I really like game soundtracks, but I’m also incredibly picky about which ones I like. As far back as Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill on PSone, I was already importing soundtracks.

Most games have what I would call workable soundtracks. They get by, convey the correct feeling, but are rarely memorable.

This year, two soundtracks have stuck with me – one movie and one game. The movie Drive’s soundtrack had a sort of ethereal ‘80s feel, augmented by the pink cursive text in the credits and the driver’s awesome jacket. The soundtrack completed the picture.

The same goes for Bastion, easily my favorite game soundtrack in years. While I wouldn’t call myself a country fan per se, I find myself drawn to the elements of country-esque music that conjure images of the Old West. One of my favorite bands is Calexico, and the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack is still in regular rotation on my list even today.

Bastion takes that old west feel and twists it to fit into a fantasy setting. Supergiant calls the music “Frontier Triphop.” The visual that conjures in my head matches Bastion’s setting and style perfectly. Everything has more twang to it than you’d expect. The music often sounds like it’s filtering through from Who Knows Where, taking on the same dream-like quality as those stages.

Bastion is worth checking out, if anything, just for the music. That it’s a fun game and a gorgeous game on top of that is bonus.

The soundtrack for Bastion can be picked up on Amazon (link above) or on the Supergiant Games’ site where' it’s available in FLAC format for you audio nerds.

Acquired via Developer

I don’t usually think I have a lot in common with Beavis and Butthead, but after playing Yoostar on MTV for Kinect, I know there’s at least one thing: We’ve all seen way more Jersey Shore than necessary.

The basic conceit of Yoostar – whether it’s on MTV or not – is simple and works pretty well; The Kinect captures an image of the player’s room, and then the player steps in and reenacts a scene of some kind. The game cuts the player’s shape out of their room and drops them into the clip: “Video Karaoke.” You can be any number of spikey-haired gentlemen, such as the Terminator, Edward Cullen, or in the case of Yoostar on MTV, The Situation. Like I said, it works pretty well. Yoostar does a great job of taking the player’s image out of their room in real-time and dropping it into whatever clip they’ve chosen.

Instead of going with the usual general pop-culture schtick, however, this iteration of Yoostar focuses specifically on, you guessed it, MTV. Modern MTV, that is; not MTV back when they still had music videos to play. You can be The Hills’ Spencer, and his creepy flesh-colored beard. You can be X-to-the-Z Xzibit on Pimp My Ride. The Situation might even ask you to jump on a grenade. As if it wasn’t enough to act like an idiot on camera (which I encourage), you get to act like an idiot on camera acting like an idiot on camera.

Most of the content on the disc is stuff I find entirely reprehensible. Yoostar on MTV is, largely not for me. There are people who like these shows and watch them religiously. Those people will LOVE the game. I think there must be a few older geeks on staff over at Yoostar, because some really weird stuff made it onto the disc. MTV’s The State and Human Giant, specifically! This was, far and away, the highlight of the disc. The State is an ancient show by TV standards, hailing from the early ‘90s, while Human Giant is a bit more modern (and one of the first shows to feature Aziz Ansari from NBC’s Parks & Recreation). Both shows are really funny and the clips chosen are great. Better yet, even more clips from the shows are on sale as downloadable content. Who’d think I’d be considering buying DLC for an MTV clip game?

There are also a number of music videos available for an experience a bit closer to tradition karaoke with artists like Lady Gaga  (ba-ba-ba-ra), Weezer (Pork and Beans), Snoop Dogg (Drop It Like It’s Hot), LMAFO (Party Rock Anthem), and that 50 Cent guy.

Like I said, there’s so little for me here, and so little for anyone who isn’t a big fan of MTV’s recent and current programming. Yoostar on MTV is a perfect example of something made just for its fans.

Resident Evil 4 is a joy to play, mechanically. In very few games does pulling the trigger and seeing your shot hit come with such a strong sense of satisfaction. So much has been said of RE4, and every 10-100-A+ score is absolutely deserved.

There’s just this one thing.

No matter what year Resident Evil 4 comes out in, no matter what system it comes out on, that knife fight is the worst thing in any game that year.

This isn’t just a gripe about RE4, honestly. It’s a gripe about any game that does stuff like this. Dead Space has a sequence with Isaac defending the ship from asteroids, like some hokey Star Wars rip-off. Let’s reach back—way back—even. The speeder level in Battletoads.

What all those games have in common is that they’re generally well-loved, mechanically-sound games, each with an incredibly irritating section in the middle that’s completely different from the rest of the game.

After hours of over-the-shoulder gunplay, RE4 suddenly pits Leon against his former comrade, Krauser, in an epic knife battle. This would’ve been an awesome cutscene. One to go down in history as the coolest knife fight ever. Instead, the developer chose to turn it into a quick-timer event.

Here’s the thing. Quick-timer events aren’t bad by their very nature. The grand-pappy of QTE games, Shenmue, actually got it right. Instead of punishing you with an instant death followed by a load screen, a missed button-press in Shenmue resulted in an alternate cut-scene and possibly another fight. Annoying, but not world ending. Ryo Hazuki was pretty great at karate.

Resident Evil 4, though, uses QTEs and misses the point of them entirely. Resident Evil is supposed to be deadly; I get that. Making QTEs deadly, though, just results in lots of do-overs. I’m terrible at QTEs. Whatever button you put on the screen, I’m probably going to press the opposite one. It’s just a thing with me. So don’t punish me.

I’ve nearly broken controllers on four different consoles because of one game. And then they’ll release RE4 on another system and once again I’ll forget about the knife fight, have a great 10 hours of game, and then everything turns red as my vision fades…

Video game visuals in the last couple generations have become a sort of arms race by different developers to make the most realistic-looking-but-not-real thing. It all looks so similar that the visuals of most games aren’t worth talking about.I can’t say that stuff is lazy or uncreative. It’s hard work. Games like Battlefield and Gears of War are gorgeous and full of rich detail.

What they lack is vision.

I love games like El Shaddai, Ico, Rez; games that are daring enough to imagine a gorgeous new world and developers brave and talented enough to make them work.

El Shaddai’s director, Sawaki Takeyasu, had intended to make the game look like a painting while still looking lively. The side scrolling levels make me think of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. The thick lines and bright pastels show strong influence from those prints and remind us of some of Takeyasu’s previous work, Okami, though it never feels derivative.

El Shad-ding Dong

The art standard to the third-person gameplay, on the other hand, glows. Literally, everything glows. It’s gorgeous. The world has an ethereal look to it. It looks like everything I could imagine a battle of angels would look like. It isn’t always bright, exactly, but it always glows.

When I walk into my local comic-shop, the owner knows I’m looking for art that’ll roast my eyes. And also Batman, but mostly the art thing. I don’t buy a whole lot of comics, and if I was the same way about games, I’d probably spend a lot less money. But El Shaddai would still be in the stack.

My mom’s a great cook. So is my wife. But I still don’t like squash. It has nothing to do with their cooking skills or the skills of whoever made it. I just hate squash.

Zelda’s the same way for me. I’ve tried it over the years – Legend of Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess (I didn’t have a Super Nintendo growing up. I never really played Link to the Past very much.)

No matter what sort of flavor it had, though, it still tasted like Zelda. For a lot of people, that’s exactly the point. That’s the reason to come back. For some reason, it just doesn’t work for me. Sorry Link. Zelda isn’t bad; it’s just not for me.

Geralt of Rivia: The Last Champion of PC Gaming?

Well, not likely. But he’s certainly the posterboy for it right now. The first Witcher title was a relatively low-key affair. Built on Bioware’s Neverwinter Nights engine, Witcher came from the relatively unknown CD Projekt RED, based in Poland. The first release was buggy and had some glaring problems surrounding a solid PC game.

In the first instance of the “CD Projekt RED is awesome” initiative*, however, the developer released a huge patch for the game that fixed translations and animations, improved textures, and chopped the loading time by around 80%. The problems were pretty egregious before, but even so it’s not often a developer will go back and invest a million dollars in a game they’ve already released.

I loved the first game. I’ll admit, it took me four tries to actually get past the first couple hours, but once I did, you could hardly tear me away. It’s easily one of my favorite PC games. So you can expect that I had high hopes going into the sequel. Good thing CD Projekt RED is awesome.

The sequel arrived this spring with a brand new engine, some some of the best PC graphics out there, and zero DRM.

When most series hit their second iteration, they get a minor graphical upgrade, a couple add-ons to the major mechanics, and a new story. Assassin’s Creed is a perfect example. Each new title adds some more weapons and strategic options and by the end the Ezio Auditore de Firenze is carrying so much crap on his person that he might as well be a Sherpa.

Witcher 2, instead, overhauled combat. Without the NWN engine holding them back, the developers were able to do something closer to the combat they wanted. The major elements are still there—silver and steel swords, alchemy, and signs—but they exist in a free-form system more reminiscent of the recent Batman games than of the semi-turn-based system it originated in. When I try to think of other series that changed the basic functions of their combat and pulled it off, nothing comes to mind, except for Witcher.

The game also released sans DRM. At least, on CD Projekt’s Good Old Games service. This was a risky move for the developer; it opened the door for massive piracy. And pirated it was, to the tune of 5 illegal downloads to one legal download. But CD Projekt stands by its decision. Not only is Witcher a great PC game series, it’s a great example of a developer and publisher walking “the walk” when it comes an Anti-DRM policy and continuing to treat their devoted fans (like myself) with respect.

My biggest fear is that that’ll come back to bite CD Projekt in the proverbial ass. Witcher is a rich series – five books and a collection of short stories give the dev plenty of backstory to work from, and I’d like them to get through all the good stuff. The world of the Witcher is a lush, memorable low-fantasy world. Characters like Geralt and Triss are some of my favorite to check in on. Just like the first Witcher did more than hint at a sequel, we already know Witcher 3 is on the way, and I can’t wait to see both what’s in store for Geralt and for the series itself.

*That’s what I call it, anyway

But within Deus Ex is hidden another, very different game. Hidden inside this intricate, fascinating world is an incredibly boring shooter that comes up every time Adam Jensen fights a boss. And there’s a reason for it.

As it turns out, the boss fights were outsourced to another developer. A developer whose president “wasn’t familiar with Deus Ex.” Outsourcing aspects of a game isn’t unique to DXHR. In fact, with games getting bigger and bigger, it’s becoming a necessity in some cases. Most of the big shooters have one team working on multiplayer and another team working on single player. Assassin’s Creed Revelations involved a total of six studios across three continents. Outsourcing or spreading a game across multiple teams can be a good thing. Let each team concentrate on something specific to improve the strength of the end product.

In the case of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, there was a lack of communication, apparently, with regard to the philosophy of the story and design. The best we can hope is that this very-noticeable stumble – both in-game and out – is a lesson to other developers to make sure that when they outsource, everyone is working on the same game.

Minecraft, man.

I’d seen videos online; incredible castles, simple machines. I downloaded the free version and tried it once, but I didn’t get it. But then, drinking alone isn’t any fun either. What finally pulled me in was my brother. It started as a good way to hang out with him and talk to him more often. Then I pulled my poor wife in. Now we all snort crack off hookers’ asses together. I mean play Minecraft. Same thing.

My brother plays Minecraft to make the nuttiest gadgets he can come up with. For my wife, it’s an escape; a place she can go where she controls her goals, objectives, and achievements. For me, it’s just a way to make the tree house I always dreamt of growing up.

That’s what keeps me coming back, and what lit the fire under my ass to put together a server (with the help of some friends). There’s always something new to do. Something to work on on my castle. A cave system to explore. Then, just when you’re starting to get bored, a new update comes out and you restart the world from scratch and try something new.

You’ll never find me in the throes of a WoW addition, and I’ll never get sucked into Farmville. But Minecraft, I can’t quit you.

Albert Wesker might just be the villain of the Playstation generation. Making his debut in the first Resident Evil game, the slicked-back megalomaniac has been threatening world domination for almost fifteen years through just about every Resident Evil title.  When screen and voice actor DC Douglas auditioned for the role, he had no idea what he was in for. “I don't have any hobbies or relaxation things I do.  I have been obsessed with being an actor since I was 7.  Since I moved to LA, I spent my spare time writing or rehearsing some free waiver play in Hollywood. Later on, it was producing my own film projects.  The last video game I played a lot was pong when I was a kid!”

DC didn’t waste time, though: “…after UC, I was quickly educated about Wesker by friends who obsessed on the game.  It was through them and the directors I worked with that I got the backstory, etc.” 

Douglas, who got into acting at age 19, has been in the game for a while, appearing in everything from daytime TV and primetime drama to the voice of Geico Car Insurance (no, not the gecko!). Unlike many actors who start out in front of the camera, DC was ready to work at the mic as well: “I ended up auditioning for a voice over coach name Barbara Gill.  She encouraged me to go into voice over....” His more recent work in video games and anime “happened when engineers/directors I had worked with in ADR/Dubbing and other types of work called me in when they landed a game.”

Voice acting, Douglas explains, “requires more technique and less preparation for any particular audition.” Instead of having a script ahead of time, you go in cold. “Many times you don't know what the hell is going on with a character in VG because you are only given your lines or maybe a preceding line, then yours.  With on-camera, you have the whole scene, or script in some cases.”

Douglas first took on the role of Albert Wesker in the Wii shooter, Umbrella Chronicles. “Each time, they had me listen to a sample of a different actor to sound similar to!” Following Richard Waugh and Peter Jessop’s renditions of the  wasn’t always easy: “My main thrust, though, was to try and merge what other actors had done with Wesker into my own style and sensibilities.  It's been an on-going struggle because there are several versions of him.  But the Capcom and Just Cause folks have been awesome, as well as Liam O'Brien - who directed me in RE5.”

Even after acting in too many games to list and even more TV shows, D.C. found himself in new territory with Resident Evil 5: Motion Capture. “It was FREAKIN' WEIRD! See, [voice-over] people move their arms and body in odd ways to fully emote through their voices. In on-camera acting, we start from inside - it's in the eyes. In facial mo-cap, your face has to emote a little larger than real-life, but your arms and body have to be STILL! Oh, and they prefer you don't turn your head! It was a challenge, indeed, but fun!”

Asked about some of the cheesy dialogue Resident Evil is so famous for (“You were almost a Jill sandwich!”), Douglas told us that the nature of voice-acting keep him from worrying too much about the lines themselves, and more interested in doing the job. Many of the parts a voice actor does, even those that leave an impression on fans, go by so quickly that it’s hard to remember. Asked about one an anime he voiced, Douglas said “I barely remember those sessions. They were over the course of a few days and it was so fast.”

One part of working on both anime and video games is working with the original Japanese directors during the recording sessions. Japanese directors work through an interpreter, Douglas explains, so the direction is more concise. “They are more focused on the sound/music of the dialogue as opposed to the words,” he says. “Those sessions move pretty quickly, but occasionally we'll get stuck in an interpretation breakdown, which can be mystifying and funny, but that doesn't happen often. Also, because of the language barrier, I can't joke with them much, but there is a very warm and respectful feeling to the whole proceeding.”

Douglas lists Wesker as a favorite voice role right away. “Please, I’m 43 and finally cool. I’ll be playing RE5 for the first time next week… Uh oh, did I just kill my cool factor?” Douglas leaves us with a tidbit that suggests otherwise: “I’m recording something for Mass Effect 2 that’s quite fun, but I have to remain mum on that one.”

I’m looking forward to the end of this console generation not because I want to go buy a new system already; I actually think the current consoles still have a bit of life in them. I’m looking forward to a new generation because I want to see a new set of intellectual properties. New characters and series to enjoy.

In the current generation, Uncharted and Assassin’s Creed have been, without a doubt, my favorite new properties. Even with some of the hiccups of the first games, both properties went on to provide some of the best experiences this cycle.

I don’t normally play games just for the achievements. Last time I did, my Xbox360 red-ringed; I learned my lesson. But if a game is truly fun, I’ll sometimes go for achievements just as an excuse to keep playing. Uncharted 2 and Assassin’s Creed were the two games in which I went out of my way to reach 100% completion.

But this is where we get back to Food You Like. Food I Like is steak and cake. That’s what I have for my birthday every year. But if I ate them every day, I’d get sick of them fast. This would even happen with, yes, bacon. Magical, perfect bacon.

It’s hard to tell when sequel fatigue sets in, but I think I noticed it about halfway through Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood when I realized there was no way I was going to collect all the things.

This year’s round of sequels hit; Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3, Assassin’s Creed 2: Ezio 3, etc. I picked up AC:Revelations on pure reflex. Assassin’s Creed game comes out, I buy Assassin’s Creed game. That’s how it works, right? After shaking myself loose from the ruthlessly addictive clutches of Skyrim, I plugged in AC:Revelations only to find myself, well, uninterested. At first I thought it might just be Skyrim occupying that much of my mindshare. But it’s not just me. A lot of the people I chat with regularly on Twitter are finding their interest waning. Even if this is the most refined of the Assassin’s Creed titles, it is still just more Creed and more Ezio.

While I undoubtedly enjoyed Uncharted 3, the same thing is creeping in. The magic that made Uncharted 2 so very close to perfect just isn’t present in its follow-up. There’s not much room to improve or iterate on the mechanics. It’s just more story. More story isn’t bad, but why not save it until there’s something new to do? Here’s how it goes: You make your first game to introduce us to your new idea. The second time out, you show us the perfect version of that idea. Then you move onto something new, at least until there’s enough there to justify another sequel.

Of course, it all comes down to money, and Assassin’s Creed is still selling like crazy.Will I pick up the inevitable Assassin’s Creed 3? Maybe. I can always hope switching to a new character is enough to revive the franchise for me.

Without even going into the very sudden dragon infestation rippling across Skyrim, it is clear right from the start that something is amiss in Tamriel’s snowy north. War ravages the land of Skyrim. People are afraid to leave their houses, except for if they have to do something. Skirmishes break out without notice, because you started the quest.

Here’s the thing. War is kind of a big deal. In the real world, large portions of the nation mobilize to support or oppose a war. The places affected directly by battle are described as being war-torn. Because they’ve been torn apart by war. But war in Skyrim is nothing like war in real life. And it’s really annoying.

When battles break out, they’re nothing to write home about. Like in the civil war and World War movies. Dearest Myrtle, I fear this will be the last time I write you, for in just a few short minutes, the main character is going to decapitate me and steal my armor. War takes forever. The moment-to-moment might move faster than a speeding bullet, but people don’t write letters home from what account to large brawls.

A friend asked me if I wanted to see the Battle of Hastings. Heck yes! There are swords and spears all over in that painting, and the horse looks completely freaked out. It looks like a battle in Skyrim ought to look, and it’s a total mess. Every time I went to battle for whatever side, I felt like I probably could’ve wandered around and put down all the bad guys myself. Even if I am the main character, that shouldn’t happen. It makes the war feel more like a playground argument.

And then there’s the aftermath. The Fallout games always start with the phrase “War. War never changes.” In Skyrim, war never changes anything. You win a battle, and the government changes. The guards that walk around are different guys in skirts and helmets, but with the same accents. Like I mentioned before, nothing is war-torn. Everything is in the same place. The populace isn’t affected beyond “minor inconvenience.” The war seems to affect the people of Skyrim the way the conflict in the Middle East affects Americans. The difference being that it supposedly happened literally out the front door.

I’m not saying that Skyrim needs to accurately depict the horrors of a Nordic civil war. I don’t need child amputees shivering in the cold at night or whatever. But war should matter. And while it’s not THE main quest line, it’s right off the main quest line. It should feel like something changed. It should feel like something more than “I happened a war.” I want a war that doesn’t feel like it would’ve been better suited to the cutting-room floor.