Fall gaming orgy

It's that time of the year again when all the big games get released in the same 4 weeks. I wish publishers wouldn't do that, it's overwhelming. Presumably it's to capture Christmas gift sales, but seriously, does that drive that much product? Anyway, here's what's on my radar. Mix of Xbox and PC games. I also play iPhone games, but there's yet to be a really compelling one.

• Civilization V. It's beautiful and somewhat fun, but the AI is awful. Waiting for a patch to continue.
• Fallout 3: New Vegas. Waiting for a patch before buying. I'm no longer buying games that are broken at release.
• Call of Duty: Black Ops. Big dumb FPS shooter fun. I have it on the Xbox and am terrible, but liking all the level-up stuff in multiplayer.
• Fable 3. I hear great things, and I did enjoy the first two even if they were a bit disappointing.
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. AC2 was so fantastic, and the reviews on Brotherhood are even better.
• Team Fortress 2. Old game, but still delivers beautifully.
• Zen Bound 2. $5 for a beautiful little puzzle game. It's nicer on the PC than the iPhone.
• Minecraft. I'm a member of a good multiplayer community, but Notch has so completely fucked up the server code it's not really playable now. Still, love it for an activity to do.
• Lego Harry Potter. Playing this with my non-gamer partner. He's having a hard time with the controls, I think maybe the Lego games have gotten too complicated for their own good. Still, lots of fun.
• Starcraft 2. I should really go back to this, both finish the single player campaign and do more multiplayer. But it just seems like too much work right now.
• The Witcher. I feel like I should play this, particularly after Andrew had good things to say, but I'm stuck halfway through the tutorial with non-enjoyment.
• Dragon Age. Another game I bogged down in, but would like to return and finish.
• Plants vs. Zombies. Bought it when it was cheap, everyone raves about it, but it seems too simple for me.
• VVVVVV. Old school platformer, really hard.
• Super Meat Boy. Another old school platformer, also really hard, but with some fun window dressing that makes me enjoy it more than VVVVV.
• Borderlands. This is a very generous game, still fun to play.
• Limbo. Arty XBLA game, I'm about halfway through and it starts to feel all sameish.
• Create. Looks like a fun physics toy.

I have a lot of free time. I like playing games. Even so, there are way more good games out there now than I possibly have time to play. Maybe the problem is my attention span for a game only lasts 1-2 hours a session now, no more staying up until 4am playing Ultima II. Still, how do people consume all these games?

Comments

[Andrew]

If it helps, the Witcher's tutorial isn't really representative of the full game. I actually took a while to warm to the title and my early notes on it were overwhelmingly negative. Once you submerge yourself in Vizima (and stop feeling overwhelmed with it) the game picks up immensely.

Here's one to try: Lost Horizon - an Indiana Jones inspired adventure game. There's a demo on Steam, and it instantly sold me.

[Ryan]

awesome! i'm very jealous. i don't have quite as much free time, but i keep the same kind of gaming wish list.

i can echo a few of yours. limbo was haunting and beautiful. TF2 was a blast, although i hear the microtxes and powerups have changed the experience a lot. zen bound was pretty damn cool.

i'm most of the way through fable 3, and it may be more of the same, and the combat balance may be worse this time around, but the world and humor and immersion are still great, and the new "be a king" gameplay in the second half is actually somewhat interesting.

along with fable 3, my current short list is castle crashers and the undergarden. further out, i'm looking forward to child of eden, okamiden, and the re-releases of ico, shadow of the colossus, and beyond good & evil.