Here are the games that had the JOE office glued to their consoles instead of doing any actual work this year. Don’t tell the boss though…
By Adrian Collins
This year has seen a list of real quality titles getting released, and we’ve been doing some thorough research on your behalf, ahem. We’ve picked five of the best games to look for in the January sales, or you might even have been lucky enough to get one in your stocking. Spoiler Alert: Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge narrowly misses out this year.
Pro Evolution 2013
Yes, we’re courting controversy, but we love our Pro Evolution here in the office. FIFA is good too, but we were drawn in because of our Portuguese hero Ronaldo being on the cover. That and the game play is a bit faster than its main competitor, making it more enjoyable all round. The only problem is the loading time, which is an issue with both titles at the minute, as well as really unnecessary cut scenes in the Master League. Bring back PES 6 with improved graphics, and we’ll be happy.
Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition
Probably a dream come true for all of us Batman geeks. Can I beat people up? Check. Can I use really cool gadgets? Check. Can I fly around the city using my cape and wear a cool costume? Check. A really brilliant sequel to the first one, Arkham City surpassed our expectations here at JOE, and the downloadable content means we’re still playing it now. Technically released at the end of 2011, it sneaks in to this year’s list because the Game of the Year edition with all the shiny extras packed inside was released last month.
Call of Duty Black Ops II
Call of Duty and the whole Modern Warfare franchise is pretty much the greatest series of shoot ’em ups we’ve ever had the pleasure of playing, and this latest instalment is no change to that. The story mode is good and the graphics are incredible, but the real value is in any of the online modes. There is seemingly no end to the fun had in knifing and sniping your fellow man from the safety of your couch, this has formed a crucial part of our games rotation this year.
Assassin’s Creed 3
Another highly anticipated title in a popular franchise, Assassin’s Creed 3 had us hooked from the start, just like the previous incarnations of the game. With some incredible graphics and a really engrossing storyline, we haven’t tired of sneaking around performing assassinations yet. According to Ubisoft we’re not the only ones, with 82 centuries of game time logged already around the world. The historical element to this series always made us feel like we were learning as we played too, so now we’re experts on Medieval Italy, The Crusades and now the American Revolution. Just don’t ask us any detailed questions and we should be fine.
Halo 4
There’s a theme developing here of sequels to popular games filling up the list, but you’d want to have been living under a rock to have missed out on the launch of Microsoft’s Halo 4, the budget busting game from the computer giant. Back with the usual mix of sci-fi and shoot ’em up, Halo 4 introduced a few new weapons and proved to be worth the wait, providing an absolutely huge world to explore with Master Chief again, once he’s been thawed out from his deep freeze. This is a genuine contender for the best Halo ever, and is visually the best by a long way.
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