Release Calendar: February 2012

February 01:
Rhythm Party  (360)

February 03:
Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle  (PS3, PC, Wii, DS)
NeverDead  (PS3, 360)

February 07:
Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning  (PS3, PC, 360)
The Darkness 2  (PS3, 360)
Combat Wings: The great Battles of WWII  (PS3, 360, PC)
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations  (360, PS3)
Inversion  (PC)
Resident Evil Revelations  (3DS)
Crusader Kings 2  (PC)

February 14:
Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games  (3DS)
UFC Undisputed 3  (PS3, 360)
SSX  (PS3, 360)
Twisted Metal X  (PS3)
Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom  (PSP)
Jagged Alliance: Back in Action  (PC)

February 15:
W.A.R.P.  (360)
Alan Wake: American Nightmare  (360)
I am Alive  (PS3)

February 21:
Asura's Wrath  (360)
Syndicate  (360, PS3, PC)

February 28:
Black Knight Sword  (360, PS3)
Binary Domain  (360, PS3)
Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition  (PS3, 360)

February 29:
Awesomenauts  (PS3, 360)
Gotham City Imposters  (360, PS3, PC)

Repulse

My review of Repulse is up at www.gamingclimax.com.

Resident Evil 6 Trailer

The more Resident Evil moves into the action genre, the less interested I am.  They showed true potential with the Lost in Nightmares DLC for RE5.  I'm still hoping that they'll move back to their roots.

Lucent Heart

My review of Lucent Heart is up at www.gamingclimax.com.

My Rating System

If you’ve read any of my reviews, you’ll have noticed that I don’t use a numerical rating system like many other gaming sites.  You may be asking yourself why that is.  The biggest names in gaming all use a numerical rating.  Most will break a review down into the individual aspects, graphics, sounds, control, etc.  Each of these categories will get an individual score, usually from 1 to 10.  These scores will be averaged together at the end of the review, thus giving the game its final score.  It’s a bland, unoriginal rating system that is far too popular.

I believe that a game can’t be confined to a numerical value.  Playing a game is a unique experience that ends up being something different for everyone.  A review should be a recollection of that experience.  It should be fair and unbiased of course, but in the end, a game isn’t a number.  A game is a work of art and should be treated as such.

Once a reviewer strips away what is special about that game and puts it in the format that 90% of the world uses, how is that game special or unique any longer?  At that point, it becomes just another number.  With only a title and number, most people won’t even take the time to read the generic review.  They will judge a game solely on that number and if that number isn’t high enough, most won’t even bother playing the game itself.  And who is to say a game is deserving of one score or another?  A reviewer may say that a game is a nine and a player may think that nine is in fact a four.  So how can a number sum up an experience for everyone?  Put simply, it can’t.

So when I write a review, I’m not only covering the technical points and writing about those.  I’d like to think that I write about the heart and soul of a game.  Whether it is a beautiful and moving experience or a bug-riddled nightmare, it’s my job to convey what the game is.  A game may be comprised of 1’s and 0’s, but it is not a number.  Thus, you will never see a number based review from me.

Rusty Hearts

Rusty Hearts is a free-to-play MMORPG developed by Stairway Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment.  The game had entered a closed beta on July 27, 2011 and was finally launched on September 13, 2011.  Rusty Hearts is a very story driven game that follows four characters in their quest to vanquish Count Vlad.  It has a very unique style and promises an equally unique experience.  Will this newcomer to an already overcrowded genre truly bring something special to the table or will it fall by the wayside like so many others?

I Got Mine!

Release Calendar: January 2012

January 03:
Anarchy Reigns  (360)

January 10:
King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame  (PC)
Gotham City Imposters  (360, PC, PS3)
CRUSH3D  (3DS)

January 24:
Silent Hill HD Collection  (360, PS3)
Victoria II: A House Divided  (PC)

January 31:
Soul Calibur V (360, PS3)
Final Fantasy XIII-2  (360, PS3)

Dawn of Fantasy

My review of the MMORTS, Dawn of Fantasy, is up at www.gamingclimax.com.

Rusty Hearts Double EXP Event

Rusty Hearts is getting a dose of double exp tomorrow, January 05, 2012 from 2PM CST until 2pm CST January 06, 2012.  Don't miss out!

Rusty Hearts Double Exp

New Soul Calibur V Wallpapers

I've posted new wallpapers of Algol, Dampierre, and Edge Master.  All are 1920x1080 resolution and can be found HERE.

Algol and Edge Master Revealed for Soul Calibur V

Algol was the legendary hero king who created the famed sword Soul Calibur.  Edge Master is renown as a master of all weapons and fighting styles.  Both have been revelead for Soul Calibur V, due out January 31, 2012.

All Points Bulletin Reloaded Wallpaper

I whipped this together because there are far too few All Points Bulletin: Reloaded wallpapers out there.  Enjoy!

The Year in Review: 2011

2011 is done and over.  Now it's time to sit back and reflect on games played and whether or not I finished them.  I've modified this year's list from previous entries.  I've removed DLC content from the list.  Even if the DLC could take upwards of three hours to beat, it's not a complete game.  The rules for MMOs still stand.  to be considered beaten, I must have reached the level cap with at least one character.  Granted, all of these games may not have been released in 2011.  For an older game to qualify on this list, I must not have beaten it until some point in this year.  With that out of the way, here's the list.

Beaten: 22

Xbox 360

Alan Wake

Blur

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 

Dead Space 2

Devil May Cry 4

Dorito's Crash Course

Gears of War 3

Hunted: The Demon's Forge

Kung Fu Panda

Marvel vs Capcom 3

Mortal Kombat

Prince of Persia

Red Dead Redemption

Rock Band 3

Saints Row 2

Vanquish

PC

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Windows Phone

Geo Defense

Need for Speed: Underground

Shuffle Party

Played but not beaten: 10

Xbox 360

Bloodrayne: Betrayal

Final Fantasy XIII

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

PC

Brawl Busters

DC Universe Online

Rusty Hearts

Windows Phone

ilomilo

The Harvest

Twin Blades

Wii

Dead Space: Extraction

All told, I played 32 games that qualified for the list.  Again, this does not include games that I've beaten previously.  This year's completion percentage is 69%, up from 2010's 44% and 2009's 59%.  While I'm glad the completion rate has gone up, I've noticed that the number of games on the list is on a steady decline.

How did you do this year?