First Byte: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Two weekends ago, Sony held an event in Las Vegas called the PlayStation Experience.  This event was open to the public and press with the keynote conference and demos streamed on Twitch for those unable to be in attendance.  A lot of big news came out of the PlayStation Experience such as the reveal of David Jaffe's new game Drawn to Death, Bastion, Shovel Knight and Super Time Force all making the jump to PlayStation and Street Fighter V being a PS4 console exclusive.  The next God of War game was even unintentionally confirmed by series director Cory Balrog during a panel at the event.  In addition to the news, the PlayStation Experience gave gamers a comprehensive look at the upcoming projects from all the first and third-party studios working on both PS4 and Vita.  It served as a great way for Sony to continue their upward momentum while simultaneously enticing undecided consumers to buy a PS4 during the holiday season.

The biggest thing to come out of the PlayStation Experience was the 15 minute gameplay demo for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.  Sony revealed the new Uncharted over a year ago at the launch party for the PS4.  Sony followed up that reveal with a brief cinematic teaser at E3 which revealed the game's subtitle and setting.  While these two teasers got many excited for Uncharted 4, I personally needed to see more to get behind the hype for this game especially since so many games have fallen short of their hype in the past year.  After the gameplay trailer from the PlayStation Experience, my doubts over Uncharted 4 are now nonexistent.  Although it was a 15 minute snippet of gameplay, Naughty Dog packed a lot of information about Uncharted's PS4 evolution into this demo.

The demo starts with protagonist Nathan Drake standing on a cliff overlooking the dangerous terrain the island setting has to offer.  This view and the following movement of the camera shows off Uncharted 4's gorgeous graphics and great water effects.  Drake then enters a nearby cave which provides ample opportunities to see that the game's platforming mechanics in action.  In short, the platforming looks to work just as great as they did in previous entries in the series.  More platforming sections follow once Drake exits the cave, but with an added twist.  He finds a spike which can be used on certain rock formations as an anchor point in order to grab out-of-reach ledges and cervices.  The demo showed a few exciting instances where using the spike while jumping is necessary to reach new areas and save Drake from falling to certain death.

As Drake makes his way around the island, he eventually meets up with some hostiles.  While this encounter lasts rest of the demo, it perfectly showcases Uncharted's next-gen evolution.  Since Drake is usually placed against insurmountable odds, stealth has played a huge part in the Uncharted series.  It certainly takes centre stage in Uncharted 4 as Drake can use the large patches of flora and fauna to get the jump on enemies and for hiding when spotted.  In addition to the stealth mechanics, combat has received some retooling especially the hand-to-hand combat.  These hand-to-hand fights look a lot more fluid and dynamic as Drake and his opponents can use the environment as a part of their offence, transition to different positions like belly-to-back and throw grapples such as an arm drag.  These new combat scenarios can even occur when platforming around a firefight.  During a particular moment in the demo, Drake is trying to climb up a cliff only to be cut-off by a boot to the face.  Drake takes the boot in stride, punches the enemy and throws him off the cliff in a similar fashion to ledge takedowns from past Uncharteds.  Instead of falling to his doom, the enemy grabs onto Drake's foot thus leading to more input in order to escape the enemy's grasp.  Moments like these should make Uncharted 4's combat unpredictable and exciting throughout the entire game.

The last thing I want to touch on from the Uncharted 4 demo is the grappling hook.  While it is only used two times throughout the entire demo, it leaves one amazing impression.  The first time we see it is in the heat of battle as an enemy throws a grenade at Drake's feet.  With only a few seconds to react, Drake jumps to the right and throws out his grabbing hook at a nearby branch with the press of the R1 button.  In that brief instant, he sours through the air directly toward the grenade-throwing enemy to deliver a devastating punch to the face.  In my opinion, this sequence is one of the most exhilarating parts of the demo and perfectly shows the combat capabilities of the grappling hook.  Aside from its use in combat, the grappling hook adds new dimensions to Uncharted's exploration and platforming as it gives Drake more versatility in maneuvering around the environment.

All-in-all, this 15 minute demo has completely sold me on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.  It looks like a spectacular showcase of the PS4's power and solidifies Naughty Dog's position as one of the elite developers in this industry.  Now sitting upon my list of most anticipated games of 2015, I really look forward to playing Uncharted 4 next holiday season.  If you do not agree with my analysis, the gameplay video of Uncharted 4's demo is included below so you can see for yourself.

Top 5 Games of E3 2013

E3 2013 has been in the books for two weeks now.  The fallout from this year's show has been big with the incredibly positive buzz surrounding the PS4 and the immense animosity towards the Xbox One- even following Microsoft's change of heart.  E3 2013 saw the first real shots fired in the next round of the console wars.  The frontrunner following E3 looks to be Sony with Nintendo in second and Microsoft in a distant third.  E3 did garner some excitement for the next generation of consoles yet this writer does not see a game that provides a reason for gamers to drop their cash to pick up these new systems at launch.  Those games may be a couple of years down the road, which makes waiting possibly the best choice for most unless you are among the most hardcore.  Most of the games showed off for the next generation of consoles were a lot in line with the games that have dominated the last half of the current generation- shooters and sequels.  It is a new generation; time for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft to start taking more risks rather than solely resting on their laurels.  Most of these companies are making moves to secure exclusives on their console and ramp up their support for independent developers, one of the few sources of originality in the industry nowadays, but those things alone will not secure victory this time around.  The dawn of the last console generation saw the birth of franchises like Gears of War, Uncharted and Wii Sports to name of few.  Creative risks of that ilk seem to coming from downloadable games or a select few games available for both current and next generation consoles.  The console manufacturers need to start leading by example and move this industry out of the sequel-driven slump it has fallen into.  Do not get this writer wrong, sequels are fine and healthy parts of this industry, but too many unnecessary sequels (Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Need for Speed) cause stagnation in creativity and disinterest from gamers.  Once the initial wave of games for the next generation release, hopefully we will see some new ideas emerge from the triple A publishers.

No E3 is complete here at Silver Bit without the annual Top Games of E3 list.  Throughout the hectic week that is E3, yours truly makes a tireless effort to watch as much gameplay footage shown at the show.  Without physically being in LA to experience the event, it is hard to find footage for every single game at the show.  Like last year, the only games that qualify for this list are those that had demos on the show floor.  Now let us get on to the Top Games of E3 2013.

Honourable Mention

Batman:  Arkham Origins- PS3, XB360, Wii U, PC

The reveal of Arkham Origins just about two months ago was not well received by this writer.  Arkham City is easily one of the best games of this generation, but Origins seemed to be a quick cash-in by Warner Bros.  After watching the demo showed off at E3, Arkham Origins looks to be more of the same Arkham City greatness with some improvements and that is totally fine.  The combat and open world traversal looks the same as usual, but it is the new investigation mode that should get gamers excited to venture into Gotham City.  Instead of the forced investigation segments from the previous entries in the Arkham series, Origins allows gamers to become the World's Greatest Detective by being able to reconstruct an entire crime scene using evidence collected throughout the investigation and exploration. Seeing the new investigation mode in motion has got this writer excited to lace up the Dark Knight's boots once again.

5.  Murdered:  Soul Suspect- PS3, XB360, PC
Last year, Airtight Games was gathering a lot of attention for Quantum Conundrum, a first-person puzzler similar to Valve's Portal.  Now come E3 this year, Airtight has got gamers intrigued with their newest game Murdered: Soul Suspect.  Murdered places you in the ghostly shoes of the recently deceased detective, Ronan O'Connor.  Caught in limbo, Ronan is tasked in solving his own murder using his new found supernatural powers.  Powers like possession let Ronan interact with the environment around him to find evidence unbeknownst to the other NPCs in the game.  With the evidence collected, Ronan can piece together key information used to open up new areas to investigate.  Ronan is not the only one stuck in limbo.  From time to time, Ronan will run into demons that threaten the ghostly detective.  To dispatch these enemies, Ronan must use stealth and possession powers.  At E3, Murdered: Soul Suspect seemed to get swept up under all the hype produced by the next gen consoles and huge Triple A games.  It is sad considering how unique and intriguing this game is.  Murdered: Soul Suspect will definitely be one to watch come 2014.

4.  Bayonetta 2- Wii U
Nintendo showed off some great games at E3, but none really blew this writer away much like Bayonetta 2.  The Masters of the Insane, also known as Platinum Games, have brought some of the most unapologetically crazy games this last generation and they look to continue that drive into the future with Bayonetta 2.  It is really hard to describe the demo showed off at E3, but did it ever make this writer's jaw drop on multiple occasions.  Watch the demo and you will see what is trying to be conveyed in this paragraph.  You play as a witch covered in clothes made of her own hair as you fight angels, demons or whatever enemy Platinum throws your way with magic produced by using your hair.  It does not make much sense, but sure does it look fun.  While Bayonetta 2 will not be a system seller for the Wii U, it could push some hardcore gamers to pick up Nintendo's newest console.

3.  Transistor- PS4, PC
When Transistor was first announced at PAX East, many were comparing it to Supergiant Games' freshman effort, Bastion.  Transistor does have a couple similarities to Bastion like the isometric perspective and the use of a narrator to describe the action, but that is where the similarities end.  Transistor is primarily a turned-based strategy game, but it does allow you play it like any other action game if you choose.  Choosing to play Transistor like any other action game will be a mistake as you are missing out at Transistor's greatest strength, its planning mode.  In planning mode, time stops and you are able to plan out your moves and attacks on the action bar.  You are given all the time in the world to plan out your battles as you can scrub up and down the action bar and edit it as you want.  You cannot abuse the planning mode as it will need to recharge after every use.  The interplay between fighting in real-time and using planning mode is very intriguing and will easily make one of the standout downloadable experiences on PS4 and PC next year.

2.  Plants vs. Zombies:  Garden Warfare- XBOne, XB360, PC
Nobody thought turning Plants vs. Zombies from a tower defense game to a third-person shooter would be a good idea.  Many thought this change in genre would destroy all the fun and charm that makes Plants vs. Zombies so endearing to gamers and non-gamers alike.  Well PopCap proved us all wrong then because Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare looks flipping awesome!  Easily one of this writer's biggest surprise from E3, Garden Warfare did not look like anything exceptional from the trailer showed off at the EA Press Conference, but the gameplay changed the entire story.  Allowing gamers to jump into any one of the plants from the Plants vs. Zombies games, you fight off hordes upon hordes of zombies with your own weapons and other traps and defences you set up throughout the level. Garden Warfare looks like a team-based shooter that should be a lot of fun to play with others hopefully both on and offline.

1.  Watch Dogs- PS4, PS3, XBOne, XB360, Wii U, PC
Watch Dogs shocked the world when it was revealed back at E3 2012.  The more Ubisoft has shown of their newest IP, the more gamers have been impressed.  Watch Dogs keeps on looking better and better to the point that it has easily become one of the most anticipated titles of 2013.  For a brand new IP to have such huge amount of anticipation is very hard to come by in the sequel-driven environment that the video game industry currently is.  Watch Dogs looks to blend a straight-forward action game with the freedom of a open world Chicago to explore, but this blend is not the reason people are excited for Ubisoft's newest venture.  The reason people are excited to play Watch Dogs is due to the amount of freedom you have to manipulate the world around you.  Playing as master hacker Aiden Pearce, Chicago is your playground and also your weapon.  Hacking into the city to escape the pursuits of the police, cause chaos and listen in on phone conversations are just the tip of what you can do in Watch Dogs.  Couple all that control with the ability to have a friend play co-operatively or competitvely using a tablet, which this writer hopes Ubisoft integrates natively in the Wii U version, Watch Dogs is the game to watch this holiday season.  Ubisoft could have another hit on their hands with Watch Dogs.  Just hopefully Ubisoft does not run this potential series into the ground like they did with Assassin's Creed.

On the Download: August 26-September 1

Well it is the last weekly edition of On the Download for a while.  It has been a lot of fun to put the spotlight on all these unique and incredibly interesting downloadable titles that release weekly and even daily for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, iDevices and PC.  Downloadable games have made their mark in the video game industry these past few years by standing toe-to-toe with even the biggest of triple A console or PC titles.  Some of the most innovative and inventive experiences in video games today come from these smaller downloadable titles.  I have really enjoyed writing On the Download on a regular basis and giving a spotlight to these games that many gamers overlook.  It has been one of my favourite weekly posts to write here on Silver Bit and I hope you all enjoyed reading it.

Now that I am done with the little farewell for now speech, let us get down to business.  Got a packed week of downloadable games to talk about.  Two games I want to talk about quickly here in the intro and the other two I will get into more detail below.  First, this week Telltale Games released the third episode in their Walking Dead adventure series called The Long Road Ahead.  Decisions from the earlier episodes affect the events of The Long Road Ahead and pave a way for new long-lasting decisions that will affect future episodes in the series.  The third episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead game is available on PSN, XBLA and PC for 5 dollars.  The second game I want to mention here is the iOS port of Bastion.  Coming completely out of right field, Supergiant Games announced the game earlier in the week only to release it for iOS this past Thursday.  Easily one of the best downloadable games of 2011 has been re-imagined to work on the iPad.  Bastion only works on iPad 2 or higher and costs 5 dollars.  If you missed out on this remarkable game last year and own one of the newer iPad models, Bastion is a no-brainer.  Download it right now!  It is that good.

For a while there it looked like Rock Band and much of the rhythm game genre was dead, thanks to an over saturation of Rock Band and Guitar Hero games from EA and Activision.  With games like Audiosurf and Symphony trying to revitalize this genre through the downloadable game space, Harmonix has decided to bring Rock Band to the downloadable space with Rock Band Blitz.  Unlike the core Rock Band games for console, Rock Band Blitz does not use special peripherals to play the game. In Rock Band Blitz, you will use the regular controller to switch between each instrument lane and match notes in one of the game's 25 songs, which is very similar to Harmonix's older rhythm games such as Frequency and Amplitude.  Rock Band Blitz offer the same Rock Band gameplay, now all just for single-player.  Without much of a campaign, the main drive to play Rock Band Blitz is due to the online leaderboards,which tracks your top scores on each song.  In addition to the 25 songs that come with Rock Band Blitz, gamers are able to import any song they have for Rock Band 3.  Rock Band Blitz is now available for PSN and XBLA for 15 dollars or 1200 Microsoft Points.

Mass Effect is a huge series with one of the most expansive universes in video game history.  To extend the life of their RPG epic and provide more insight into the rich mythology of this universe, BioWare has developed the Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3.  The Leviathan DLC takes place before the final mission on Earth and dives into the dark history of the Reapers.  Commander Shepard hears reports of something lurking in the dark corners of space.  That something being powerful enough to single-handedly slay a Reaper.  What is this powerful being, this leviathan of sorts and is it friend or foe?  It is up to Shepard and his crew of the Normandy to find that out.  Leviathan expands on the events of Mass Effect 3 and provides new characters to interact with, new pieces of information on the mythology to chew on and new weapons and upgrades to play with.  For those not ignorant enough to abandon Mass Effect 3 because of the polarizing ending and want to dive back into this incredible game, you can pick Leviathan for PC, PSN and XLBA for 10 dollars or 800 Microsoft Points.

On the Download: April 29-May 5

Another week, another round-up of downloadable games here in On the Download.  While there are a couple games I want to highlight this week.  I want to mention that there are a lot of great sales going on Steam this week.  While the sale on Bastion and Dust Force ended earlier in the day, there are sales on Batman: Arkham City, Sanctum, Elder Scrolls III and IV, Transformers: War for Cybertron and a whole bunch of indie games published by EA.  If you use Steam for downloading PC games, take a look at these amazing deals.  If you do not have Steam, maybe you should think about downloading Valve's incredible PC client.  Without further delay, let us jump into the biggest downloadable games of the week.

Lionhead Studios takes the Fable in an unnecessary direction yet again.  In order to hype up the Fable franchises' first romp on the Kinect in Fable: The Journey, Lionhead Studios has created Fable Heroes for download on XBLA.  Fable Heroes is a action-packed beat-em up set in the Fable universe.  To seperate Fable Heroes from the more mature core Fable games, Lionhead went with an incredibly cute art style.  Up to four players can work together to complete levels and defeat enemies while competing for gold, experience and unlockable items both online and offline.  Also in a way to tie Fable Heroes into Fable: The Journey, you can save the gold you earn in Fable Heroes for use in Fable: The Journey.  While I have never been high on the Fable series, Fable Heroes looks to be a 800 Microsoft Points worth spending only for hardcore Fable fans out there.

"Awesome!  Awesome!  Awesomenauts!  Awesome!  Awesome!  Awesomenauts!"  Once I first heard the amazing 80s cartoon inspired theme, Awesomenauts was one downloadable game I knew I needed to keep an eye on.  While the game is multi-player only, it still looks like one amazing concept that should definitely be checked out by all gamers.  In the long distant future, conflict has engulfed the stars as robot armies are locked in a stalemate.  A powerful group of mercenaries known as the Awesomenauts are called upon to bring an end to the stalemate.  Awesomenauts is a multi-player online arena (MOBA for short) game with elements of 2D platform games.  You can play 3-on-3 matches online.  If you do not mind sharing a screen, you can team up with two friends locally to play other teams online.  At launch, you can play as the six unique members of the Awesomenauts with more characters scheduled to be added to roster in later updates.  At 800 Microsoft Points on XBLA or 10 dollars on PSN, Awesomenauts is a great download for anybody really into multi-player games like Team Fortress 2 or DOTA.  Need more incentive to buy this game, just listen to its theme music.

Top 10 Games of 2011

Yesterday, I listed my Top 5 Downloads of 2011.  Now on the final day of this calendar year, I give you my Top 10 Games of 2011.  As one person, it is very hard to play every single game that comes out in a year especially when you get some of them for Christmas.  So there will be some big games that I am playing at the moment that might have made this list if I had the money to get them earlier this year, but ultimately will not at this point in time.  Before you see this list and immediately make comments that I did not make this list, just remember this list is just one man's opinion.  If you want to share your opinion, I encourage you to make your own Top 10 list.  So let us countdown in my opinion the best games of 2011.

10. Jetpack Joyride
This addictive, time chopping, one button run for your life game sunk its claws in me early this year when I downloaded it to my iPad.  I have sunk many hours into this dollar game trying to collect coins, complete missions and beat my friends' best distance.  You can play Jetpack Joyride for two minutes or two hours, you will always have fun.

9. Sonic Generations
After years of being dragged through the mud, Sonic has remerged as one of the kings of the platform genre.  To celebrate The Blue Blur's 20th Birthday, Sega gave the fans Sonic Generations, a game that gives us both the classic Sonic platforming and the modern Sonic mix of high-speed obstacle course and platforming segments to make the best Sonic game of the last 10 years.  Personally running through a HD version of Chemical Plant Zone as both classic and modern Sonic with remixed background music was one of the highlights of my year in gaming.

8. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
It is all about choice in Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  Will you run in guns blazing or take a more stealthy approach?  Will you hack into a computer and turn the security droids on your enemies or disable the droids with a EMP Grenade?  There is no clearly defined right or wrong way to complete any objective in Human Revolution and that is what makes this game so amazing.

7. Bastion
Beautiful art, great music, compelling story and deep gameplay that even works with a mouse and keyboard, this Action-RPG stand out above all the other downloadable games.  Bastion literally looks like watching art in motion, it is so beautiful.  Also having the ominous ever-present narrator tell the story is one great touch that has not been done before in games.  If you own a Xbox 360 or a PC, Bastion is the best downloadable game and one of the best games you can play this year.

6. Portal 2
Once you start thinking with portals, you can never go back.  Back in 2007, Portal charmed gamers around the globe with its great puzzles and amazing villain in GlaDOS.  With more brain-racking puzzles and more GlaDOS, Valve adds in more challenging puzzles with co-op and new hilarious characters in Wheatley, Cave Johnson and last but not least the Space Core.  More story, more puzzles, more laughs and ultimately more fun, these are all the things most sequels look to do, but never achieve.  Portal 2 is one of the few exceptions and that is why it is the best puzzle game of the year and one of the best games of 2011.

5. Pokemon Black and White
For years, people have felt that Pokemon needed a huge shake-up or this RPG behemoth would loss some steam.  Nintendo and Game Freak proved that it they did not need to make some radical changes to make the series feel fresh again.  Launched head first into the Unova region as a new trainer, you start off with a new batch of 150 Pokemon with none of your old favourites in sight.  The additions of seasons that affect terrain you traverse, TMs that no longer disappear from your inventory after one use and the improved online features make Pokemon Black and White the definitive games in the Pokemon franchise.

4. Super Mario 3D Land
The Nintendo 3DS had a slow start when it launched earlier this year, but those woes seemed to end with the release of Super Mario 3D Land.  A portable Mario that cohesively blends concepts from both 2D and 3D Mario games into one compact handheld game that you can play on your 3DS.  It is one of the must-own games for any 3DS owner and the best portable Mario game of all-time.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Confession time.  I have never completed The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time until I got it for the 3DS this year.  Boy, was I ever missing out.  Even with the 3D coat of paint on it, Ocarina of Time stands the test of time (seriously no pun intended) and shows why it is considered the greatest game of all-time.  Either on consoles or in the palm of your hand, Ocarina of Time is one of the best games of this year.

2. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
I am one of the few that did not consider Uncharted 2: Among Thieves to be the masterpiece everybody says it is.  Do not get me wrong, Uncharted 2 is a phenomenal game, but it felt like it followed the same formula from the first game.  It is just the difference between what I consider a 9.5 and what I consider a 10.  Uncharted 2 was a 9.5, but Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is a 10.  Naughty Dog hit it out of the park as it improved on all the mechanics from the second game, added a fun and rewarding multi-player that I can even get into and got rid of the bullet sponge enemies that I hated from the previous two Uncharted games.  When I finished Uncharted 3, this was my Game of the Year that was until I played this next game.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Sorry Nathan Drake, I love you, but Link schooled you.  If you have read my blog for the past month, you would know how much I love The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.  It is the greatest game of this generation, the best game of 2011 and in my opinion, the greatest game in this iconic franchise.  Again when people complain that said Nintendo franchise is getting stale, Nintendo shows them up and makes one of the best games in the series.  It happened earlier with Pokemon and happened again with Zelda.  Shows that you don't mess with Nintendo.

On the Download: Top 5 Downloads of 2011

Seeing as we are closing out 2011 and the next time I will be writing the next edition of On the Download it will be 2012, let us look back at the best downloadable of 2011.  From iOS games to PC downloads to 3DS or Wii Virtual Console games, anything that you was released this year for anybody to download is up for my Top 5 list.  In the past few years, the downloadable space has exploded.  Digital sale numbers now rival physical sale numbers.  People still want physical copies of big console games, but are open to buying smaller downloadable games for a reasonable price.  As long as new downloadable games continue releasing each and every week, there will always be a new edition of On the Download for you guys to look forward to.  So let us get rolling with this list.

5. Super Stickman Golf
Who would have ever thought a golf game on iOS would be so good?  Super Stickman Golf pulls you in with its' simplistic controls, outstanding course design, crazy power-ups and fun multi-player and never lets go.  Just like the Lays commercial that bet you can't eat just one Lays potato chip, I bet you can't play just one round of Super Stickman Golf.

4. Superbrothers: Swords and Sworcery EP
From the beautiful music to the charming 8-bit style graphics, Superbrothers: Swords and Sworcery EP is one of the most engrossing games on the App Store.  You play as the Scythian on a journey to discover the secrets of the Megatome, a book of powerful sworcery.  On your quest, you will never experience the exact same thing twice as this adventure game offer many ways to use your iDevice to the fullest.  Superbrothers flew under the radar back when it released last March, but this engrossing adventure is not to be missed for iOS owners.

3. Donkey Kong
At first Donkey Kong felt like an exact copy of the original arcade game, but once you get past the first stage and into the original stages made just for this Game Boy game, you will not be able to put this puzzle game down.  Even I continue to play a few levels in between racing in Mario Kart 7 and collecting Star Coins in Super Mario 3D Land.  With 100 levels and only a 3 dollar price point, Donkey Kong is a Game Boy classic and the best download on the Nintendo eShop that nobody that owns a 3DS should miss.

2. Jetpack Joyride
There is no other iOS game I have put more time into this year other than Jetpack Joyride.  This dollar game captured my heart and time back when it released in late August and continues to this day.  The simple premise, one button gameplay, online leaderboards, endless amounts of upgrades and missions to complete makes Jetpack Joyride one of the best games you can get on the iOS this year.

1. Bastion
One of the few downloadable games I highly anticipated this year, Bastion lived up to the hype and more.  Beautiful art, great music, compelling story and deep gameplay that even works with a mouse and keyboard, this Action-RPG stand out above all the other downloadable games.  Bastion literally looks like watching art in motion, it is so beautiful.  Also having the ominous ever-present narrator tell the story is one great touch that has not been done before in games.  If you own a Xbox 360 or a PC, Bastion is the best downloadable game you can play this year bar none.