ZeroAnd09

Game winning kill with a Tomahawk. Only, I hit the guy who was across the map...behind me.

So I finally wrapped up the latest in the Call of Duty series and I'm left with a huge question mark.  This is the first game I've ever played where it ended with a NPC saying "We won!" and then the credits roll.  I mean, honestly, this is how one of the biggest developers wraps up one of the biggest games of the year?  What a joke. The story to Black Ops is, to be put bluntly, a mess.  It follows the exploits of a character's name I can't remember across several countries though messy flashbacks and seizure inducing sequences.  Much like Modern Warfare 2, I felt no connection to any of the characters or what was happening.  Black Ops is a story full of cliches and surprises that can be seen coming miles away.  And to cap it all off, after saving the free world, you're greeted by half the armed forces and your NPC partner says "We won!"  Cue credits and my disbelief at this terrible ending.  The entire campaign feels rushed and there is no...

Restaurant:  Sprecher's Restaurant & Pub Location:  Lake Geneva, WI Burger:  Breakfast Burger Ingredients:  Cheddar cheese, bacon, fried egg Verdict:  Lake Geneva and I do not have a good history when it comes to delicious burgers.  For whatever inexplicable reason, every burger I order comes soaked in grease and lacking in flavor.  Sprecher's had recently acquired a favored dining spot of mine, Houlihan's.  I was nervous, as anyone would be when one of their favorite eating spots comes under new management.  Being a firm believer that a burger defines the restaurant, I decided to go ahead with the Breakfast Burger.  Ever since trying Red Robin's Royal, I have searched long and far for another that can use a fried egg to such effect. When I received my burger, it showed all the classic symptoms of being a "Lake Geneva burger".  It was coated in a fine layer of grease and adorned with fatty bacon that literally had plasti...

I've noticed something while playing the utterly fantastic Red Dead Redemption.  I kill horses.  A lot of horses.  Literally a horse every 10 minutes.  This poor bastard I ran off a cliff and into a tree. I captured one of the legendary four horses of the Apocalypse, Pestilence, and ran it into the ground.  I kid you not, it just fell over dead while I was riding it.  I also tamed War, only to lose it to zombie cougars shortly thereafter.  It's not that I go out of my way to kill the poor animals, I just have terrible luck with them.  God help that fabled unicorn when I finally tame it. Over my years of gaming, I've built a level of trust with my virtual steers.  Epona bore me through many trials and tribulations.  Argo was my only companion and witness to the Colossi genocide.  Yet I can't build any kind of attachment for the horses of Red Dead simply because they don't live longer than a ride to another town. So to the desi...

Looking back at my year in review for 2010, I realized that my percentage has fallen.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing that I played fewer games.  What is terrible, is that I didn't beat as many as I bought.  That's something i aim to rectify in 2011.  This year, I have 24 games to beat.  They are: Alan Wake Batman: Arkham Asylum Bioshock Blaz Blue: Continium Shift Call of Duty: Black Ops Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Dead Space: Extraction Divinity 2 Final Fantasy XIII Just Cause 2 Kinect Adventures Kinectimals Left 4 Dead 2 Lego Rock Band Monster Hunter Tri Overlord 2 Phantasy Star Portable Pokemon: Soul Silver Portal Prince of Persia Red Dead Redemption Rock Band 3 Star Ocean: The Last Hope Tales of Vesperia Trauma Center: Second Opinion

January 3: Battle vs. Chess  (DS) Get Fit with Mel B  (Wii) January 4: Lost in Shadow  (Wii) Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House  (DS) January 5: Ilomilo  (360) StarDrone  (PS3) Emergency 2012  (PC) January 11: Kingdom Hearts Re:coded  (DS) Ghost Trick:  Phantom Detective  (DS) DC Universe Online  (PS3, PC) Venetica  (360, PC, PS3) January 18: Mass Effect 2  (PS3) The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  (DS) Mindjack  (PS3, 360) Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves  (PS3) Little Big Planet 2  (PS3) January 25: Dead Space 2  (PC, PS3, PC) You Don't Know Jack  (Wii) Lord of Arcana  (PSP) Two Worlds 2  (PS3, PC, 360)

It's the time of the year when everyone and their brother compiles a top 10 list for the previous year.  I'm a firm believer in top 10 lists myself.  They breed structure and stability in an uncertain world.  Without wasting anymore time... 1.  Mass Effect 2 2.  Bayonetta 3.  Red Dead Redemption 4.  Muramasa 5.  Rock Band 3 6.  Halo: Reach 7.  Fable 3 8.  Call of Duty: Black Ops 9.  Limbo 10.  Blur

Stephen Totilo over at Kotaku tower introduced me to a new yearly ritual:  keeping a tally of the games I've played and beaten.  Here's how 2010 breaks down: Total played:  43 Total beaten: 19 Aliens vs Predator Army of Two: The 40th Day Bayonetta Borderlands Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Crash Course Dead or Alive 4 Dragonball: Raging Blast Fable 3 Fallout 3 Halo: Reach Limbo Lost Planet 2 Mass Effect Mass Effect 2 Monday Night Combat Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Wet Percentage: 44% Compared to 2009 , I'm slacking.  It also tells me that I buy too many games before beating the ones I have.  Time to turn that around in 2011.  But what about you?  How did you perform this year?