OXCGN’s Game Of The Year Awards 2011

OXCGN’s Game Of The Year Awards 2011

Did the VGAs get it wrong?

by: dkpatriarch

©2011 David Hilton

For many of us the VGAs were a bit underwhelming.

Which games stood head-n-shoulders above the others?

We had new announcements in the form of new ‘post-apocaliptic’ zombie survival type games (sigh), and new footage of some upcoming games that look either very promising (Bioshock Infinite, Hitman Absolution) or incredibly silly (Metal Gear Rising: Revengance, or as I call it: Devil May Rise: Cryvengance).

Then we had the idiocy that made our gaming industry look even more puerile with ‘tea bagging’ those whose speech went a little long and bad jokes.  Are we still all supposed to be childish teens?  Or am I just getting way too old for such ‘humour’?

Anyway, for the last week or so we at OXCGN have been nominating and tallying our own Game Of The Year Awards for 2011.  

If last year was the year of the sequel, this year was the year of the three-quel (Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Resistance 3Dungeon Siege 3Serious Sam 3…I’m sure there are others…).

These are just our individual opinions scored together using a complex mathematical formula involving each of us picking a Top 3 and scoring them with a 5, 3 or 1.  I’m sure the VGAs had a much more sophisticated methodology…

Without any more rambling, here are OXCGN’s Game Of The Year Awards for 2011.

Feel free to discuss your opinions of the VGAs and our picks in the comments section below.

Do you agree with our GOTY picks? here

OXCGN’s Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Review: A Solid Tease

OXCGN’s Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Review

A Solid Tease

by exterminat

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

Assassin’s Creed is one of the AAA series that has dominated and diversified this generation of gaming.

Beginning in 2007 with Assassin’s Creed, players became Desmond Miles as he was held captive by the power-hungry corporation Abstergo who turned out to be New World Templars.

He was forced to relive his memories in a genetic time machine called the Animus. Going back to the 1100s, Desmond took on the persona of his early ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad and overthrew a Templar plot, only to leave us hanging at the very end.

Two years later, Desmond broke free of the Templars in Assassin’s Creed 2, and became fully synchronized with his 15th century Italian ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

The modern-day Assassins outsmarted the Templars yet again with the upgraded Animus 2.0, and Desmond lived out the early days of Ezio’s involvement within the Brotherhood, ultimately thwarting the plot of Pope Alexander VI.

In Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, we continued the story of Desmond and Ezio as they each went along their paths, ultimately wondering where it would lead them.

Brotherhood saw the collapse of the Borgia regime, gave us a nice cliff hanger, and made us wonder just how old an Assassin can be and still function. Oh, and this one ends on a massive cliffhanger too!

Finally, we’re in 2011 and we are now at Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, the final chapter of Ezio’s tale and the lead-in for the official third title in 2012.

Freerun this way for more

Previously on….Assassin’s Creed: The story in brief

Previously on  . . . Assassin’s Creed

The story in brief

by: dkpatriarch

©2011 David Hilton

Today marks the release of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, the final tale of Ezio and Altair.  It finalises the groundwork for Desmond’s last stand against Abstergo and the Templars in 2012′s Assassin’s Creed 3.

With four major console games released, several smartphone iterations, as well as DS and PSP offshoots, its a very good time to recap the essentials of the Assassin’s Creed story.

Enjoy Ubisoft‘s latest video as you ready yourself to play Revelations, and see if you can guess where and when Assassin’s Creed 3 will take place.

Follow the links below to see where we’ve predicted it will be.

Watch the Assassin’s Creed story in brief here

What Assassin’s Creed Could Learn from Shadow of the Colossus

What Assassin’s Creed Could Learn from Shadow of the Colossus

The first Assassin’s Creed had focus

by: Edge_11SS

©2011 Nicholas Capozzoli

When the original Assassin’s Creed was released in 2007, it was generally well-received, but not without a few caveats. Most praised the game for its ambition but cited significant shortcomings, chief among them the repetitive mission structure.

It was no wonder which issues Ubisoft Montreal would then tackle when they undertook the series’ second entry. Even a cursory examination of Assassin’s Creed II shows the great concern that was taken for adding variety and dynamism to the game’s missions.

Shadow lessons for Assassin’s Creed here

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