TSA’s Top 100 of 2011 Recap: 15 – 11

How do you like your apocalypses, Beastly or earth-shattering? Today you’re spoiled with one of the former and two of the latter.  Not stopping there we have two sequels which were both at one point looking highly improbable.  One is now available on the Xbox 360 and due on PS3 in a little over a month.  The other feels like it is slowly, but inexorably, becoming reality; we just need to have a little Faith.

15 – inFamous 2

There are many famous Cole’s; Porter, Trickle, Augustus and the lovely Cheryl.  There is however only one inFamous Cole.  The amped-up, “underwear on the inside kind of hero“, Cole MacGrath.  He returned to our PS3s this summer to continue his electrifying adventures.

Quite the return it was too.  It bested inFamous’ score by one, being awarded an 8/10 in our review.  “inFamous 2 takes the flawed brilliance of its predecessor and improves upon almost every aspect. Missions are slightly more varied and characters are much more rounded. It breeds empathy and it encourages experimentation in the ways supporting characters play off the protagonist and each other.”

We weren’t the only ones who were glad to see Cole’s return with the game currently toting an impressive 83 on Metacritic.  Eurogamer called it “a hard-edged pulp adventure where your tools are perfectly matched to your missions”, while IGN said it “is one of PlayStation 3’s best and a must-play for fans of the first game”.

Of course the karma system returned, this time in slightly tweaked and improved form.  It seemed to engender in some people a curious fall towards the dark side due to one particular way of accumulating bad karma.  In the weeks after its release I read more than one account, perhaps originally inspired by the Discerning Taste trophy, of those who seemed to get the most enjoyment from the serial murder of street performers.

It was not lacking for virtual trophies at retail either with Sony proudly announcing, as there is normally very little in NPD figures for them to crow about, that it was the “number one software SKU in June”.  Perhaps as a further award for the game’s retail success, or more likely conditional upon it, Sucker Punch recently became the 16th of Sony’s studios.

And we now know that if you want more Cole you won’t have to wait for long with inFamous 2: Festival of Blood having been announced yesterday.

14 – Child of Eden

The spiritual successor to Rez that many of us have long hoped for has arrived.  While having no equivalent to the original’s Trance Vibrator, Child of Eden aims to draw players further into the experience through the use of today’s motion tracking technology.

There’s an awful lot of affection for Rez amongst the TSA Team, which is the reason Child of Eden is here at #14.  The Xbox 360 version did not let us down when it launched, attracting a 9/10 in our review.

“It’s beautiful to look at, and as good to listen to”, said Dan.  “It’s rare to come across a game that will make me smile throughout its entirety, but that’s what has happened here.”  Dan also highlighted the game’s “one major downside”; the fact that you can play through it in as little as two hours.

Launching as a full priced Xbox 360 retail title at £40 it did not fair well, selling only 34,000 copies in North America during June, the month of its release.  It is now readily available for £20 for the Xbox 360 and in what is likely to be a wise move Ubisoft are only asking for that same lower price when Child of Eden releases on the PS3, with both Move and 3D support, this September.  Indeed, many online retailers have it available to pre-order for only £15.

If you’re not normally interested in a game that could be described (and massively undersold) as an on-rails shooter it’s lower price puts it well down into impulse buy territory.  If you’re worried that you are not that good with shoot’em up style games and so might find it too difficult to progress, The Escapist points out that its “damageless Feel Eden mode lets everyone enjoy the experience, no matter their skill level”.

This is a game with overwhelmingly positive reviews on Metacritic where its score sits at 84.  A game you conduct as much as play when using its motion controls.  A game that is at least as much about the experience as it is building a score.  For the price of a bag of popcorn and a ticket to see Hollywood’s latest 3D effort, surely Child of Eden is worthy of your attention?

13 – Mirror’s Edge 2

We are still clinging tightly to the ledge of possibility upon which Mirror’s Edge 2 sits.  While players and reviewers of Mirror’s Edge generally praised the game highly that was not enough to lead to equally high sales.  That left our chances of seeing a sequel in as precarious a situation as Faith running along a tower crane dodging fire from a helicopter.

Teasingly though, we keep hearing little nuggets that serve to keep our hopes alive.  Two years ago EA said a “small team” were working on “another Mirror’s Edge”.  Back in February this year it was first “on hold“, then still “an important franchise“.  In March EA and DICE were trying to figure out “the right way to bring it back”.

Taking a running jump forward to June and it was again reiterated that they were still looking for the “big idea” that would enable them to bring the franchise back, though they were “sure” that Mirror’s Edge 2 would be running on DICE’s Frostbite 2 engine.

Mirror’s Edge’s tenacity seems to reflect that of its protagonist and part of the reason EA have not just let it quietly fade into gaming history is that perhaps its sales were not as poor as most think.  While it did not reach the 3m sales it was aiming for, when EA did us all a favour by destroying winning its court battle against Edge Games Inc., documents (see page 4) filed with the court described it as “modestly successful” and revealed that by October 2010 it had sold “over two million units” worldwide.

So that’s over two million reasons why they are looking to bring it back and make it more than just modestly successful when they do, and plenty of reasons for us to continue hoping for a charitable outcome.

12 – I Am Alive

For what feels like an eternity, but is really only a couple of years, we have from time to time been asking ourselves the existential-sounding question, is I Am Alive alive?  Originally expected in Spring 2009 it was soon delayed by up to a year as Ubisoft brought its development in-house.

That should still have seen the first person disaster survival sim releasing before March 2010 but that obviously did not happen either, with news in January 2010 that it would be delayed until 2011’s financial year.  That’s the one we are currently in for those keeping score.

Since then there has been very little (i.e., no) real news on the title.  There was the ‘joke‘ about it being a download-only title earlier this year, but aside form that all we have heard is that in Australia it will apparently be rated 15+.

Is it alive?  You decide.

11 – MotorStorm: Apocalypse

Tired of tearing up various semi-wilderness settings in your ATVs?  Then why not tear up a torn up and still crumbling metropolis replete with gun-toting denizens who would like a quiet word about all the noise the big V8 under your bonnet is making.

The aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami saw Motorstorm: Apocalypse’s release delayed due to sensitivity regarding its subject matter.  While its Japanese release was eventually cancelled it did finally make its way into gamers’ hands elsewhere.  That was not the end of its troubled release though.  Its North American release on May 3rd came during the time when the PSN was out of commission thanks to the ‘PSN Hack’.

The game has been well-received here at TSA, garnering a solid 8/10 in our review, delivering a much needed “burst of frantic energy” and “pure arcade racing”.  When we asked you for your verdict on it for our WeView feature, were you gave it a resounding endorsement, a number of you specifically bringing to our attention what great fun it is to play.

It also featured in Round Two of our motorised battle against the folks over at the Official PlayStation Community.  Though the outcome is something we don’t dwell on much around here.

With a big recent update that adds a number of customisation features to both game modes and vehicles as well as the long promised Logitech wheel support there’s likely to be plenty of ‘Storming going on for some time to come.  All the more reason for you to sign up to and join in one of the regular TSA Meets that it enjoys.

Join us again tomorrow as our Top 100 reaches the Top Ten.