Games for the Summer

When new game releases start to slow during the spring and summer months, many gamers get very impatient.  Instead of a steady stream of new games to play, they are left with a little trickle.  One option for gamers to turn to during this drought is the realm of downloadable games, which release more frequently during the summer.  Another option is for gamers to resort to their backlog.  For those gamers who rarely trade their games like yours truly, we have accumulated a massive library of unfinished games to work on.  During the spring and summer, most older gamers (ages 19 and above) have much more time on their hands to dedicate to gaming.  This list below are the games that I personally want to dedicate a significant amount of my gaming time to with the ultimate goal of beating these games.

BioShock
After playing the great yet somewhat disappointing BioShock Infinite, I have had an urge to go back and experience the very first BioShock.  Having missed out of the revolution that the original BioShock was, I impulsively picked up Infinite just so I would not miss out on experiencing the revolution again if BioShock Infinite actually lived up to the hype.  While I did enjoy my time with BioShock Infinite, I was left wanting to experience that revolutionary first-person shooter that could possibly give Half-Life 2 some competition for my favourite FPS game.  Considering I own BioShock, it is finally time for me to really experience this game more than an hour.  Time to fight splicers, get scared crapless by the Big Daddies and learn about the underwater dystopia known as Rapture.

Darksiders II
I have put a good amount of time into Darksiders II, one of my favourite games of 2012 and currently my most-played game for the Wii U.  Even though I have invested 20 hours into this game, I have not finished the game.  That is what usually happens when a game gives me a massive open world and numerous side quests to complete.  I am in no rush to complete Darksiders II because I am loving it.  Although to move onto newer games, you have to beat your older games.  Eventually, my time with Darksiders II will have to end and I want to make it this summer.

Half-Life 2:  Episode 2
I love Half-Life.  Valve has easily created the greatest first-person shooters on the face of this planet in the Half-Life games.  While I have still yet to beat the very first one on PC (I hit a random bug that completely halted my progress and I have not picked it up since), I tore through Half-Life 2 and Episode 1 on the 360 edition of the Orange Box a couple years back.  I was about to get into Episode 2 and then I stopped.  I cannot remember why, but I have not played it since.  When thinking about games to work on these next four months, Episode 2 just sprung up right away as I game I have to finish.  Not only in preparation for whenever Valve decides to grace us with the next instalment of Half-Life, but just for my own gamer pride.

Pokemon White Version 2
Before Fire Emblem Awakening sucked up all my game time on the 3DS, Pokemon White 2 was taking up most of my game time.  Currently 28 hours into the game, there is still quite a bit to do in my second trip through the Unova region.  More Pokemon to capture, trainers to defeat and evil forces to stop.  Especially with the worldwide release of Pokemon X and Y this coming October, I want to finish Pokemon White 2 so I will be able to dedicate most my game time this Fall to the next Pokemon game.

Rayman Origins
While Ubisoft ripped my heart out of my chest, and repeatedly stomped on it with their delay of Rayman Legends just a couple months back, there were a couple good things that came from this heartbreak.  One was having some more money to spend on games during the game rush that was March.  Another is now having time to finally beat Rayman Origins before playing Rayman Legends.  I have been working my way through Origins for a while now, so I know I am closing in on the end of the game.  This summer is just the right time to make one final push to beat this game in preparation for the September release of Legends.

On the Download: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

It looks like when the big retail releases start coming in force at the end of the summer, the downloadable games start to trickle.  That is not a big problem consider what released this week.  Valve has brought the return of the king of competitive shooters in Counter-Strike.  Easily keeping the attention of many gamers for the weeks, months and possibly years to come.  There are still a lot of people that play the original Counter-Strike and that game is over a decade old.  Another noteworthy downloadable release this week is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II has finally released for Steam.  As a big fan of the original Knights of the Old Republic, I have personally been waiting for this game to be released on Steam for the last few years and very excited to pick it up in the near future.  Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II is available on Steam for 10 dollars if anybody is interested in picking it up.

After 12 long years, Valve has made a full-on sequel to their ever-popular Half-Life mod, Counter-Strike.  Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is an online first-person shooter that focuses on skillful team-based gameplay.  Each match allows players to play either a Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist.  The goal of a round is to either complete the designated objective or eliminating the opposing team.  In each round, the player is given one life.  If you die, you must wait until the next round to respawn.  Between rounds, players are able to purchase weapons and equipment using the money earned during the round. You earn money by completing objectives and killing enemies and you lose money by killing a teammate or hostage (accident or not).  Global Offensive features new game modes, new maps and new weapons and equipment for players to indulge in.  Along with all the new stuff packed in Global Offensive, Valve has added updated versions of classic Counter-Strike maps, game modes, weapons and equipment such as de_dust.  If you want to join in huge multi-player experience that is Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike is available on Steam, XBLA and PSN for 15 dollars or 1200 Microsoft Points.

Hump Day Video: Remember Me

For the past few years, Germany's Gamescom has become one of the big video game conventions of the year.  While it may not be as popular as E3, there are quite a few big announcements saved for this August convention.  With EA, Capcom and Sony having their big press conferences at the event yesterday, there is already quite a bit palpable gaming news from the event such as release dates for upcoming games and announcements for a slew of Vita and PSN games.  Even companies like Activision and Microsoft are showing off some new stuff for their big games this holiday as both Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Halo 4 are getting their full multi-player reveals at Gamescom.  There is even a rumour floating around that the next Half-Life game will be revealed at Gamescom.

Out of all the stuff revealed these first couple of days at Gamescom, it is a new IP from Capcom that has caught the eyes of many gamers including yours truly.  Published by Capcom and developed by a French studio known as Dontnod Entertainment, Remember Me is an action game set in a futuristic Paris.  In this future, everybody has brain implants that control and store their memories.  While these implants are used to govern a person's memories, they can in turn be hacked by outside forces.  The protagonist of Remember Me, Nilin is a former memory hunter that has been betrayed by her former employer and left with no memories whatsoever.  Remember Me has a very interesting premise that has futuristic Mirror's Edge/Deus Ex vibe to it.  I cannot wait to see more of Remember Me in the months leading up to its May 2013 release for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.  Right now, I got the announcement trailer and first gameplay footage of Remember Me so you guys can see why you should be excited for Remember Me.