Here’s the recap of how I got on! The original post lists some more detail.

Super Mario 3D Land
I suppose I didn’t technically finish this. I got to the ‘first’ ending, played a fair chunk of the special levels then decided I’d seen enough and wasn’t that bothered about persevering. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it. It was a great return to form for the kind of Mario that I enjoy (the Galaxy titles never really grabbed me). I just felt like I was done with it and happy to not return.

Uncharted 3
Oh Nathan Drake, you let me down so very much. To be fair, I enjoyed it in the end but it felt like a constant fight to love it. Every time I felt like I could honestly say it was great, another stupid gunfight came about. I want to explore, damnit, not shoot 301 random enemies. It was worth playing however but it was nothing compared to how much I loved Uncharted 2.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations
By the end, I still preferred Brotherhood and AC2 but I did still enjoy Revelations. Unlike Brotherhood, however, I feel no urge to mess around for the sake of it. I’m happy to just finish the main storyline and leave it at that, at least until I decide I want some more achievements out of it. I tried out the multiplayer and was pleasantly surprised however. Must go back to it at some point actually.

Green Lantern
Film tie-in games are a guilty pleasure of mine and not just because of my achievement whoring past. This was a mindless but fun distraction that only cost me £7 just before New Year. Gained 800 points out of it which satisfied the achievement whore in me. It’s your typical film tie-in game. Run through some very linear levels, beat up some cardboard cut out enemies and move on.

Halo Anniversary
I’ve not played the original Halo since I completed it in co-op mode on the original Xbox with a boyfriend of the time. It was good fun back then. It’s still not bad although time hasn’t been amazing for it. A few bits and pieces appear dated now but it was an enjoyable enough romp. Again, not bad on the achievements front.

Rage
Rage was interesting. Plenty of missed opportunites and it really wasn’t gripping enough at first, but it only cost me £3 so I can’t complain much. The graphics are pretty impressive and the gun fights are satisfying. The story falls down a bit though and it’s all a little too short unless you drag things out by going down the mundane sidequest path.

Sims 3 Pets
I’m part way through Sims 3 Pets. Annoyingly, it’s prone to freezing which is extremely frustrating when combined with the lack of auto save. I love the series though and I’m determined to 1k it, much like I did with The Sims 3 before it. It’s going to take a while though. Some of the achievements are very time consuming!

Driver: San Francisco
I briefly returned to this then realised that I needed a lot more practice. I reckon I’ll probably restart it as I’d only finished the first chapter and I need all the help I can get! I just plain old suck at games involving car chases.

Batman: Arkham City
I’ve not gone back to this despite only having a couple of hours at most till the end. I’m not convinced I will for quite some time.

Forza Motorsport 4
I dabbled briefly in this. It’s not a game that needs to be played in solid chunks really so it’s handy for a race here or there.

Gears of War 3
Played a little of this thanks to a double experience event. Loved the time I spent with Horde, even if it was with a bunch of randoms. Plus I started one of the campaign DLC segments which was enjoyable enough.

Below are the games I have yet to touch:

Demon’s Souls
inFamous 2
Metroid: Other M
Xenoblade Chronicles
Battlefield 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
FIFA 12
Halo Reach
Epic Mickey

February should be fun!

Here’s the list of what’s there to keep me busy till then. Bear in mind, it’s not a comprehensive list. It’s solely purchases since around August/September, rather than the full complement of 20+ years gaming.

Super Mario 3D Land
Despite owning a 3DS since launch day, it’s never really grabbed me as much as it should have (even after buying Ocarina of Time!). Things have partially changed thanks to Super Mario 3D Land (and Tetris). I’m about halfway through it so far and greatly enjoying it. Old school Mario with a hint of 3D is ideal for me as I’ve never really been gripped by the likes of either Mario Galaxys. Shouldn’t take me too long to complete though considering how fast I’m progressing so far!

Demon’s Souls
I really need to give this a shot. Now that the PS3 is solely mine again (it was being used as a Blu-ray player previously), this is a good time to try Demon’s Souls. My lack of patience and gaming ability will probably stop me progressing far though but I’m keen to have experienced some of it!

inFamous 2
It was £7 so I couldn’t resist even though I didn’t get on with inFamous 1 hugely well, preferring Prototype. No idea how long this will take me and I reckon it’ll probably be further down the pile of games.

Need for Speed: The Run
I was given this and being given presents is always nice! Not sure I’ll really play it though considering the pretty dire reviews. At least if I do, it won’t take me long!

Uncharted 3
I’m about halfway through this. I MUST finish it. Loved the first two but this one has really struggled to grip me which is so disappointing. I will finish it though, then I’ll know I’ve given it the best shot possible to hook me.

Metroid: Other M
I’ve heard hugely mixed things about this. As it only cost me £5, I was intrigued to have my own opinion. Any ideas how long it will take to complete?

Xenoblade Chronicles
I know this one is going to be a beast to complete! I’m only about 20 hours in but adore it. This is going to be a long term project but I’m very keen.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations
I’ve practically finished the main storyline already but I intend on gaining some more achievements and generally messing around. I prefer Brotherhood and AC2 but this is still a solid enough entry in the franchise. This one is certain to be first off my To Play list.

Batman: Arkham City
I suspect I’m only about an hour or two away from completing this. It’s not gripped me like Asylum did before it though so it’s taken me a while to get this far. Much like Uncharted 3, I want to finish it so I can form a solid opinion.

Battlefield 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

These two are very similar. I’ve finished the single player campaigns (MW3 is much better than BF3′s!) and dabbled in the multiplayer sections but I want to play more. Plus I want to check out the co-op modes if I can. These two can’t really be completed but I want to get a lot more time with them!

Driver: San Francisco
This was a pleasant surprise for me upon its initial release. I played it for a few days after renting it then Nokkon lent it to me before trading it in. Fortunately, he then bought me it for Christmas so I can get on with completing the single player. Yay! Reckon it’ll take me about 10 hours to complete considering my limited skills at driving games.

FIFA 12
I got this for my birthday in October and loved it. Time and work got in the way though and I want to return to it, gain a few more achievements and generally improve my skills. It’s not one that I can complete but I do want to enjoy it more.

Forza Motorsport 4
I’m about halfway through Forza 4. I want to finish it basically! No idea how long it’ll take. Probably quite a while.

Gears of War 3
I’ve finished the single player campaign but I want to play more multiplayer and hopefully some co-op too. I’ve loved every minute of it so far.

Green Lantern
Easy one to clear off the pile: Finish it. I’m not expecting anything amazing but I have a soft spot for film tie ins and it was cheap. I doubt it’s long or difficult to finish.

Halo Anniversary

Halo Reach

Complete these two either alone or with a friend, plus play more of the multiplayer. Simple!

Rage
The last game I purchased in December. Thanks to the Gamestation sale and reward points, it only cost me £3.71 and should arrive tomorrow. I’ve heard it’s pretty long.

Sims 3 Pets
My guilty pleasure. Love The Sims. Loved The Sims 3 on the 360 and gained all the achievements for it. That’s exactly what I aim to do with this one. It might take a while but I’ll no doubt love it!

That lot should keep me busy for a while. There’s always others like LittleBigPlanet 2 and numerous others if I somehow clear this pile fast!

It’s been a busy year for games but I’m struggling to think of games that I think will be games worth returning to in years to come. Like the films of this year, there are many games I’d give 4 out of 5 to but hardly any I’d give 5 stars.

Still reading despite all that? Well done!

PS3 Exclusive
LittleBigPlanet 2

Tough one! For much of this year, the PS3 has been a blu-ray player in the living room so it hasn’t really been played on much except for work purposes. I’m keen to try Ico and Shadow of the Colossus at some point (they came out on the PS2 during a rare time in my life where I didn’t game much), I picked up inFamous 2 the other day for £7 and I’m part way through Uncharted 3. I did play Killzone 3 but found it a bit dull sadly. So, as much as I would love to say Uncharted 3, the winner has to be LittleBigPlanet 2!

Uncharted 3 has mostly disappointed me so far while LittleBigPlanet 2 has made me smile consistently as I played it, even if I haven’t played it as much as I should have.

Xbox 360 Exclusive
Gears of War 3

Easy! For the two weeks prior to Gears 3′s release, I played Gears of War 2′s multiplayer solidly in order to gain some precious achievements and mostly have fun. It made me wish I’d played it more at its peak. Funnily enough, that’s exactly how I feel about Gears 3. I’ve played and loved the single player campaign but haven’t yet played it in co-op with friends. It’s a similar story with the multiplayer, having still not hooked up with friends for any great length of time. The constant stream of experience and medals just adds to the fun and addictive package. Love it.

Wii Exclusive
Xenoblade Chronicles

No brainer even though I’m only 12 hours in and nowhere near completing it. Xenoblade Chronicles is that breath of fresh air that the JRPG genre has needed for years. Honourable mention must go to Kirby’s Epic Yarn (released in 2011 in the UK) as, while it’s very short, it’s the happiest game I’ve ever played!

Ridiculous amount of hours put into but not quite deserving of a GOTY award
Skyrim

Familiarity breeds contempt. Skyrim starts out amazing. Spend long enough playing it that you gain all 1000 achievement points and a plethora of flaws emerge. It’s glitchy and the scripting is very iffy in places. Some of it can’t be helped in the game’s efforts to be non-linear but it still grates after a while. I’d have loved it if it had been half its length but more tightly designed. Unfortunately, you spend as much time as I have wandering around identical dungeons and it gets annoying. Still, it kept me hooked for a good 70 hours so it’s not all bad!

Might have been GOTY
Zelda: Skyward Sword – If I’d actually played it. Its reliance on motion controls put me off for reasons that I’ve frequently ranted about on Twitter (my Mum likes Zelda but thanks to her arm/neck disability, she can’t play games with motion controls thus she’s missing out when games really should be open to all!), plus I’d have to buy a Motion Plus thingy which puts me off a bit having spent a fair bit to get Xenoblade Chronicles to its optimal level by buying a Classic Controller.

Batman: Arkham City – If I’d played the game everyone else seems to be raving about. I’m very near the end and I still don’t get the fuss! Much preferred the tight narrative of Arkham Asylum.

Old faithful award
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

OK, technically it’s a new game but it’s not really. We all know that MW3 is a rehash and upgrade of Black Ops which was a slight change away from MW2 which was a slight improvement on MW1. I like it though. Black Ops had a shocking single player campaign but MW3 is pretty good for the genre. Utterly ridiculous, sure, but that’s what I want from such a game. It’s like going to see a big blockbuster action film. Predictable yet fun.

These awards do miss out such gems as Forza 4, Battlefield 3 as well as surprises such as Sonic Generations, Driver: San Francisco and harsh mistresses like Dark Souls. Over Christmas I’ve been enjoying Super Mario 3D Land too despite its ridiculous title. I still maintain it’s been a good year for gaming rather than a great one though.

Something changed though. While World of Warcraft hooked me, it wasn’t actually the social element that did it. At first I played alongside a boyfriend of the time. When that fell apart, I quit WoW eventually returning and playing in a very antisocial manner. I still do every now and then in fact and really enjoy it. I never have the urge to join a guild and deal with the hassle of people. I enjoy the escapism.

I’m primarily an Xbox 360 gamer now and for quite a while, I haven’t gone near any multiplayer modes for any reason other than for reviewing purposes. The last time I played a Call of Duty or Gears of War game in multiplayer mode for fun was probably when Gears 2 first came out and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 appeared on the scene. Multiplayer just hasn’t really appealed in all that time.

Sometime over the Summer, I decided to try Black Ops in multiplayer again. It was a double exp weekend so I thought I’d have some fun. I was surprised how much fun I had in the end! Then at the start of September, I repurchased Gears 2 for £5 around the time that exp was at some ridiculously high rate. I had the house to myself and no work to do the day it arrived and MP was literally all I played or did from about 1pm to 8pm, excluding the odd food break. I loved it. Subsequently it was all I played for the week running up to Gears 3′s launch.

Now I find myself in a similar situation with Gears 3 thanks to it really hooking me. I think to an extent it’s because of the amount of stats it throws at me. I feel like I’m achieving something thanks to the flurry of ribbons and medals that are offered at the end of each game to represent something that you’ve accomplished. It somehow gives it more purpose and I appreciate that I’m heavily influenced by such things, even before the days of achievements.

I’m a huge story led games fan and that’ll never change. I suspect this is a bit of a fad really that will go once more for a while. I hope it sticks around throughout Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 though.

I’m wondering if the change of heart is to do with the silence. I swear when I used to play multiplayer a few years ago, no one would shut up over Xbox Live. Now everyone seems to be silent. I noticed it at first when reviewing Brink but I just put that down to the game’s community, but it seems to be the case with Gears 2 and 3 as well as Black Ops. No one talks any more. A shame really as it wrecks any chance of teamwork but it does mean I get to be an anti social multiplayer gamer at least!

At the start of the month, my motivation was extremely low. Real life things were to blame and things I won’t bother getting into here (sorry for the vagueness!). None of that truly cleared up until the day before I headed to Eurogamer Expo which was a bit problematic. Fortunately things all turned out OK in the end but it was a stressful time.

I had a fantastic time in London. Met some great people like ReidFeed, M_Fiori, Britishgaming and numerous others. Good to catch up with Sinan Kubba too who I’ve managed to not see since the last Eurogamer Expo despite vowing to make it sooner!

Also gained some much needed interviewing experience, namely by interviewing Peter Garza, Overseas Producer for Team Ninja. A nerve wracking time but I think it went well. Definitely would like more practice, hopefully in the future.

Over the past week, I’ve been struggling through Dark Souls. It’s a fiercely difficult game. Not in a cheap way by any means, just in a bloody hard way. It’s gained the dubious pleasure of being the only game to defeat me. It sounds potentially weak but I realised over the last few days that basically, I wasn’t going to manage to get far enough through it to review it fairly. It was a tough decision. Essentially it’s admitting weakness which no one likes doing! If I had 6 months to play it solidly, I’d be confident in reviewing it, even a month would have done. But there’s a strict time limit so I’m backing out. Hopefully people who have played the game will understand!

Film roundup to follow in a few days. It’s going to be a short one this month.

First of all, thanks to my complicated efforts in order to get hold of Xenoblade Chronicles on release day, I wrote about my experiences over at TheSixthAxis. I’m indebted to the features editor over there for allowing me to rant so readily! It was cathartic and excellent fun to write.

Entirely different form of writing comes my Vook game guide for Final Fantasy III. I wrote this up back in March/April and didn’t notice that it had gone up on iTunes until just now. While I don’t need a copy on my iPad for obvious reasons, I bought it anyhow just for posterity’s sake. It feels good to look in my iBook library and see something that I wrote!

Hopefully some other exciting links are coming up shortly too. Fingers crossed!

Actually it has….until tomorrow.

Tomorrow I’ll be buying Xenoblade Chronicles if I can find a copy (which seems to be not as easy as one would think as anyone who follows me on Twitter will have noticed today!).

Next Friday I’ll be buying Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

I have no excuse for Xenoblade Chronicles besides a sneaky suspicion that it’ll be a bugger to find in a few weeks time.

Deus Ex I’ve traded in a pile of games in order to buy it so it’s not actually costing me anything.

The pile of shame is still there too but it’s not quite as big. For one thing, I really couldn’t get into Dungeon Siege III or Alice: Madness Returns so they’re gone. I played half of Shadows of the Damned before realising that I was playing it for the sake of it and wasn’t that interested. Plus the trade in price was good. And Tiger Woods 12 is gone because it’s golf and I don’t like golf!

So yeah, partially failed but on the plus side, the pile is smaller. Swings and roundabouts and all that!

I’ve been working out the logistics for the Autumn based rush too. It’s scary. This is the potential list:

Gears of War 3 – The plan is to trade in some games for this. I’ve bought the two previous Gears games in my local Gamestation so I’ll probably do the same again this time round. Even went to a midnight launch of Gears of War 2 which made a change.

FIFA 12 and Forza 4 – Pondering asking for one or the other for my birthday. I’m fortunate that both my Mum and Aunt quite happily back my gaming habit and these both come out around my birthday. If not, these might have to be expendable as they should drop in price soon enough.

Batman: Arkham City – I’ll be finding money for this no matter what! Real must buy for me having loved Arkham Asylum so much. Originally I wanted the collector’s edition but it’s just so expensive for a fancy statue really.

Battlefield 3 – Another must buy. I might possibly trade in Gears 3 for this but we’ll see.

Uncharted 3, Modern Warfare 3, Assassin’s Creed Revelations – I’ve got a feeling one or more of these will have to wait till Christmas. No set plan yet for how to acquire these. Other than hope. Annoyingly Gamestation don’t take hope in exchange for games.

It’s going to be an expensive few months.

Also I’ve just realised I’ve forgotten Bubble Bobble in that list. I’m an idiot. Other than that, while the list’s order might change, I’m pretty happy with that selection. Deciding quickly has meant that I focused on the ones that I hold closest to my heart which seems fair.

1) Final Fantasy VII (1997, PS1)
2) Suikoden (1997, PS1)
3) Broken Sword (1996, PC)
4) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992, Megadrive)
5) Lords of Midnight (1984, C64)
6) Deus Ex (2000, PC)
7) Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993, Gameboy)
8 ) Streets of Rage 2 (1993, Megadrive)
9) Tetris (1986, Gameboy)
10) EverQuest (1999, PC)
11) Super Mario Land 3: Warioland (1994, Gameboy)
12) Wolfenstein 3D (1992, PC)
13) Football Manager (1984, C64)
14) Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (2000, PS1)
15) World of Warcraft (2005, PC)
16) BioShock (2007, 360)
17) Star Ocean 2 (2000, PS1)
18) Age of Empires (1997, PC)
19) Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010, Wii)
20) The Sims 3 (2009, PC)
21) Final Fantasy X (2001, PS2)
22) Uncharted 2 (2009, PS3)
23) Chrono Trigger (1995, SNES)
24) Fahrenheit (2005, PC)
25) Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, N64)

Best bump Zelda: Ocarina of Time in favour of Bubble Bobble then! Yes, really. Ok, maybe Fahrenheit instead. Damnit, Bubble Bobble needs to be in there somewhere! Hmm and Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday and Theme Park. Oh dear. Oh dear.

See that photo? See that huge pile of games? That’s my pile of shame at the moment. No, really.
Actually. It’s worse than that. That pile doesn’t include Tales of Vesperia (which I’ve re-acquired at last after buying it on Games on Demand thanks to a so called friend running off with my old copy), the bouts of Black Ops multiplayer that I’ve been enjoying again, Crackdown 2 with NokkonWud when he’s not ferrying people across the English Channel, the regular stream of games to review, finally 1king Enslaved, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit…..erm a whole stream of other games.

So yeah. This is essentially the most recent pile of shame and it’s precisely why I’m not buying any new games until September. Gears of War 3 day in fact. Yes that’s quite a way off but I did it before back in March and April. I can do it again. I only see one potential problem in this plan. It’s called Deus Ex: Human Revolution so will have to try to sweet talk someone into letting me review it for them!

Other than that, yeah I’ve got loads to do.

Let’s walk through this list individually:

Batman: Arkham Asylum: I’ve played and completed this before both on the PS3 and Xbox 360. I’ve got it on the PC too. Yes I quite like it. I want to complete all the collectible bits and pieces.

BioShock 2: Completed this on the PC and was a bit underwhelmed. Want to try it again but with the comfort of the 360 controller instead. Plus I bought the Minerva’s Den DLC and heard very good things of it.

Borderlands: Bought the DLC. Want to play it. Simple!

Crysis 2: A friend very kindly gave me this but I just can’t get into it. I really want to give it another shot!

DiRT3: It’s not as good as previous DiRT games. Too much emphasis on completing tricks when I just want to race. But I do enjoy it and a steady supply of achievements helps the achievement whore in me too.

Dungeon Siege III: Impulse buy! Got stuck quite early on and couldn’t work out how to do better so it’s been left behind a little. Really should try again.

GTAIV: I’ve never actually finished GTAIV but I picked up the DLC while it was on offer so this seems like a good time to go back to it.

L.A Noire: I’ve still got one more piece of DLC to finish plus I’d quite like to gain a few more achievements, if not the whole lot! It’s flawed as I’ve previously covered but I do enjoy it.

Metro 2033: Picked this up cheap. Been meaning to play it for a long time. So far the only person to have played it is the kid next door as he borrowed it from me for a bit! He liked it at least.

Rango: Actually this is getting into the realms of games I won! All the games below and including Rango are titles that I won in a Twitter competition. Very nice! In the case of Rango, I probably won’t play it. I’ve already played and completed it on the 360. It’s good fun. Maybe if I want some extra trophies.

Shadows of the Damned: Very keen to play this! Heard so many interesting things about it.

Bulletstorm: I’m not convinced my PC will run this Fortunately I’ve played and enjoyed it on the 360.

Alice: Madness Returns: Another one I’ve heard some interesting things about. I’ve not played the original either so two games in one for me.

Shift 2 Unleashed: I quite like racing games and I’ve been meaning to pick the first Shift game up for a while. Once DiRT3 is out of the way, I’ll move onto this.

Tiger Woods 12: Admittedly not convinced I’ll play this any time soon. Not played a ‘proper’ golf game since Microsoft Golf on a 486 PC! But might make a change.

So yeah. That’s a ridiculously hefty pile of shame. On with the backlog clearing!

I really liked L.A Noire. I must have. I’ve played it through twice, got the vast majority of achievements (935 points and I’ve yet to play the latest DLC) and it didn’t feel like a chore by any means. This is a pretty rare feat for me these days. That’s not to say that L.A Noire isn’t ridiculously flawed. It is, quite hugely so in fact.

I’ll assume from now on that readers have finished the game or have no interest in completing it so excuse any spoilers. They’re neccessary.

The main problem lies in the storyline. It’s just not dark enough and it lacks atmosphere. Richard Cobbett summed it up better than I could on his blog but it’s a big problem. Nothing feels mean enough on L.A Noire’s streets. Everything feels so regimented. There’s no randomness, not even the slightest of muggings or dodgy goings on down a back alley. Nothing. Instead it feels like a reskinned Liberty City which makes sense considering it’s a Rockstar game.

The character you play, Cole Phelps, offers absolutely no personality whatsoever. There’s a glimmer of depth the further you get into the game but it never feels like enough. He shows no emotion whatsoever throughout questioning a suspect for instance, he’s just cold and robotic.

Which brings me neatly to interrogations. Aargh. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what option you choose as all it affects is how many stars you get at the end of the mission. The consequences just aren’t there. Plus, a little like Mass Effect before it, Cole will blurt out things with no sense of compassion or tact. It’s all so shallow.

Searching crime scenes is similarly shallow. Yes you can turn off the chimes and helping hands side of things but who actually did that? Exactly. Something like Broken Sword’s style of doing things would have been wonderful here but it’s all so limited yet again. I want to make mistakes and I want to suffer the consequences, not feel like I’m stuck on rails.

There are some actual puzzles that work quite well, especially near the end but there’s still too much hand holding. My favourite case was the one where you have to drive around the city solving riddles. Exactly what I wanted from the entire game, but shoved into one relatively brief case.

The cases themselves feel too focused on ‘search crime scene, go question the husband, go to another place, search that, then chase someone, interrogate and done’. I’m not convinced they strictly were but they felt like they were, such was the repetitiveness.

There’s one sequence right near the end where you’re running from a bulldozer chasing after you. The bulldozer inevitably crashes. You go to question the driver, right? Wrong. You can’t. You can’t even check the body (assuming they’re dead and that’s why you can’t question them). You just run off. WHY?! Damn you linear game pretending to be something you’re not. *shakes fist*

The controls are diabolical too but much to be expected from a Rockstar game. The driving is rather dodgy and there’s too much emphasis on instadeath sequences, and everyone hates those. EVERYONE.

The Uncharted style sequences and chase scenes are daft because Cole runs bizarrely and seems to like banging into things a la Tomb Raider circa 1996. One part requires Cole to swing a chandelier repeatedly to leap off. It’s broken. Utterly broken. I’m not the only one to have struggled with it. I ranted on Twitter at the time and a flurry of people agreed with me that it was flawed.

So why did I keep playing? Well…it’s still the best at what it attempts to be. If you like 1940s detective stories, you’re a bit stumped for games. Heavy Rain was hugely flawed but it was still good at what it did, mostly because no one else had tried it before.

I’m happy to support L.A Noire in the hope that other developers will do something similar but improve upon it. At least it’s tried to do something different instead of just being Grand Theft Auto all over a-bloody-again.

The soundtrack is worth a nod too – it’s fantastic. It reminds me of my childhood so that helps. My Dad used to listen to all that music so it was always playing in the house and I’ve been to a few jazz concerts during my younger years.

The end also does a great job of tying up (most) loose ends and feels satisfying.

That’s some weak justification of why I liked it but that’s exactly why I’m pleased I’m not reviewing it. Because I don’t have to be objective. I can just rant instead.