TSA’s Top 100 of 2011 Recap: 65 – 61

It’s halfway through week two of our Top 100 recap and we’ve got another five games to look over today. Whether you want a PSP title where you control tiny figures with drums, an action-adventure RPG, a near future FPS or simply to play as a superhero we’ve got you covered here. So with a nice hint at what’s to come today, let’s kick things off by looking at…

65 – Patapon 3

Bigger and better is what everyone always wants from a sequel, and you’d think by the third iteration that Pyramid and Japan Studio would have Patapon locked down. With an expanded multiplayer and new Superhero Patapon to lead your army, things were looking good for the newest Patapon title. Whilst Patapon is still one of the most loved titles on the PSP, the franchise has been slowly slipping since the release of the first title if the Metascores are any indication. Whilst the first title was sitting pretty on 86, the follow up slipped to 81 and finally Patapon 3 is sitting down at 74.

For those of you not familiar with Patapon, it’s basically a mix of a basic RTS, rhythm game and, in some ways, Lemmings. Orders to your troops are given via stringing together a series of drum beats. These need to be entered in time with the game’s main rhythm, or your troops will get confused and stop. However comboing a series of commands on the beat will send your troops into a ‘frenzy’, boosting their offensive and defensive stats.

64 – Homefront

Some may feel that Homefront completely underperformed after its March release, and it’s hard to argue that it lived up the expectations that THQ had set for it. I mean it’s hardly been a flop, having shifted 2.6 million copies as of May, but it’s got nothing on the CoD-esque expectations that had been set for the title. However, whilst it might not be king of the hill in terms of sales it didn’t do all that badly critically. We gave it a solid eight in our review, and it’s sitting on a relatively comfortable seventy across all platforms on Metacritic.

It’s good to see that THQ still have faith in the series though, particularly as it had such an interesting world built for it. Given that the game is a near future game, set in 2025, it was pretty impressive to see a clear world mapped out from the present day to that point. What was mildly worrying about the game’s setting though, was that it seemed like a trajectory the world could take, the rise of North Korea and decline of the United States not seeming all that unlikely. Hopefully the follow up game will build on that world and start to live up to the expectations set for it.

63 – Project Dark/Dark Souls

Now renamed to Dark Souls, the game’s status as a spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls has become much clearer. Due to some legal complications they can’t actually use the Demon’s Souls brand but we can certainly expect more of the terrifyingly tough and unforgiving gameplay that made Demon’s Souls so popular with many people. The game isn’t out just yet so we can’t quite judge how it will live up to the pedigree set by it’s big brother, but we can expect it on September 15th in Japan with an early October release scheduled for the rest of the world.

If you don’t know what to expect from a follow up to Demon’s Souls it’s essentially a fantasy RPG with the difficulty turned up past the breaking point for many players. The game is certainly deeper than that difficulty level but it does seem to be the defining feature of the series. Worryingly, Dark Souls has taken that difficulty even further, which I can only imagine is achieved by the game physically attacking you as you play or possibly they’ve refined what made Demon’s Souls so tough. It throwing stuff at you seems more likely though. Probably the best thing to do if you want a rough idea of how Dark Souls will play out is to go and take a look at our review of Demon’s Souls, although I imagine most of you will already have decided if Dark Souls is for you.

62 – Dragon Age II

Another follow up title, although this time allowed to use the name of its predecessor, and one that’s been released to boot. Whilst the game was generally positively received by critics, with our own review sitting on a nine, it was the subject of much controversy over on Metacritic with the user rating system seemingly abused. Before the game was even released many users had rated the game very negatively in protest of changes that BioWare had made from the first game, seemingly in an attempt to widen the series’ appeal.

Whilst Dragon Age II is firmly set in the same world as Dragon Age: Origins, it’s not a direct follow-up. Instead of following on from the end of the original title, BioWare decided to switch to the character of Hawke and set up a much longer narrative, stretching over a decade. On top of the game’s new story, BioWare also modified the combat controls for console gamers and brought in a Mass Effect style dialogue system.

61 – Captain America: Super Soldier

So, you want a movie tie-in that isn’t so bad it makes you want to hit things? Then Captain America has you covered. The game is set in the same world as the movie but it doesn’t tie in directly plot wise, which is quite possibly one of the things that saves it (although it didn’t do Thor much good). However let’s be clear, Captain America is no Batman: Arkham Asylum. It’s not bad but, sitting at a seven in our review, it’s probably not the best game you’re going to play this year either.

Speaking of Batman, there’s a good number of similarities between the two comic book characters’ games. Whilst the two share a number of basic design elements, particularly in the overall structure of the game, it’s the combat where the two really seem to overlap. To quote from our review:

Enemies usually come in small groups and will all attack at once. Using a combination of well-timed strikes, blocks, dodges, and counter-attacks, players will seamlessly be able to sweep through an entire cluster of grunts without a single scratch. Blows are landed with brutal impact and at a swift pace, conjuring up some of the most addictive and satisfying melee gameplay you will experience.

Without the context that could easily be describing either Batman or Captain America, in fact you could probably have copied it out of an Arkham Asylum review. Sadly whilst the game’s combat serves it well, the narrative seems to let it down. Even with Chris Evans coming over from the movie to voice Cap, the game’s characters are worryingly weak envoking little to no emotion.

So there you have it for today, a nice mixture of game types and most of them are actually out already! Come back tomorrow as we draw ever closer to the halfway point.