Day 130 - The 'Gaming the Pandemic' Top Ten.

Over 4 months ago I was furloughed from work and, worried that a lack of structure and mental activity would drive me insane, I started a blog. At that time I had 645 unplayed video games in my collection and I would play, and write a review of, one game a day until my furlough ended. 

Well, today is that day. I return to work on Monday so tomorrow and Sunday are just a regular weekend. So today, rather than do a final game, I though I'd pull together a top ten of the 150+ games I've played over the last 130 days.

Enjoy.

10. Grow Up

In early April I did a charity '24 hours of gaming'. Grow Up was just one of the 20 different games I played at that time, and it was the best solo game of the 24 hours by far. It loses a little of the sense of wonder from the 1st game (Grow Home) but it’s still a pure joy to play.

I’ve been back and finished this since, but I’ll be returning to get some of the side-goals before too long.

9. Tornado Outbreak

This fairly obscure 7th generation treasure apparently has a bit of a cult following, and it's easy to see why. Despite a chasm of disconnect between the plot and the gameplay, it's addictive Katamari-esque structure and classy cartoonish style really suck you in and make it great fun, and occasionally hilarious, to play. The difficulty curve is perfectly pitched too, meaning it's no breeze; you'll definitely not blow through every level on the first try.

8. Owlboy

A game I started just yesterday, Owlboy completely won me over with the audio/visual presentation, and it’s diverse, varied, and entertaining gameplay rounded out the package. There were a couple of comments on the post saying the game was too easy, and I guess I can see where they're coming from, but this is a shamelessly story driven game, and in that company, it may as well be Flywrench. It's clever, it's fun, it packs an emotional punch, and it's one of the very best looking video games I've ever played.

7. Spec Ops The Line

My interpretation of this game appeared not to exactly fit in with the accepted norm, and I'm fine with that, because it's just nice to have a game, a pretty modern game at that, where the intentions are open to interpretation.

Through nothing more than fortunate timing I played this just before the release of The Last of Us 2, a game whose reviews often reference this one. I've not played TLOU2, but I can't see how the same idea, in a fantastical setting, without these cultural references, could work. I'm neither a war shooter, or story driven game fan, so the qualities this game produced to overcome both of those predilections should not be underestimated.

6. Time Crisis 3

Of all the games I've played over the last 130 days, Time Crisis 3 is the one that I've been back to for a 'quick little go' the most often. Obviously the arcade format makes that very easy, and playing with my newly modded pedal attached to the GunCon was an additional draw, but, mostly, it's just the most brilliant fun. The more I play the more I embrace the fact that it’s probably now my favourite light gun game of all time.

5. Urban strike

This is quite a strange one. Jungle Strike is apparently the best of the 'Strike' series, but I haven't played it. Urban Strike was it's sequel and critics of ‘Urban’ tend to have issues with elements that were added - elements that I didn't experience in the short time I played it. All of which means I might be giving this game more credit than it deserves. But until such a time as I play Jungle Strike and finish Urban Strike, this sits in my memory as a brilliant game with superb mission structure and near flawless presentation.

4. Speed Runners

The second of the two games in this list from my 24 Hour Game-a-thon, I played Speed Runners online with a mate until about 3am - and it was superb. My wife has since told me that she expected me to be smashing controllers at that point, so when I woke her up by laughing she was actually relieved. This 2d superhero footrace with Saul Bass stylings and insanely slick, speedy, and satisfying gameplay is a game I intend to return to very soon indeed.

3. Pyre

One of those games that just comes out of nowhere and completely blows you away. I had zero expectations of Pyre, but the mesmerising and and genuinely affecting plot, beautiful score, and the hugely entertaining 'sport' that is central to the gameplay made this an instant favourite with me. This is a true one-off, and everything about the game is so perfectly crafted that it makes for a completely unmissable experience.

2. ONE

An early example of games trying to invoke a cinematic experience, ONE, for the PlayStation, starts out at an insane pace and only gets faster and more frenetic from there. 

I mentioned in my original write up a boss battle that takes place from the point of view of the boss, and I still think this is a great example of what ONE brings to the table. The developers were trying to invoke the spirit of Gunstar Heroes, and the result is one of the best action games of the 3D era.

1. Ape Out

I've been playing games for roughly 35 years, and in that time there have been very few games that affected me the way Ape Out did. I was ebullient when I wrote about it at the time and I completely stand by that scrappy, excitable review. With it's jazz motif and Saul Bass styling this was always going to be a game of which the audio/visual design appealed to me - but with it's almost rhythm action approach to vengeful violence, and glorious creativity in every section of every level, Ape Out is, for me, not just the best game I played over the last 130 days, but one of the best I've ever played, full stop. 

So that's it. 

I may pop up with a 'revisited' style blog entry here and there as I go back to the games I didn't finish. But for 'Gaming the Pandemic', this is the end.

I've had lots of comments of support over the last 4 months and I honestly can't thank those of you who took the time to that enough. It doesn't take a genius to see that I'm not a professional writer, so anyone getting pleasure from my rambling means an awful lot to me.

Thank you. Now go play Ape Out.