Techtite Feature Article!

 

 

 

-------------

Sidebar :

-------------

 

-----------------

Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted!

------------------

 

--------------
MAIN PAGE
--------------
Reviews :
PC Games
Macintosh 
DVDs (& VHS!)
Movies (now playing)
Television
Gadgets & Gear
Hardcopy (Books)
Shows & Parks
X-box (360)
Playstation 3
Nintendo Wii
Game Cube
Nintendo DS
The PSP Page
Video Games (classic)
 

 Departments :

Snapshot of the Week:

  

Questions? Comments? Send Them To

Techtite Letters.

 

The Techtite Ratings System :

  • Burnout
  • Near Miss
  • Small Crater
  • Large Crater
  • Deep Impact

In Association with Amazon.com

Techtite.com's 6th Annual

 Golden Otto Awards!

A Techtite Feature Article

 

 

Best Games, Computer/PC:

We here at Techtite.com like to give honor to the "lucky 7" of the best films of the year. That said, here they are:
Best Game Of The Year: F.E.A.R. This year's "Best  Game of the Year" honors go to a game that once again showed why a film "based on a game" would be Oscar material if handled right. Imagine how hard it is to scare someone in modern cinema. Then imagine how hard it is to "shock" someone on a standard 15" computer monitor. That, in a nutshell, is how grandiose of an achievement F.E.A.R. truly is.

F.E.A.R. was more than a simple FPS bug hunt; it was an interactive thriller, in every way. The thrills of this game were far more emotion-inspiring than the typical half-rotted zombie of your typical B-grade monster game. Let's put it this way: the Big Bad of this game is a little girl. Now tell me; how hard is it to make a little girl "scary"...? This game succeeded in doing so. That's how powerful the thrills were in this game...if you catch our meaning.

What really pulls this game over the top is the number of emotion-stirring moments present...and far more than nearly all Hollywood films last year, I would say. Had this been a film there would be every horror and thriller blog on the internet labeling "Anya" as the next big name in thriller lore. Forget "Freddie" or "Chuckie" or "Jason." Give any high school freshman girl 

The Honorable Mentions:

LEGO Star Wars, which was just plain fun;

Psychonauts, which in any year without F.E.A.R. may have been Game Of the Year itself;

Indigo Prophecy...which, again, would've probably been Game Of the Whole Year any other year;

Call of Duty 2, which may be "another WW2 game," but it's the best one yet;

...and Thief: Shadows of The Metal Age, which may be available for free as a "complete mod," but it's still one of the most enjoyable game experiences we had all year.

Most Disappointing Game Of The Year: Stolen. What could've been "Thief" or "Splinter Cell" was an annoying test of patience, as the ill-conceived "humans" you knock out come to as early as 10 seconds later. Oh...and you can't shoot them, either, so don't ask. You instead have to dodge and dodge and dodge until you ask yourself if it's all worth it. For many gamers it wasn't.

DIShonorable Mention: Psychotoxic. This PC game import from Europe had the potential to be something great, but it was one of those projects that was promised years ago, and was simply rushed to the shelf. That's a shame because the overall idea here --imagine Psychonauts as a FPS, with a grittier story-- was pretty imaginative. 

Best Mod Of The Year: Thief, Shadows of the Metal Age. Though made by fans, this complete modification of Thief 2: The Metal Age, was an ingenious new story that even offered a glimpse at what might have happened "elsewhere" during that game's events. Yet with professional voice acting, 

Worst Mod Of The Year: Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend  Modifications are, as a rule, enhancements to the original game. Yet someone who made this "Weekend" must've thought that a mod meant "making crystal into crap" ...and that's presuming you thought the original game was a gem to begin with. This "expansion," complete with totally linear game play, totally lacked the original game's dark humor, non-linear game play, or side quests that made it so fun. What's more; one level has you actually fight against the Army. In times like this, that's stooping way too low.

 
All text, Title graphics, and pix not of reviewed product, are created by Techtite, copyright 1999-2006; all rights reserved. Distributors and creators of products mentioned here are allowed to use any "Golden Otto" related graphics they wish, provided that Techtite.com is accredited, either in text or by link. For further "legalese" & disclaimers, click here...