12 Games For Christmas - Game #12

12. Real Racing (iPhone)

 

2009 has been one hell of a year for developer Firemint. The little known Melbourne company released their second, and first original iPhone game, Flight Control, to rave reviews and to an absurd amount of sales, and deservedly so – it’s a great game. However, I find that their other game they released this year, Real Racing, is a much more impressive feat – both in terms of it being a fun game to play, but also on various technical levels.

The most immediately impressive thing about Real Racing is just how good it looks. We’re talking late PS1 era visuals here, and nearing early Dreamcast levels of visual quality. The same goes with the menus, which offer some cool visual design ideas that match the most recent menus done by Codemasters. But then in terms of playing it, it’s even better.

There are five control schemes to choose from, which offer various combinations of automated and manual steering, braking, or acceleration, as well as choosing from various degrees of brake assists and accelerometer sensitivity. All this combines with the general way the game plays as a more simulation based racing game, and you’ve got a winning combination.

Unfortunately, given its status as an iPhone game, there isn’t much else to say about it. While it isn’t as insanely deep or customizable as something like Forza Motorsport 3 or Gran Turismo, the fact that such a game exsists on a platform where you’d never really expect it is just amazing. It looks great, sounds great, plays great, and is surprisingly deep. If you’ve got an iPhone or iPod Touch, and want a great game to go with it, Real Racing is right up your alley.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #11

11. Shatter (PSN)

Let’s face it, the Xbox Live Arcade has a monopoly on the downloadable games service. It’s better organized and maintained than the Playstation Network, even if a disappointingly large portion of games on there are mostly ports of other games or shooters. Whereas on the PSN, sure there isn’t as much – but there’s a better influx of more quirky and interesting games. But what if you combine the best of both worlds – the arcade gameplay mixed in with some quirks? This is where Sidhe’s Shatter comes into play.

Shatter is very much similar to brick breaking classics Arkanoid or Breakout; the goal here to generally break all the bricks without losing your ball. Where Shatter differs is by offering the ability to control airflow. After shooting a ball, you can choose to suck the ball towards the paddle, or choose to blow it away from the paddle. This in turn helps to better strategically play the game and helps incredibly so in the game’s boss battles. It sounds weird, but it totally makes sense once you actually start playing it.

What generally does work about the game is the atmosphere. Shatter looks great, has some cool design choices, but what helps to accentuate the game is the absolutely fantastic music. Put simply, this is one soundtrack that’s worth tracking down. Hell, at one point – the entire soundtrack was being sold digitally for only $1.

If you’ve got a PS3, and want a cool downloadable game to show off to your friends, this is the one to do it. It’s a familiar game, with an entirely new coat of paint.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #10

10. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PC/PS3/360)

Let’s get this out of the way. The last good Batman game was NOT the Batman game for NES. Konami’s Adventures of Batman & Robin was the last good one. That being said, let’s now talk about the best game to be released about Batman – Batman: Arkham Asylum. It’s a very interesting game to talk about, because not only is it the first truly good Batman game since aforementioned Adventures of Batman & Robin, but it’s also only the second game made by UK developer Rocksteady, whom at this rate, are looking more and more like a studio to note.

The premise of the game is loosely based on the legendary “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth” Batman story, in which via a series of events, Batman is locked in Arkham Asylum and is charged with stopping the Joker from accomplishing his goals. The story and dialogue are particularly great, and the voice acting only adds to this. Put simply, the same voice actors whom voiced Batman, Harley Quinn and the Joker in the legendary 90’s Batman animated series revoice their roles, and do not disappoint. Mark Hamill, in particular, does an amazing job as the Joker – but anyone who’s ever seen the Batman animated series will tell you that.

As for the game, it’s really quite fun. I’ve heard the game best described as a “Batman simulator”, because everything you do never really seems out of place for the character. Sure, you’re beating up on enemies with a rather cool combo system, but you’re also doing your fair share of detective work and exploration/traversal. But another absurdly important element of the game comes in its stealth segments, which really help to make you think like Batman – since getting hit with guns is the only true weakness that Batman has.

But really, it’s something that needs to be checked out – especially if you’re a fan of Batman. The game looks and sounds great, and is a blast to play. The only thing that can kinda suck is that the last parts of the game are the absolute worst – they just become long, tedious and nowhere near as great as the earlier parts of the game. But if that’s the only problem with an excellent game, then I see no true problem.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #9

9. Tekken 6 (PS3/360)

2009 was a hell of a year for fighting games. Not including Tekken, we received the home version of Street Fighter IV, UFC 2009: Undisputed, Blazblue, and while there were some duds (King of Fighters XII), there was little doubt that across the board, if you wanted a good game where you punched someones head in, there were fewer bad games to do it in. Yet why go with Tekken?

Yes, Tekken problems compared to some of these games. Initially, the online mode was janky as all hell and the scenario campaign mode (the big, new story mode) is not a particularly fun mode, and it’s the only way to get endings for characters. And much like Street Fighter IV, characters endings aren’t quite as good as they should be. Yet the one thing that Tekken has over most of these other fighting games is not only a diverse and large character roster, but also a large and diverse range of modes of play.

Where most fighters are cutting down on modes, Tekken has the traditional Arcade, Time Attack, Survival, and the always fun Team Battle mode, in addition to the surprisingly long Scenario Campaign mode and online modes. And the 40+ characters are all well defined and well balanced, and everyone can stand a chance against one another. And then you get to the final boss, whom will make you scream and shout in rage. It’s almost on the same level of frustration that Seth would frequently provide in Street Fighter IV.

And the game itself? It’s still the same Tekken fun. Sure, characters have been tweaked, but that’s all a part of the balancing. The new rage system, wherein once you’re at a critical level of health, your attacks become much stronger, is a great idea and helps to balance out fights and make them much more competitive, especially knowing that one hit can pretty much knock you out.

That being said, Tekken 6 still does have its problems. Scenario Campaign being perhaps the biggest one of them – it’s badly designed, not particularly fun and often frustrating. Azazel, the game’s final boss, is particularly frustrating when it really shouldn’t be, and anyone expecting a full renovation of Tekken is bound to not see anything of worth here – since it’s really just a tweaked version of the already excellent Tekken 5. Otherwise, absolutely worth picking up.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #8

8. Rittai Picross (Nintendo DS)

Not every game on this list was released into English. This is the fate of Rittai Picross – a HAL Laboratory developed entry in the Picross series, which received a major boost in the form of an excellent DS game. The sequel (also on DS) takes the already established formula, and transposes it into the 3^rd dimension. And unlike many games that had to go through this transition, Rittai PIcross works nothing short of a wonder, providing one of the most compelling puzzle game experiences you’ll play on the DS this year.

If you’re not familiar with the series, the Picross games are essentially collections of nonograms; logic puzzles in which cells placed in a grid are coloured in or left blank based on numbers given on the sides of the grid. For instance, a line may feature the numbers “5, 2, 5”, which require you to fill in sets of five, two and five squares in that line, with blank spaces in between. By filling out these squares, you’ll begin to create a picture, which is the ultimate task at hand. Here, you’ll need to whittle down a 3D cube, until you get a shape.

It’s very hard to describe why you’ll keep coming back and playing the game, but you just will. It’s something that once you figure it out, becomes instantly addictive and just plain fun. Creating your own puzzles is also something interesting, and the sheer number you get with the game is also something that’ll keep you going for a while.

The only thing that remotely sucks about the game is the fact that it may not be released in English anytime soon. If you want to get it, you’ll need more of an experimentation knack than a knowledge of Japanese, as you can get by the game without knowing the language. All well and good, but some of the more advanced options you’ll come across are completely locked to you unless you can actually read Japanese.

Despite this, Rittai PIcross is one of the absolute DS gems of the year. It takes an already great puzzle game and finds a way to make it better and much more addictive. Sure, it may take a bit of work to play it in Japanese, but otherwise, it’s great stuff.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #7

7. Rhtyhm Heaven (DS)

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of the term rhythm game? I’m willing to bet most of you reading this immediately thought of something like Guitar Hero or what not. And while you’re correct in thinking that it’s a rhythm game, that doesn’t come close to describing what Rhythm Heaven is, bringing it’s own unique definition of a rhythm game to the masses.

For starters, Rhythm Heaven is a mini-game compilation where rhythm is of the utmost importance. You tap and flick to a beat to complete a variety of goals. For instance, one such instance is in a factory where you’re building  stuff. Two items roll alongside each other to a “Do Re Mi” rhythm. Once you get to the “So” part, you flick a bolt, and you build the item. Any earlier or later, and you don’t build it.

What’s impressive about the game is that for such a simple control scheme, it works well across a variety of different types of mini-game, such as a space shooter, choir practice, forming a cheer squad and so on. Also, the sequences you get into are some of the most insane and just amazing sequences you’ll see in any mini-game compilation this side of the WarioWare ilk.

That being said, the game has an insane learning curve. Rhythm Heaven is among one of the most brutal mini-game compilations you’re bound to play, with the game tolerating very few mistakes. It’s not entirely out of reason for you to fail a mini-game for missing only a small amount of the goal. And while you’re given a hint as to how to improve, it’s always never exactly clear as to what you’re supposed to do. Though if you do fail three times in a row, you can always skip the mini-game and move on to the next one.

Aside from that, there really isn’t much else to say about the game. It’s very hard to actually describe the game, since it’s something that you really need to actually play to properly understand. It’s quite unique, and despite the difficulty, is something that you can get into with the littlest of ease.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #6

6. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (PC)

The original Dawn of War was such a huge revolution to me in terms of just how RTS’s could work. Introducing elements of cover and a more unique method of getting resources, it allowed many a person to get into the Warhammer 40K universe, and enjoy just how crazy it was. That being said, it took a long time to get a sequel, but when Dawn  of War II rolled around, the wait proved to be worth it.

For starters, Dawn of War II differs mainly due to its complete and utter lack of base building or resource management. The game is strictly focused on unit management, and this is more evident in the single player campaign than anything else. Here, the game has more of an RPG element, which involves you leveling up your characters, finding randomly dropped items and much more. It’s much less of a standard RTS in this regard, but the strategy element is still something  that’s deeply rooted within the game, forcing you to think how to best maximize what little you have. Also helps that many of the additions and improvements present in Relic’s other RTS, the excellent Company of Heroes, are present here.

The single player campaign has also seen some major changes. Instead of being a series of missions (like in the original game) or a Risk-style game (present in the Dark Crusade expansion), the campaign has opened up and become far less linear. Here, you choose you all the missions you undertake, travelling between three planets in order to accomplish them. These could be as complex as completing one of the many story missions, or just a simple defense missions against wave after wave of enemy.

The only thing that does really quite suck is the limited number of races. It goes back to the original four, with the Chaos marines replaced by fan favourite Tyranids; with the Imperial Guard, T’au, Necrons, Chaos and more left open for possible expansions. It’s unfortunate, but when you figure just how different the game is compared to the original DOW, it would take some time to rebalance the races to work with the new engine.

Besides that, Dawn of War 2 is great. The lack of resource management and base building is a refreshing change, and the focus on infantry management and near RPG-like level of gameplay is excellent. A must buy for anyone wanting to play a different RTS.

12 Games For Christmas: Game #5

5. Killzone 2 (PS3)

Going back to the first time the PS3 was announced way back in 2005, one of the first things that Sony showed off was some footage for Killzone 2, a sequel to a game that while had some cool things about it, no-one really dug. But going back to the footage; despite it later being revealed to be pre-rendered footage, it was quite possibly the most stunning CG work that people had seen for a console, and while it didn’t quite match it when it was released four years later, it’s still damned impressive stuff. And easily among the best looking games on any console.


What makes Killzone 2 great is just how different it feels to most first person shooters currently available on consoles. This isn’t the rabbit fast pacing of something like Call of Duty, but more of a deliberate, realistic pacing. It’s slow, but definitely rewarding – as the game feels just fantastic. Everything has a good weight and feel to it, which is refreshing. And it feels very satisfying to shoot someone, which is all you can ask for a good shooter.


The other big different comes in the form of a cover system. It sounds like such a simple and pointless addition, but here, it totally works. And makes dying a lot less painful, especially when you know you can take cover successfully. It can totally change the way skirmishes play out. In fact, it’s such an awesome addition that you do really wish for other games like it to have it, like Modern Warfare 2; or wish that other games that at least used it would do it right, like Rogue Warrior.

Furthermore, the game is just a blast to play online. Why? Well, aside from taking the same base game and allowing the customization elements you’d have in something like a Call of Duty game, there are plenty of modifications to ensure that it’s a different, yet still fun experience. This includes major things like being able to run for infinite lengths, or smaller things like using your own music as the games soundtrack. They add up to make one of the more fun experiences on the Playstation Network.


If anything though, the only real thing that Killzone 2 doesn’t do well is originality. Sure, there are some cool new features and what not, but there’s very little originality, and does feel like yet another space marine shooter. But the games truly biggest success is just how much of an improvement it really is over its PS2 predecessor. And really, if you’re looking for a great FPS experience that you can only really get on the PS3, Killzone 2 is right up your alley.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #4

4. The Beatles: Rock Band (PS3/360/Wii) 

Thanks to Activision, 2009 saw an absolute glut of Hero games, ranging from the excellent (Guitar Hero Metallica, Guitar Hero 5), some decent (DJ Hero, Guitar Hero Greatest Hits and the Guitar Hero On Tour games) to the absolutely pointless and execrable (Guitar Hero Van Halen and Band Hero). And despite this, only one Rock Band game was released this year, and proved to be easily one of the better games of the year. Also kinda helps that the game is focused around quite possibly the greatest band of all time.

At a base level, it’s still very much Rock Band 2, just reskinned and focused around the Beatles. Totally understandable, but where the real fun lies in just how much of a Beatles experience that Harmonix have crafted into the game. The tour mode is the perfect representation of this, with all of the stages taking place over the different stages of the Beatles career, and all the unlockables are of note, from a lot of rare photographs to some curious little videos and what not.

But where the game really shines is in the dreamscape levels. Because the Beatles were a studio band for most of the latter part of the 60’s, the game attempts to recreate what the band were seeing when they were writing songs like “Yellow Submarine” or “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”. And for the most part, it does look quite nice. This is despite the latter levels not looking as spectacular as the earlier ones.

Though really, the one point that may disappoint a lot of people is the track list. Sure, it has representation from every Beatles album, but some key songs (like All You Need is Love, Strawberry Fields Forever, A Day in the Life, Help!) are missing, leaving you to purchase these when they are released as downloadable content; and at the moment – you can only purchase A Day in the Life and All You Need is Love.

Overall, the Beatles Rock Band is possibly the best rhythm game of the year. Sure, it doesn’t do anything spectacularly new and what not, but it doesn’t really need to. Plus, it’s a fantastic way to get into the music of one of the greatest bands ever.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #3

Game #3 - Red Faction Guerrilla (PS3/360/PC) 

June 2009 might as well be known as the month where Sandbox games reigned supreme. Why? Because three somewhat remarkably sandbox games were released onto the market. You’ve got Sony’s infamous, which was a good, though flawed attempt. You then have Activision’s Prototype, which wasn’t very good at all. And then you come to THQ’s Red Faction Guerilla, which is probably the more interesting of the trio, for several reasons.  For starters, there’s no need for superpowers – though the sledgehammer you get for the duration of the game is pretty damned super.

The first part is that it’s an interesting reboot of the Red Faction series.  While the first two were somewhat decent first person shooters that never really did take too much advantage of the Geo-Mod  feature that made it a big deal back in the day, here the Geo-Mod engine actually works to the games advantage. Destroying buildings and objects has an extremely large part to do in the game, and it never gets old. Never. And it’s not the stock standard video game destruction here – tearing down buildings in specific places does affect how the building will fall over, so if you hit the supports just right, you’ll have a much easier time taking the building than just randomly attempting to destroy the building. Or you could just drive a car into the building and use that to destroy it.

The second part is just the way the game feels. As an open world game, it compares very similarly to developer Volition’s own Saints Row series, but improved in some regards. For starters, the ‘respect’ system where you needed to consistently fill up a respect bar (by doing activities) in order to attempt any missions? Not present. As long as there are missions available to you, you need nothing more to actually do them, with the last missions appearing as you drain control away from the evil EDF. You can do the activities still, and some of them you can do repeatedly to earn more salvage (the games currency) and get closer to achieving some trophies or achievements.

That being said, there are some elements of the game that don’t quite work well in its favor. The first comes in the mission triggers – there’s an alert system in the game where green means you’re alright, yellow means that the EDF are onto you, and red meaning that the EDF are going to kill you. All well and good, but if you’re driving out to go do missions, you need to have a green alert to do them. It’s a pain, especially when it’s tricky to shake off the EDF at times. Furthermore, the difficulty becomes absolutely punishing at times, which really does hurt the game some.

Overall, Red Faction Guerilla is a fantastic return to form for the Red Faction series (RF2 wasn’t quite good), with the reboot working to create one of the most fun experiences you’ll have in a video game. Sure, it’s quite derivivative of Saints Row 2, but then again, is that really a bad thing? And also, it does get quite difficult at times, but that’s put aside when you watch as you take down a massive building with nothing more than a sledgehammer and remote charges. Quite something.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #2

2. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS/PSP/iPhone)

I’ll be quite frank with you. I really didn’t like Grand Theft Auto IV. Sure, there were some impressive things about it (such as the voice acting and the way that the game felt), but for me anyway, that was more outweighed by the bad (mission design wasn’t up to scratch, soundtrack was very hit and miss, visuals were boring, police spawning was erratic and almost unfair, and the story wasn’t too particularly great). In fact, the best GTA in recent years is a PSP and DS (and soon to be iPhone) game – Chinatown Wars. And it’s amazing that it didn’t sell – given that GTA is such a mainstream game, and that the DS is so absurdly popular. In the US in it’s first month, the game sold less than 100K. Depressing.

The first thing that strikes you about Chinatown Wars is that it takes you back to a pre-GTA III era of gaming, but mixed in with some of the elements from later GTA games (such as the ability to use taxi-cabs and stuff like that). The second thing that strikes you is that it WORKS. Unlike the previous attempt at a GTA game on a Nintendo handheld, everything here just seems to work a lot better – from the multiplayer, to car control and just control in general. Hell, even the touchscreen specific stuff (for the DS version), actually works really well, even if some of it can be a little cumbersome.

Probably the most compelling thing about the game would have to be the drug trading mini-game. Put simply, it plays similar to the Drug Wars game that people have known and loved for many years, you buy low and sell high, control supply and demand, and just proves to be really quite fun. And hey, having it not edited for the Australian release was quite something. Plus, it’s easily the best way to get cash in the game, because you really don’t get paid enough for actually completing missions.

That being said, the game isn’t quite right. For starters, ticking off the cops is way too easy in this game than in previous GTA games, if only because there are cops EVERYWHERE, and touching them is really simple. The music is also an issue...It’s just not great stuff. While it is all licensed music, good luck knowing any of it. Furthermore, the combat’s a little iffy, but then again, it’s always been an issue with GTA. Oh, and there are still some niggles that make the combat still not quite right, but better than in past GTA’s.

Otherwise, it’s a fantastic experience and one that needs to be sampled on any platform. It’s a really enjoyable, if not flawed, GTA game.