The Battlefield series has always been about the large-scale, team based death and destruction. But somehow, it’s never got the building demolition and tactical advantages of an RPG to the side of a house quite right. Until Bad Company 2 was released, that is…
Paul:
I effing love blowing things up. It’s so satisfying! (my apologies to the MI6 terrorist keyword search programs!) But yes, destroying [virtual] buildings, from the smallest to the largest, is so damn fun. What makes that better is when those buildings happen to have a squad of enemy soldiers camped up inside, guarding a large metal box that I really need to blow into tiny little pieces. Getting multiple kills against a bunch of opponents by toppling a house on top of their heads is one of the greatest demolition based achievements I’ve gained in a video game. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is all about the blowing up and the destructo-madness, and it’s certainly what makes it one of the best games of 2010.
Leveling up my online character as well as unlocking new weapons, gadgets, and special abilities has always been one of the most fun things about online gaming, and in a game like Bad Company 2, where you earn your points through actual skillful game playing – rather than a near-mindless, boring daily grind of most MMOs out there – makes the character and skill progression so much more rewarding, and also entertaining. Knowing you unlocked that huge light machine gun with attached red dot sight and the ability to take much more damage and run a lot faster is so much more appreciable when you know you worked hard for it. It makes you feel.. better than those who aren’t as high a level as you. Lame? No, its effing awesome!
Bad Company 2: Vietnam has just been released in the last week or so, and personally I can’t bloody wait to get my hands on it. I love Battlefield games, and I love Vietnam stuff, so when you combine the two of them, you are going to get a game that will likely make me nerdgasm the moment I jump in an American Huey helicopter, armed with a flamethrower and a radio playing classic Vietnam tunes.
Matt:
DESTRUCTION! CARNAGE! Bad Company 2 is the evolution of the best multiplayer FPS series ever, and this is Dice’s best game to date. Bad Company introduced the Frostbite engine, which allows entire buildings to be destroyed, adding a new layer of tactical gameplay to the already frantic Battlefield experience. Bad Company 2 expanded it and honed it to a tee and we now have one of the most polished online gaming experiences, one that never fails to be fun.
The thrill of blowing up an entire building and watching it collapse into a hundred chunks of rubble (not to mention the thrill of being inside such a building as it collapses around you) will take a long time to get old. I can’t wait to see how Battlefield 3 turns out because Dice will surely have to add even more chaos and destruction to what is already a brilliant game.
Dome Keeper is an excellent little spin on the tower defense game, in which you play the role of a jetpacking miner defending his base from swarms of aliens, whilst searching for a hidden relic buried somewhere beneath him. And now, with this huge free update, you can play it with friends.
I want to talk about Cloudpunk, a game where you get to be a flying-car delivery driver in a futuristic cyberpunk city. Its world is an incredible achievement of environmental design, and while the gameplay itself may be basic, the city of Nivalis is a thing of beauty to behold. Nivalis is built out of hundreds of hand-modelled cuboid buildings; there’s nothing procedural about it. Apparently it took 3 years for the devs to design the city, and it really shows.
I do love me some quality pixel art, and it doesn’t get much better than this. Cast n Chill is a cozy side-scrolling fishing game by small indie dev team Wombat Brawler, with absolutely gorgeous visuals. It’s simple to play, and you you can dip in and out of it at your leisure, making it a fine addition to our collection of coffee break games.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a depressing game. It’s epic and majestic, but undoubtedly bleak. Luckily, it also has some hilarious moments timed with comedic perfection, which somehow never feel out of place. It’s a credit to the writers, and the performances of the voice actors. These are my favourite funny moments of Expedition 33.
There’s not a lot I can say about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that hasn’t already been said, but here’s my take anyway. The game deservedly garnered a heap of attention when it came out for being a fantastic example of a JRPG, that happened to be made in France. Technically, ignoring the fact that the team includes a bunch of ex-Ubisoft veterans, it’s the debut title from developers Sandfall. And what a debut game it is.
Doki Doki Literature Club has dug its way into my chest and ripped me apart over the last couple of nights. It’s a free visual novel game where you get to know a bunch of girls in an afterschool book club… except not really. It looks exactly like any other tropey Japanese dating sim type game, but what lurks underneath this cutesy exterior is something really quite sinister and thought-provoking. The game’s tagline does a good job of reminding you that all is not what it seems: “This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.”
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