to the cliche knight with a sword. If I had to pick one who was the stand-out, I'd definitely say Milla. She's a fish-out-of-water that still manages to pull through losin?g her powers, injury and a horrible fact about her life, to be a truly strong female protagonist who makes some intense decision??s. Lightning who?

Dreamweaver:

Jack Cayman from Anarchy Reigns. I know he isn't "new", but technically, this isn't the "same" Jack Cayman from Madworld (they both take place in different universes).

Anyway, why him? First of all, ??he is voiced by badass, legendary voice actor Steve Blum, and that gruff voice suits him so well (Troy Baker's Joel is a very close second).

Second, I liked his character design: he comes across as a biker, which I didn't like, but he's a VERY muscular guy with a frickin' chainsaw attached to his arm! With the DLC in Japan, it can even be gold! Plus, we don't see too many older characters in Japanese games, the genre saturated with teenage boys (Nier Gestalt  > Nier Replicant).

Third, I really loved his character development. While he was a badass in Madworld (winner of multiple tournaments, plus slayer of equally badass bosses), he was essentially a generic, single dimensional character that didn't have an ounce of character development. At least in Anarchy Reigns, we see him as initially someone just trying to survive without his daughter, and when he is asked by the killer's daughter to retrieve her father, I lik??e how it eventually became less about the job proper and more about wanting personal vengeance.

His two fi??ghts against Maximillion were the stood out moments in?? the game.

CH Gorog:

Sorry, even with well-written psychopaths, avengers, soldiers, and ?survivors, there's ONE true stand-out for?? me:

chrometits:

That guy who keeps trying to pass off the dodgy passports in Papers, Please.

----------

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Did your character not get included? Tell us about him o??r her (or it) in the comments!

The post Here are your favorite new characters from 2013! appeared first on Destructoid.

You people sure like arguing about New Dante

Earlier this week, we asked you to share your thoughts on the WORST new videogame characters of 2013. Here are th??e results!

Many of you took this opportunity to vent your frustrations (or at least upvote or downvote comments) regarding DmC's Dant?e, which is neat. Ot??her than that obvious choice, there were quite a few other nominees for the wall of shame, and some that I certainly didn't expect!

SephirothX:

Mine would be Dante from DmC: Devil May Cry.

When the DmC reboot was first revealed, and after trailers/previews/demos showed off the character most people were expecting/worried that he'd end up being a character, who would try too hard to look "edgy" and "cool" (due to the smoking and excessive swearing, two things that weren't associated to ??the character previously), but in all actuality in the final game he ended up being pretty close to the opposite. He's an extremely wooden and boring play-it-safe character that seems designed around appealing to the western masses as much as humanly possible.

His personality lacks any sort of charisma, his jokes come off flat, and his motivations during the story never change and flow organically and tend to abruptly change depending on what is necessary for the plot. And all of this is before you really start to compare him to the original version of the characte?r.

There is no real defining look to Reboot Dante beyond originally looking like a self-insert for Tameem Antoniades (which they backed off from later on) and the only way most people tend to describe his look is by talking about what he doesn't look like.

Ninja Theory managed to take a character who was pretty much a glorified Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle known for eating pizza, surfing on rockets, and generally mocking things that are mean?t to be hellish and evil, and ended up making him boring and uninteresting. Reboot Dante was a completely different/new character who simply had a familiar name slapped onto him in order to sell more copies, a move th?at ended up backfiring pretty substantially.

SiliconNooB:

It takes an especially awful character to hurt a brand the way that Donte did.

Jamvaan:

Kat from DmC was the worst character of the year. Just a walking plot device with a name t?ag that says "Door Mat". She exists to get kidnapped and has really no character of her own, just kind of latching on to Dante at the end of the game because the script said s??o.

CaptainProtonX:

The Aliens in Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Dreamweaver:

Sam Fisher 2.0. He lost a lot of his personality, and he feels like your typical military gruff asshole. I get that he's in charge now, but for someone who usually has that sni??de, light side of him, it feels like a tu??rnabout.

Darth Marsden:

To say [Sam Fisher's new voice actor] couldn't fill Michael Ironside's shoe??s is what understatements point and laugh at.

Benny Disco:

Willem Dafoe in Beyond: Two Souls, becaus?e he looked like this (left) wh?en he could have looked like this (right).

Script:

From my limited experience with GTA V, Jimmy DeSanta.

Rokee:

Pretty much the whole supporting cast in GTA V. Which especially counts for Jimmy DeSanta. It's on thing to make a character terrible by design. But that the game preven?ts you from even punching him...that is unacceptable. Earlier entries wou?ld have had at least the decency to fail the mission when a NPC got harmed by the player.

The Defenestrator:

Carver from Dead Space 3. He was a walking, ta??lking embodiment of EA and Visceral's douche??baggiest "mainstream" money-grubbing ambitions.

Jamvaan:

Joel from The Last Of Us. He is a terrible?? human being who does terrible, terrible things. Not sure if ??that makes him a bad or a great character, but what an asshole.

Trev:

Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2. Poorly written, unintellig??ent, obnoxious, self-defeating, plot devicey to the extreme, and ultimately the same old boring boss battle as the first game. He was supposed to be a character that y??ou "love to hate", but was just an annoying piece of shit trying to have your ear for the whole game but without having anything worth saying.

crackedbat:

All the Sims in SimCity. Too stupid for their own good.

Handy:

I thought I knew hatred, I thought I knew what it ?was to wish ill on my fellow man, I thought I knew the gut searing heat one feels when one is a step away from ph??ysical violence.

But I knew nothing.

I did not yet know Teepo.

Silver Waseskuk:

The Deadly Six from Sonic Lost Worlds were disa??ppointing. Not all that deadly or really eve??n threatening in comparison to the glorious Robotnik. Granted, kids game, but I can't imagine too many kids thinking of those clowns as true Monstars.

Rick Korpershoek:

My pick for the worst character(s) would be those dumb rivals from the new Pokemon. Forget Lysandre, that big kid with this stupid obsession with dancing instantly earned my ire. The other two guys (as I played a female MC) are lame as well, because they are lac?king in personality and are just plain boring. Freaking May/Brendan were better, and they just gave up halfway through the game!

Only Shauna gets a free pass, because it seemed like she was hitting on my female MC someti??mes. Which, y'know, makes everything better.

Coil_Whine:

The tractor from Farming Simulator 2014. It's r??eally slow and ?it doesn't go where I want it to.

Stealths long lost brother:

Mika from Killer is Dead. Pushing my feelings of that game aside, Mika has to be the worst character I have encountered this year and her character really puzzles me because I always had the impression Suda51 avoids creating characters that follow that typical "moe cliché" that is featured a lot in Japanese media. Suda always had an approach in his games to break common paradigms in Japanese (and Western) games as h??e has used the moe culture in a sense of? dark satire or parody.

Frankly I just t??hink she's annoying and I honestly can'??t stand characters like that.

JamsTheKuma:

Ravio from A Link Between Worlds. I hate that little shit. You can't tell that little bum to fuck off so he moves into your house and reconfigures it into a shop. And his idea of paying rent is letting you rent things from his shop like ?every other person in Hyrule probably can. Fuck that guy.

GoofierBrute:

As much as I enjoyed the game, I really didn't like Walter, Jonathan, or Isabeau from Shin Megami Tensei IV. At the beginning of the game, they were inoffensive and were excellent meat shields, if a bit cliche, but as the game goes on, they just got really annoying, and I eve??ntually stopped caring about what they said and did. Game was still fun, but man were they really shallow.

PanaMusica:

Fanboys.

----------

And that one is true for every year.

Thanks to everyone who participated! Didn't have a chance to share your angst?? Hit up the comments now!

The post Here are your most hated new character?s of the yea??r appeared first on Destructoid.

Share your stories with the Dtoid community

[All week long we've been asking for your thoughts on ?certain topics related to the? year in gaming. Here's the final call for entries!]

2013 has been an amazing year for gaming. Hell, we've reviewed more 9.5s and 10s in the past three months alone than I think I've ever seen in all my time here. And it's not because we're getting soft in our old age; rather, this year's games have just been that good.

I already shared my favorite gaming memory of the year in our PS3 farewell post, but it's worth repeating. The game was The Last of Us, and the moment was when Joel and Ellie [SPOILERS] first make it to the university and a tower of giraffes pass by them. Joel, Ellie and I stood and watched those giraffes lumber their way out of view for what seemed like an eternity, and it was such a beautiful moment in such a bleak game that I will never forget it.[/SPOILERS]

A truly great game can mark your memory for a lifetime, and those are the stories we want to hear about right now! So go share your favorite gaming moments of 2013 with us in the comments below. Or, if you find yourself getting long-winded, write a blog! (Be sure to share the link below.) W???e'll be pulling in quotes from the community for a special recap post later this weekend, so take some time to think about your responses.

Have fun!

[Photo credit: Dan Almasy]

The post What were your favorite gaming moments of 2013? appeared first on Destructoid.

Share your horror stories with the Dtoid community

[All week long we'll be asking for your thoughts on certain topics related to the year in gaming. Miss yesterday's post? Click here to chime in with your favo??rite new ??songs or soundtracks!]

Ride to Hell: Retribution. Final Fantasy All the Bravest. Resident Evil 6. Aliens: Colonial Marines. You get the point. Please don't make me keep loo??king these up. It hurts.

I thankfully avoided every stinker of a game released this year, but I know some of you weren't as fortunate. Some of you got conned into a ticket on the pre-order hype train and had no choice but to ride it to the end of the line. Some no doubt played through these toxic specimens because you knew they were turds, possibly to fulfill some masochistic fantasy that you should probably s??ee a therapist about. Whatever ??the case, you no doubt played some real shit games this year, and we want to hear about them!

Share your awful game stories in the comments below. Or, if you find yourself getting long-winded, write a blog. (Be sure to share the link b??elow.) We'll be pulling in quotes from the community for a special re??cap post later this week, so take some time to think about your responses!

Have fun! If it's even possible...

The post What was the WORST new game you played this year? appeared first on Destructoid.

Share your stories with the Dtoid community

[All week long we'll be asking for your thoughts on certain topics related to the year in gaming! Miss a previous post? Click here to sound off on your favorite and least favorite new characters!]

Gaming is graced with some amazing original songs and scores every year, and 2013 was no exception. From The Last of Us to Tomb Raider, Ni No Kuni to Super Mario 3D World, a?nd everything in between, our ears were just as blessed as our eyes and fingers this year, and I'm not even sure I could pick my favorite if I tried!

What about you? Have a favorite song or soundtrack from 2013? Share your thoughts and stories in the comments below! Or, if you find yourself getting long-winded, write a blog! (Be sure to share the link below.) We'll be pulling in quotes from the ??community for a special recap ??post later this week, so take some time to think about your responses.

Have fun!

The post What was yo?ur favorite song or soundtrack of 2013? appeared first on Destructoid.

Share your stories with the Dtoid community

[All week long we'll b??e asking for your thoughts on certain ??topics related to the year in gaming!]

2013 added some amazing new characters to our medium, but it also brought with it some serious stinkers. Annoying (and unwanted) co-op sidekicks, painful reimaginings of fan favorites from generations past, MERLENDERL -- the list goes on.

The object of my personal disaffection had to be Carver from Dead Space 3. The simple addition of an optional co-op character to one of my favorite horror series didn't turn out to be the harbinger I had worried it would be, but the design of said character couldn't have been much worse if they actively tried. Loud, brash, and full of the same grating military-FPS bravado I play games like Dead Space to avoid, I cringed every time Carver popped up on screen and the game didn't let me?? put a Plasma Cutter shot through his one good eye.

What about you? Share your thoughts and stories in the comments below! Or, if you find yourself getting long-winded, write a blog! (Be sure to share the link below.) We'll be pulling i?n quotes from the community for a special recap post later this week, so take some time to think? about your responses.

Have fun!

The post Who was the WORST new videogame ch?aracter of 2013? appeared first on Destructoid.

Share your stories with the Dtoid community

[All week long we're going to be asking for your thoughts on? certain topics related to th??e year in gaming. Here's the first!]

2013 was absolutely ripe with juicy new characters in the realm of gaming. Badass '80s action heroes, hilarious narrators, endearing? psychopaths, robot dogs, annoyingly philosophical trans-dimensional twins, ass-kicking little girls, and a little dude with a lamp hanging from his nose barely scratch the surface as to the eclectic selection or protagonists and NPCs on display this year.

My personal favorite has to be Rex Colt from Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. His cheesy dialog and banter ??was straight out of the best (worst?) '80s action movies, and was a far cry (HAR HAR) from ??the usual FPS protagonist.

What about you? Share your thoughts and stories in the comments below! Or, if you find yourself getting long-winded, write a blog! (Be sure to share the link below.) ??We'll be pulling in quotes from the community for a special recap post later this week, so take some time to think abo?ut your responses.

Have fun!

The post Who w?as your favorite new videogame cha?racter this year? appeared first on Destructoid.

A pirate's life

Another year, another Assassin's Creed.

Ubisoft hasn't shown any signs of slowing down on annual releases for the series, despite handily finishing its main story arc. Correctly identifying the best innovation of Assassin's Creed III as i?ts naval combat, this latest title incorporates it as the defining feature and centers the narrative around pirate adventure in the early 18th century.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS3 [reviewed], Xbox 360, Wii U, PS4, PC, Xbox One,)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Annecy
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: October 29, 2013 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U) / November 15 (PS4) / November 19 (PC) / November 22 (Xbox One)
MSRP: $59.99

Edward Kenway is unique in the realm of playable Assassin's Creed&nbs?p;characters in that he is neither an Assassin nor a Templar, but a pirate who holds allegiance t?o none but himself, seeking to find fortune and an easy life. He becomes embroiled in the affairs of the two organizations when he encounters an Assassin and kills him, taking his robes and assuming his identity long enough to learn of a great treasure being sought by the world's secret powers which would set Kenway up for life, provided he can get there first and sell to the highest bidder.

The main campaign follows Edward as he hunts down this treasure, another piece of technology left behind by the precursor race which once controlled all of?? humanity, while ?working with other pirates to establish a new republic free from the control of kings and governors. It's a meaty adventure which should take players around thirty hours to accomplish, assuming they attempted to do little else.

As a story, it is perhaps not as powerful as Ezio Auditore's battle with the Borgia or Connor's participation in the American Revolution. That's a problem with having nearly all your lead characters be self-serving criminals; it makes it harder to feel compassion for anybody. Furt?her, both the Templars and Assassins, while central to the plot, take a backseat more befitting their status as secret societies. Their presence and involvement is known, but they operate more in the shadows at a distance which (with the exception of an Assassin-focused secondary quest line) gives them less direct interaction with Kenway and opens the door for an expansion of the game's world beyond the simple black-and-white conflict that pair have engaged in for centuries. 

That's probably for the best, because the game makes no bones about characters within the simulation describing the more science-fiction aspects of the Assassin's Creed world. Plot elements once fiercely guarded as secrets are now almost casually discussed between characters who have awareness of such things, an occasionally flagrant reminder that th?is is as much a game about high techno??logy as historical fantasy.

Kenway's status as an outsider caught between factions dovetails neatly with the game's broader, modern-day narrative, the telling of which has dramatically changed in this installment. Having completed the story of Desmond Miles in Assassin's Creed III, players no longer assume his role, but that of an unnamed employee at Abstergo Ente??rtainment whose job it is to perform genetic memory research and relive the adventures of Edward Kenway for use in Animus-produced, commercial "experiences."

Presented in a first-person view, these segments out??side the Animus are some of the most entertaining the series has yet seen. A parody of the moder?n game development industry, Abstergo Entertainment is filled with references to the perceived culture within and behind game studios. There are also computers to be hacked in a series of simple mini-games, unlocking supplemental materials which enrich the history of the Templar-controlled parent corporation and open the door for endless future courses the franchise could take.

While exploring the pirate history of the West Indies, players will find their time neatly divided between land-based activities and seafaring ones. The game's world is -- as expected of Assassin's Creed -- mammoth in scope. More than half a dozen large land masses exist to explore on foot, from bustling ports to ancient jungle ruins where players can hunt, take on assassination targets, and seek out hundreds of collectibles which litter the landscape. These exist within a larger, oceanic map with dozens of additional, smaller ports, cov?es and islands and vast stretches of open sea populated by European fleets.

Exploring the seas turns up more activities the player can engage in with more variety in their gameplay. Locations where sharks and whales can be harpooned put Kenway on a rowboat to engage the beasts in tense, thrilling combat. A diving bell acquired ?midway through the campaign allows the exploration of shipwrecks which hide treasure and plans for powerful ship upgrades. The underwater areas have some issues, mostly related to lighting being so poor as to be completely disorienting, but offer a nice challenge in the more difficult regions of the map.

And then there are more violent activities. Any ship is a potential?? target for piracy, carrying goods which can be sold or used to upgrade Kenway's ship, the Jackdaw. Ship battles require a bit of strategy in approaching targets??, as you can easily become surrounded and overwhelmed if half-cocked, and it's supremely satisfying when a plan pays off.

Ships which are defeated in combat can be sunk for half their cargo or boarded by the Jackdaw's crew. Boarding will bring the two ships together and require the player to kill a certain number of enemy crew members and other objectives such as destroying the enemy ship's flag and powder magazines. Captured ships can then be used to repair the Jackdaw, reduce notoriety and prevent enemy hunters from tracking the player, or press it into service in Kenway's Fleet, a trading sub-game similar to a trading system found in Assassin's Creed III (and equally dull, ??but totally avoidable for all but the completionist).

Boarding ships will likely be, for many, ??a high-water mark of excitement for when they first encounter the activity. Swinging on a rope from one ship to another, landing on two soldiers (killing them instantly) and drawing swords to deal with the half dozen more surrounding manages to retain its luster for a su??rprisingly long time, and it can be hard to resist attacking every ship which moves into view to get another taste of that instead of traveling on to the next objective or activity.

For the first time in Assassin's Creed history, Black Flag is incredibly respectful of the player's nee?d to cross great distances with a minimum of mucking about. Unlocking fast travel to a map location is as easy as visiting it, with no additional climbing puzzle or maze to traverse. Additionall?y, every "synchronization point" (a vertically high perch which, when reached, reveals surrounding map details) serves as an additional fast-travel location.

Land-based activities in the campaign suffer from feeling more or less the same, one mission to the next. Most follow a formula of tailing a target, usually without raising their awareness, until such time as valuable knowledge is gained or they are otherwise safe to eliminate and while s?ome other diversions do exist, such as the? occasional silent infiltration, a bit more variety would have been welcome.

Environments are designed to offer a range of paths to accomplish the objectives, allowing the player to stalk at ground level or at height in most circ??umstances, and Eagle Vision (an ability which lets Kenway identify targets and mark them so that they remain highlighted at all times) plays a much more prominent role, though it doesn't always seem to work as well? as intended or even at all in some parts of the game, failing to establish a lock on enemies regardless of how clear the view to them is.

It can be difficult to tell when the game might reward or punish the player for their actions, as Black Flag sometimes appears to have a flexible definition of its own rules. A target being tailed may or may not observe a violent combat encounter happening thirty feet behind their backs. Passing directly in front of a guard in a restricted area may or may not immediately impel them to action. The level design of these missions is frequently excellent though, with plenty of patrolling guards and lots?? of oppo?rtunities to dispense with them silently or with style.

Should the player be spotted and need to lose unwanted attention, they'll find a more aggressive enemy on their hands. Guards don't give up on tracki??ng down as easily as in past games and they'll continue to hunt for a short time once hidd?en, fanning out and checking spots until their interest is diminished. They're also pretty fast in a foot chase and able to tackle Kenway and surround him with ease on a long sprint.

Hand-to-hand combat remains simplistic, with commands for attacking, countering, and breaking enemy defense being all that's really necessary. Crowded conflicts can be chaotic and it's very easy to accidentally switch targets midway through a combo, making these battles a bit frustrating at times but rarely challenging. Secondary weapons such as smoke bombs, pistols and the rope dart return and can spice things up a b??it, but fighting enemies directly i??s typically less satisfying than picking them off from concealment.

Multiplayer offers more of the same, "hide-and-seek" competitive gameplay as has been found in prior editions. Sporting six game modes (all featured previously in the series' last installment) which twist conventional multiplayer games like Capture the Flag and King of the Hill with stealth elements unique to Creed, and eight maps on which to play them. While there's nothing revolutionary to be found in the selection, multiplayer remains a tense, thrilling experience whether on the hunt or in hiding.? Sadly, all ?multiplayer content consists of on-foot gameplay and ship combat has not been made an option, which seems like a tragic missed opportunity.

Rather than create new modes, Ubisoft Annecy has instead developed a "Game Lab" system which allows players to redefine the parameters of their games to create new experiences on their own. The depth of these options is highly impressive, allowing the player to set limits on abilities, change the amount of time actions take to perform, and even toggle HUD elements. Game modes players create can be shared with others, with popular modes appearing in a curated playlist. It remains to be seen how well the community of players takes to this feature, but the opp?ortunity certainly exists for some creative ?game modes.

Black Flag sports visuals which still manage to impre?ss on aging console hardware, though not without some problems. Pop-in and some minor screen tearing occurred in our playthrough which, while acceptable within the narrative framework of the Animus, were certainly noticeable. Also, as bright as the brights are, darkness can be so total in some places that it's impossible to see anything but the outline of a highlighted enemy. These issues aside, the design is generally more vibrant, more colorful, and it's hard not to get caught up in the fantasy. This is accompanied by some exceptional audio, including a wide selection of sea shanties the Jackdaw's crew can be ordered to sing, making every voyage seem like a grand adventure.

Open-world game design works best when the player feels as though something fun is just around any corner. In this respect, Black Flag is the best Assassin's Creed yet. Strong environment design props up the well-worn, on-foot gameplay and the slightly more persistent enemy AI can present a decent threat to the incautious, but no real ground is broken on land. Sea voyag??es are the brilliant contribution to the formula, with a range of variety and challenge strong enough to remain compelling through the game's lengthy campaign and beyond, while the remainder is a more polished, streamlined experience than ever before. 

The post Review: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag appeared first on Destructoid.

Your favorite game of PAX

Last week, we asked you to pick your favorite game of PAX Prime 2013. Today, the results are in!

I wish I could say it was a close call, but the rest of the games on the show floor apparently decided to phone it in compared to...

Hotline Miami 2 impressed the hell out of our reporters on the show floor for being more of that same brand of beautiful strangeness set forth by its predecessor, and apparently it had the same effect on the rest of you as well, as it garnered over 20% of your total votes! I watched Dtoid's Spencer Hayes as he played it, and at one point he turned around to Hamza and me and said, "It's Hotline Miami 2." You should have seen the grin on his face.

Congratulations to Dennaton Games, Digital Devolver, and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, the winner of Destructoid's PAX Prime 2013?? Community Choice Award!

Here?? are your top 10 resu??lts, ordered by votes received:

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
Infamous: Second Son
Pokemon X and Y
Bayonetta 2
Total War: Rome II
Transistor
XCOM: Enemy Within
Airmech
Battlefield 4
Killzone: Shadow Fall

Thanks to everyone who voted in our poll!

The post Dtoid’s PAX Prime 2013 community choice award winner! appeared first on Destructoid.

Sound off in our poll!

PAX Prime 2013 is now in full swing?, which can only mean one thing: it's time to pick your favorite game of the show!

There are a ton of titles for both current and upcoming hardware playable on the show floor, and Destructoid will be bringing you news of everything we see. But the real story will be what YOU people decide ??is you??r favorite game!

So hit the jump to vote in o??ur poll, then defend your choice in the comments!

The post Vote for Dtoid’s PAX Prime 2013 community choice award! appeared first on Destructoid.

The votes have been counted

Our editors have each had their say. Destructoid proper has announced its picks. Now it's YOUR turn!

Last week we asked you to vote for your favorite game of E3 2013. After several thousand ballots cast and nary a hanging chad, we're re??ady to announce the winner! So hit th?e jump to see your top 10 most-loved games of E3 2013. The results just may surprise you...

And the winner is...

Payday 2!

Yes, the game that stole Steven's heart also seemed to resonate with the rest of you Dtoiders. And what's not to like? Overkill has taken everything we loved about the original Payday and bumped up the intensity tenfold. Between heists that can be segmented across multiple days, the new stealth system, and an expanded customization and upgrades system, Payday 2 looks to be everything we could want in a sequel, and I c?an't wait to play it.

So congratulations to Overkill Software and Payday 2, the winne?r of Destructoid's E3 2013 C?ommunity Choice Award!

And here were your nine runners-up, in order of votes received:

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Elder Scrolls Online
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Super Smash Bros. U
Final Fantasy XV
Destiny
Tom Clancy's The Division
Dark Souls II
Watch Dogs
The rest of the results...

Congratulations to everyone o?n this list! Wh??at a great group of games!

And ??that's it for this year! Thanks to everyone who participated. See you next E3!

----------

Note: Unlike our other E3 awards, the community choice poll wasn't limited to games that were playable on the show floor. Anything that was shown, demoed, or talked about was fair game!

The post Destructoid’s Best of E3 2013 community choice winner! appeared first on Destructoid.

YOU decide who takes home the crown!

You've watched all the press conferences. You've read all the news. Now it's time to sound off with your fa??vorite game of E3!

We've reported on dozens of awesome games over the last few days, but only one is destined for the coveted jbsgame.community Choice Award. Choose wisely! For a refresher of much of what's been announced, click below for recaps of all the major press conferences (or just visit our E3 hub to see it all):

• Microsoft
• Nintendo
• Sony
• EA
• Ubisoft

Decided? Good! N????ow hit the jump and cast your vote!

Did I miss any games? Reply to my c?omment below with your suggestion and I'll add it to the poll!

The post Vote now for Destructoid’s E3 2013 Community Choice Award appeared first on Destructoid.

The results are in!

Last week, we asked you in the jbsgame.community to pick your most anticipated games of 2013. After a week of inten??se vote-counting, we're ready to share t?he results!

The voting was extremely close; so?? much so that the top three games were separated by only a few votes each. Keep reading to see how?? it all played out!

Here are your top ten most wanted games, i??n order of votes received (and with some quotes by jbsgame.commenters):

BioShock Infinite (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC)
Release: March 26, 2013

Bioshock Infinite is the missing piece of my soul.
-- Occams electric toothbrush

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PlayStation 3, Vita)
Release: February 5, 2013

Sly 4 looks unbelievable!
-- Joel Holmes

Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Release: TBA 2013

I am a pretty jaded asshole when it comes to videogames these days, and the only series that can still fill me with child-like delight other than child-flavoured Angel Delight is Grand Theft Auto. I don't even give a fuck??, that game is going into my body.
-- Tarvu

The Last of Us (PlayStation 3)
Release: May 7, 2013

I love games where you get some choice in how you approach a situation. Either sneak around some bros, or confront them and shoot a dude in the face with a shotgun!
-- alexvola

Dark Souls II (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC)
Release: TBA 2013

Welp, that was easy.
-- knutaf

Watch_Dogs (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC)
Release: TBA 2013 

One thing is for certain: on the PC, at least, this game ??is going to do very, very sexy things to your eyeballs!
--Scrub

Ni no Kuni (PlayStation 3)
Release: January 22, 2013 

 It's a Studio Ghibli movie turned into a cel-shaded Pokemon-ish JRPG!
--flintmech 

South Park: The Stick of Truth (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC)
Release: March 5, 2013 

South Park: The Stick of Truth is the dark horse that Far Cry 3 was for me last year.
--MisanthropicFuck

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Release: February 19, 2013

I'm loving this shit; most exited I have ever been for a Metal Gear game.
--El Conrado

Pikmin 3 (Wii U)
Release: Spring 2013 

Been waiting for this game for over 4-5 years!
--Joseph S

And here are your ten runners-up:

Aliens: Colonial Marines
Star Wars 1313
The Elder Scrolls Online
Tomb Raider
Dead Space 3
Total War: Rome II
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
The Last Guardian
Rayman Legends
Fire Emblem: Awakening

What an awesome bunch of games! No matter where your ?preference lies, 2013 seems to have something in store to satisfy.

??Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote, and have fun in 2013!

The post The Dtoid community’s most wanted games of 2013 appeared first on Destructoid.

Our editors made their picks, now it's your turn to sound off!

[Update: Poll closed! Winner announced tomorrow!]

Earlier today, the Destructoid staff made our choices for most wanted games of 2013. Now it's time for you to share YOUR favorites!

Hit the jump to cast your votes, and be sure to let us know in the comments what you're looking forward to! And if you want to s?ee a game added to the list, feel free to sound off!

Have fun!

The post What’s YOUR most anticipated game of 2013? appeared first on Destructoid.

Best of 2012

For the past week we've tasked you, the jbsgame.community, with choosing your favorite videogame of 2012. After nearly 5,??????????????????????????000 votes cast, we're ready to declare the winner!

The five games you see in the header were the top voted games of 2012. Abobo's Big Adventure, Borderlands 2, Journey, Mass Effect 3, and The Walking Dead each struck a major cord with the Dtoid community for various reasons, and I wish we could give an award to every one of them! Sadly, though, that isn't the case, and after the dust settled, only one ga?me reigned supreme.

And the winner is ...

The Walking Dead

Hailed as a masterpiece by critics and adored by gamers from all walks (get it?) of life, The Walking Dead is one of those rare games that appeal?s to almost everyone who spends time with it. From the stellar writing and voice acting, to the focused, story-driven gameplay, to the unique, graphic novel-inspired visuals, every aspect of Telltale's latest offering has been polished to the point ??of perfection, and is a testament to how episodic gaming should be executed in the years to come.

I know of more Dtoiders who bawled their eyes out at the game's conclusion than in any other game past, so it's no wonder it made such a resounding impact on the jbsgame.community. Please join me in giving a hearty congratulations to Telltale games and The Walking Dead, winner of Destructoid's 20?12 Commu??nity Choice Award!

Thanks to everyone who took part in the voting!

For the record, here are the 10 runners?-up, in order of votes received:

Borderlands 2
Abobo's Big Adventure
Mass Effect 3
Journey
Dishonored
Xenoblade Chronicles
Halo 4
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Far Cry 3
Persona 4 Golden

While each of these r?eceived a fair share of your votes, I'd be lying if I said it was even clo??se!

The post The winner of Destructoid’s community choice award 2012 appeared first on Destructoid.

Best of 2012

[Update: Voting closed! Winner announced shortly!]

It's that time of t??he year again! From now until next Thursday, we're asking y??ou in the Dtoid community to sound off on your favorite games of 2012!

Below is just a sampling of the hundreds (millions???) of games that were released over the last 12 month??s. Please take a moment to weigh in on your personal favorite! If your game isn't on the list, don't hesitate to write it in! After you've voted, be sure to defend your choice in the comments! No?thing says "the Internet" like arguments about personal preference, after all!

Thanks, and have fun!

The post Vote and tell us your favorite videogame of 2012 appeared first on Destructoid.

For those of you who have lost count, this is the third time that I've reviewed Cave Story, and the second time I've reviewed it on the 3DS platform. That may sound like a lot, but I've actually been slacking. This eShop-specific version of the game marks the fifth time that publisher Nicalis has put Cave Story (WiiWare, DSiWare, Steam/??iTunes, 3DS retail, eShop) up for sale.

The more cynical among us may scoff and say that Nicalis is just milking Cave Story for the big money it brings in. That's not the case. Nicalis could get?? a lot more potential profits from spending time on publishing games that people don't already have access ?to.

No, the reason that Nicalis keeps re-releasing Cave Story is that the company's CEO Tyrone Rodriguez really loves Cave Story. I think he wants to marry it. For real.

There's good reason for that. Cave Story is one of the most re-playable, continually enjoyable games I've ever encountere??d. This new release is among the best, if not the best, version released yet.

Cave Story (3DS eShop)
Developer: Pixel, Nicalis
Publisher: Nicalis
Release: October 4, 2012 
MSRP: $9.99

This latest iteration of Cave Story was made to replace the DSiWare version of the game released in 2010. Tyrone and Cave Story creator Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya weren't happy with how that version looked on the 3DS, so they went all out on adapting the game for the newer console. Sadly, technical limitations prohibited them from making this new version a free update to Cave Story DSiWare.

Nicalis and Pixel did their best to make up for that by loading up the eShop version with new content. The resolution and playable screen size have been optimized for the 3DS, stereoscopic 3D has been added, the DSiWare's unique feature (Jukebox mode) is still in, and all the modes from Cave Story+ on Steam -- Boss Rush, Sanctuary Time Attack, Curly Story, Wind Fortress, and Nemesis Challeng??e -- are all here as well.

If you're new to Cave Story, check out the review Anthony Burch (writer of Borderlands 2 and Dtoid alum) penned for the original ??freeware version of the game back in 2006, and/or my review of the WiiWare port back in 2010 (and if you're really curious, the review of the 3DS retail version from 2011). That's where you can get a look at what the main game is all about. For the rest of this review, we'll be focusing on the things that make this new release of Cave Story different from the pri??or versions we've reviewed.

Lets start with the bad news first. The game is missing the larger, redrawn graphics from the WiiWare/Steam/iOS version of the game. Thankfully, the small screen size on the 3DS makes the "old" graphics looks almost identical to the new ones. Ultimately, those new graphics have become largely unnecessary. Their more detailed look was originally put into place in order to make the characters look less flat. The game's 3D display accomplishes the same goal without altering the original artwork. This may be the original art, but this is still the most crisp, well-defined, pronounced version of Cave Story yet. 

It's not just the 3D that's responsible for the game's sharp new look. Cave Story eShop has ?been custom fit for the 3DS' larger screen size, resulting in a sharper level of definition and a stronger sense of place than the DSiWare version. With the action zoomed out, more activity can fit on screen at once, and players will be likely to less likely to focus in on one of the (now smaller) characters with so much going on at one time. That can help the player to take in everything going on and make more informed decisions. It's easier to string a series of jumps or dodge a volley of attacks when you can see them all coming. As much as I prefer the widescreen look, you can revert to original dimensions if you want.

The game's controls are also customizable, allow?ing you to flip the jump button and shoot buttons to suit your fancy. There are a few other balancing tweaks that truly diehard fans may appreciate, but most fans might not pick u?p on. For instance, the in-game map no longer runs along the bottom screen at all times, which encourages the player to not rely too heavily on it. That's not something that everyone will notice or even care about, but it's an example of the care that went into this revamp.

The Boss Rush, Sanctuary Time Attack, and Curly Story modes are just as they were in the WiiWare version. The more notable additions here are the two modes imported from Cave Story+: Wind Fortress and Nemesis Challenge. Both are adapted from level designs from the unreleased beta of the original Cave Story, and are just well-designed as any parts of the main game. They might be even a little better, as both modes assume that the player is skilled enough to get through the game's campaign, and are therefore ready for the roughest stuff that Cave Story can offer.

The Wind Fortress starts with a fantastic platforming section where the player's skills at jumping and hovering with precision are immediately push??ed to the limit. Your weaponry is limited to the Blade and the Spur, which limits your defensive options when the screen quickly fills with jerkface flying insects that love to knock you to your death. They make mid-air safety a bit of a problem. From there, the focus turns to action, with new enemies and a new boss fight which are focused on tense, nail-biting shootouts. I don't want to spoil what happens, but I'll tell you that the Wind Fortress is a real love letter to the fans.

The Nemesis Challenge is an even harsher test of player skill. It starts you off with just ten health, the Booster 0.8 (which allows you to hover for only brief period of time) and the Nemesis, the strangest weapon in the Cave Story world. The base stats for the Nemesis are fairly good, but if you grab even one power up, the gun gets substantially worse in both power and range. Just two power ups wil??l take the weapon to its maximum "upgrade," where? it shoots harmless rubber ducks. The only way to make the gun more effective again is to take a hit, forcing the player to swap health for firepower.

With only ten health and a horde of enemies in your face, the temptation will be to take down foes fast. The downside to that strategy is that killing enemies is the fastest way to fill the screen with power-ups, which is the last thing you want to do with the Nemesis. Those conditions reward a player who is able to dodge enemies as opposed to destroying them, though that's a lot easier said than done. On top of that, the level design of Nemesis Challenge is about as precarious as it gets. Platforms are few and far between. Combining that stress with the pressure to play in pacifistic style makes for a unique series of obstacles that even the most seasoned Cave Story veterans wont easily overcome.

Hopefully by now it's clear that I love Cave Story for eShop, but there are a few things that keep me from proclaiming that it's the only version of the game you have to play. It lacks the highly detailed backgrounds and additional level designs found in the 3DS retail version of the game (like the Inner Wall) and the previously mentioned sprites from the WiiWare/Steam/iOS remakes. It also lacks the full Christmas and soon-to-be-released [redacted] Holiday themed skins found on the Steam version of Cave Story+ (though you do get the Reindeer? and Vampire sprite swaps from the WiiWare port). 

That said, there is no one version of Cave Story that has everything. This new release has just as much content as any other version of the game, if not more. Overall, it stands right alongside Cave Story+ as one of the best, if not the best, version of Cave Story to date.

The post Review: Cave Story (3DS eShop) appeared first on Destructoid.

Android owners can finally play one of the most enjoyable mobile games ever with the arrival of Halfbrick's Jetpack Joyride. Best of all, it's free! You can download the game either through Google Play or the Amazon App Store.

You really have no excuse here. We gave Jetpack Joyride a 9 out of 10 in our review las?t year. And did I mention it's free? Beca?use it's free. FREE!

The post Jetpack Joyride finally out on Android, and it’s free! appeared first on Destructoid.