Video Games

Hey, guys!

I promise I'm almost done with The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. But in the meantime, how about the first list? So, since I've been in the mood to play video games lately, I thought I would make a list of my favorite video games. No, I haven't been playing much lately (ya know, because of my reading and blogging), but I have wanted to start playing some of my favorites again. So, here are my top 5 favorites.

1) Alan Wake

Yes, my all-time favorite is a horror game about a horror writer battling the darkness. Famous writer Alan Wake is experiencing writer's block and goes on vacation to Bright Falls with his wife, Alice. After getting into a fight, Alice disappears. The last thing Wake remembers is seeing his wife in Cauldron Lake and jumping in after her before he wakes up behind the wheel of a crashed car at night.

In his efforts to get his wife back, Wake must battle monsters called Taken. The Taken are normal people who have been taken by the Dark Presence. Armed with a flashlight, flares, flashbang grenades, a revolver, and some heavier fire power, Wake is prepared to do anything to save his wife.

Great plot, confusing ending, but awesome game play. Not really a shooter game, but you do get to shoot stuff. Very plot-driven. Cannot wait for news about the sequel. Absolute favorite. Highly recommended.

2) Farcry 3

When I said earlier that I really feel like playing a video game, this is the one I've been talking about. The company that created this game has just released the first five minutes of Farcry 4, which looks amazing.

So, basically this guy named Jason Brody is on some sort of vacation/spring break with his two brothers (Grant and Riley), his girlfriend (Liza), and his friends (Oliver, Keith, and Daisy). At one point they go sky-diving and land on Rook Island, which is full of pirates. Not the "Ahoy!" kind of pirates that love rum and treasure. I mean the kind of pirates who deal in drugs and human trafficking.

And the head honchos, Vaas and Hoyt, have captured the happy bunch of college kids and are prepared to ransom them and then sell them into slavery. Jason manages to escape, however, and with the help of the native islanders and their leader, Citra, Jason is prepared to go the distance to save his friends.

First-person, deals in skill points. Usually, I cannot keep up with the whole skill-point system, but this version is extremely simple so that even I can keep up. Again, great plot and enjoyable to play. Also highly recommended.

3) Bulletstorm

Dishonored soldiers take revenge on their former leader and end up stranded on a hostile planet. Not the best situation. It's a first-person shooter game, and you get to play as Gray. His companions are Ishi (the only surviving member of your team who had to become a cyborg in order to survive) and Trishka (a Final Echo soldier who Gray takes as hostage so that she can lead him and Ishi to an escape pod that will take them off of that planet).

Another skill points system based off of how you kill people and how often. Pretty sweet when you think about it. Use the points to buy new weapons, upgrades, and ammo. Very manageable.

The game is rated M. The characters swear a lot and make tons of inappropriate jokes, it's violent, and it's funny as hell. I actually never finished the game myself, but I did watch my brother play the whole game before I tried it for myself. I am a fan.

4) Avatar: The Game

If any of you have seen James Cameron's film Avatar, then you get the basic plot of this game. Your name's Ryder, you are a soldier who just arrived on Pandora and is going to be part of the Avatar program. You interact with some of the native tribes of Na'vi and learn what the military is all about and you abandon ship to join the underdogs.

I must say that I first played this at the end of my freshman year of high school and I was obsessed with this game. And when I find a game I like, I usually play it until I'm sick of it, which is why I can no longer play this game in particular. In all honesty, I did the same thing with Alan Wake. It got to the point where I know nearly all the spots where a Taken will show up and try to kill you.

But I'm getting off topic. Avatar is a great game, the graphics are pretty awesome, and if you saw the movie, loved it, and love gaming then you'll love this game.

5) Kingdom Hearts 2

This is the last game on my list because it is the last one I played, I really liked it, and if I don't include this game on my list, my boyfriend will be heartbroken. (We had a deal that he would play Alan Wake if I played Kingdom Hearts 2).

It's from the makers of Final Fantasy and has a lot of the characters from that series, so if you liked those games, then you'll like this game. And if you like Disney, then you will like this game as well. You play as Sora and, with Donald Duck and Goofy, you travel to different worlds to defeat the Heartless. (By different worlds, I mean Agrabah from Alaadin, Beast's Castle from Beauty and the Beast, and Halloween Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas, among others.) And you don't necessarily have to play the first game to play this one (I didn't and I was fine).

My only complaint about this game is about weapons and specials and attacks and gah! Remember what I said about Farcry 3 having a skill points system that I could handle? I couldn't even find the right menu for this game and I wouldn't have known what to do about it even if I did. So I left that for my boyfriend to play with.

Other than that, fun game with a compelling plot. I love plot-driven games.

So, guys, how was my first list? Did you like it? Hate it? Wanna make your own list based off of the topic I chose? You can let me know all of that and participate in the latter in the comments section. Just please be respectful.

Check back soon for a review for The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath . . . I'm getting close!

Happy reading!