vgZero Top 5's - Greatest Video Game Endings

vgZero Top 5's - Greatest Video Game Endings

The Guinness Book of Records recently posted the results of a poll for the greatest video game endings, but this caused many people to question themselves. What makes a great video game ending? Is it purely story related? Or does it need to live up to some personal expectations with what it contains? There are no doubt many of you out there that have various different games with endings that you enjoy. So we've decided to get a few of us together and to compile some 'Top 5's' as far as endings go, no spoilers of course! So without further ado, let's dive right in.

Nathen's Top 5 Mother 3 (2006, GBA)Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010 / 2011 , PSP / PS3 / X360)Shadow of the Colossus (2005 / 2011 , PS2 / PS3)Heavy Rain (2010 , PS3)Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009 , PS3)
Ryan's Top 5 Mother 3 (2006, GBA)Red Dead Redemption (2010, PS3 / X360)Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (2008, PSP)Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009, PS3)Heavy Rain (2010, PS3)
Mike's Top 5 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004 / 2011 / 2012, PS2 / PS3 / X360 / 3DS)Red Dead Redemption (2010, PS3 / X360)Shadow of the Colossus (2005 / 2011, PS2 / PS3)Mass Effect 2 (2010 / 2011, PC / X360 / PS3)Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (2005 / 2010, PS2 / GCN / XB / PC / PS3)
James' Top 5 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004 / 2011 / 2012, PS2 / PS3 / X360 / 3DS)Red Dead Redemption (2010, PS3 / X360)Shadow of the Colossus (2005 / 2011 , PS2 / PS3)Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003 / 2010, GCN / PS2 / XB / PS3 / X360)Halo: Reach (2010, X360)
Kyran's Top 5 Silent Hill 2 (2001 / 2012, PS2 / XB / PC / PS3 / X360)Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004 / 2011 / 2012, PS2 / PS3 / X360 / 3DS)Final Fantasy VII (1997, PSX / PC)Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009, PS3)Heavy Rain (2010, PS3)
So, there you have it. Those are just some of our favourite video game endings, but what about you? What video game endings did you really enjoy? Maybe you thought that Metal Gear Solid 2 tops Metal Gear Solid 3 or maybe games that weren't mentioned at all should get some recognisation. Additionally, what makes a game's ending great for you? It doesn't always have to be the result of a great plot, sometimes the right pieces fall into place at the end of a game.

Additionally, you can click here to check out the results from the Guiness poll, but be prepared for frustration!

Written by: Kyran Morrison

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RE: vgZero Top 5's - Greatest Video Game Endings
I feel like you can never have a true "top XXXXXX in gaming" because everyone has their own opinions on their own favorite genre of gaming. Unless a person really is diverse in their gaming, you'll have people voting for the games that fall into the genre they play. Call of Duty and Halo? How many of those votes are actually for the endings, and not just for the game because a person voting loves playing the FPS games more than, say, Zelda, which they've never played?

Personally, I like endings that throw a wrench into things, regardless of genre. Not a wrench like in LA Noire, but more like in God of War 3. Not saying GoW3 had the best ending ever, but it was a twist that made me go "wait, wtf? ooooh, well, it makes complete sense to do that." I dislike the happy endings that make no sense with the plot of the entire game, and I dislike endings that go nowhere with the story. I've never really played through the Metal Gear series, Red Dead Redemption, and never been a fan of the Halo or Call of Duty franchises.

Do they have awesome endings? Possibly, but if I were to vote, I wouldn't vote for them because I never really bothered with them. I'd vote for games I liked to play. That being said, I can't really say that any ending pops into my head as being "the best thing I've ever seen." Portal's was memorable, Zelda's is traditional and gives a sense of achievement, Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed leave me wanting more of the story in the next installment. Are any of them better than the others? It's hard to really say.

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RE: vgZero Top 5's - Greatest Video Game Endings
Mine should be on there.

In no order
Abobos big adventure - New best ending ever
GOD HAND - Best ending tune ever
Mario brothers 2 (Doki doki panic) - Nothing takes the piss more than a "It was all a dream" ending.
Gameboy camera - Yes a very crappy camera has a ending and its bloody unexpected and a bit daft.
Earthworm Jim 2 - COWS! Could also put 1 here

Just outside
Freecell - Windows.
We love Katamari - ROLL UP THE UNIVERSE!
Zelda Skyward sword - See I do recent as well
Duke Nukem 3D - ITS A GOAL!
Ryus in Street fighter 2 - Just for the trolling
Tempest 2000 hard mode - Totally awesome, with reflex's like that you should be a fighter pilot. Now sit own and have several cups of tea.
Streets of rage 3 - Them pictures of Blaze can do things to a teenagers pants
Hokuto no ken (PS2) - "In this life. I HAVE NO REGRETS!!" (Blows up)
Alex Kid in Miracle world - After playing this game to the end you feel like this is the best thing ever

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RE: vgZero Top 5's - Greatest Video Game Endings
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vgZero Top 10 - Dumbest Video Game Publicity Stunts

This week Electronic Arts launched a publicity stunt for the highly-anticipated Mass Effect 3 by releasing a very limited number of weather balloons carrying copies of the game into space and allowing fans to hunt for the early copies once they land back on Earth. Cool idea, harmless fun, right? That's far more than we can say for these other ridiculous publicity stunts.

10. Dante's Inferno
There's always some level of controversy surrounding especially violent and mature-themed video games, though like most other forms of media, the large-scale public outcries are largely a thing of the past. Electronic Arts seems to pine for the old days when protests and petitions gave violent games some free added publicity, so they decided to do one themselves. The publisher hired actors to stage a protest outside of the LA Convention Center at E3 in 2009, supposedly disgusted with the Satanic themes that would be featured in the forthcoming title Dante's Inferno. The protesters carried signs that read things like "trade in your playstation for a praystation" and "EA = Electronic Anti-Christ" and even attracted some attention from media outlets. Once the protest was revealed to be a PR stunt, most agreed that the scheme was in poor taste and, ironically enough, it annoyed some religious groups that EA would portray them in such a derogatory manner as a means of publicity.

9. Resident Evil 5
In celebration of the release of Resident Evil 5 in 2009, Capcom decided to give away a trip to Africa, the game's primary setting. A reasonable enough idea on its own, but the manner in which they gave away the trip could have been handled a lot better. The company spread out severed prosthetic limbs covered in fake blood and chicken livers around London, encouraging participants to find the body parts and take them to the Westminster Bridge, hold them in the air, and yell out "kijuju!" to win their way to Africa. Besides the fact that it is likely to freak out other passers-by unaware of the competition, several of the limbs went missing prompting Capcom to release a statement calling for people to dispose of them "carefully" (a severed arm or head in a garbage can might attract some unwanted attention) or to return them. Furthermore, there were some concerns over the potentially harmful effects of bacteria contained within the chicken livers if ingested. Despite numerous complaints from residents, Capcom was not charged for their stupidity.

8. Mafia Wars
Even free-to-play games need publicity, but they should be more thoughtfully considered than Zynga's marketing ploy for Mafia Wars in 2010. The company glued dozens of fake $25,000 bills to sidewalks in San Francisco, which may have induced some hilarity for the developer as skeptical citizens made futile attempts to pick up the fraudulent bank notes. The city's public works department was not amused, however, as it took time, staff, and a steam cleaner to remove the fake bills. The city billed Zynga for the clean-up, ordered that any and all information regarding who and what was involved in the marketing ploy be handed over, and pursued legal action against the company for street vandalism.

7. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
The Venezuela-based Electronic Arts 2008 game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames uses fuel as currency, so the publisher tied this concept into a kind marketing gesture whereby the company would have employees dressed up as militants at a London gas station distribute up to £40 of free fuel to each lucky customer. While the event sent hundreds of extremely happy motorists away with a full tank of free gas, it left hundreds more extremely angry motorists caught in the chaos and gridlock that ensued from the promotion. Eventually police had to shut the operation down due to its adverse effects on traffic flow and a local member of Parliament demanded an apology.

6. Red Faction: Guerrilla
There are certainly a lot of video games that encourage players to commit criminal acts, but it is usually with the recognition of the idea that such acts are not to be carried out after they're done playing. In 2009 though, THQ basically rewarded people willing to commit a crime with free copies of Red Faction: Guerrilla. The company placed 100 copies of the game in a parked car on a street in London, and chained a shiny new sledge hammer nearby. Those with little enough moral integrity to smash out the windows of the car would be welcome to take a copy (or 100) of the game for themselves. Though there are pictures (like the one below) of people committing the act, there are also suspicions as to whether THQ purposely got the party started themselves with one of their own.

5. Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Speaking of encouraging people to commit crimes, Acclaim utilized a similarly stupid marketing ploy for Burnout 2: Point of Impact. To raise awareness of the release of the game on October 11, 2002, the publisher offered to pay for any speeding fines issued in the UK on that day. Obviously the government and law enforcement officials were not amused by the prospect of giving millions of motorists a free pass to drive recklessly fast for a day, so the plan was cancelled before it could be put into action.

4. God of War 2
The God of War series is recognized as one of the most gruesomely violent franchises in the industry, but nobody really expected Sony to translate this theme into a real-world event. In addition to topless women and a live snake pit, a 2007 God of War 2 launch party held in Athens featured a freshly decapitated goat that was stuffed with warm offal meant to resemble the animal's intestines and encouraged attendees to compete to see who could eat the most innards. While the event was disturbing enough in and of its own, Sony then ran pictures of the event in the Official PlayStation Magazine with the goat's bloodied head that dangled from the body pixelated to spare readers from the obscenity. After some public outrage, particularly from animal welfare groups, Sony recalled 80,000 issues of the magazine featuring the images and issued an official apology.

3. Homefront
Foresight apparently isn't a characteristic a lot video game companies take under consideration when hiring their marketing departments. As a publicity stunt for the much-hyped shooter Homefront in 2011, publisher THQ released 10,000 red balloons carrying GameStop promotions for the game from the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, which the company said would "simulate a method used by South Korea to send messages of hope to the North" in the game. Just a few blocks away though lay the beloved San Francisco Bay, which soon became covered with thousands of the balloons when wind and rain and pushed them in that direction, prompting concerns of environmental damage. Though THQ reassured upset citizens that the balloons were bio-degradable, the littered bay became an eyesore and the company hired a crew to clean up the debris.

2. ShadowMan 2
Hordes of terrible games may have contributed the most to Acclaim's demise, but we'll add a lack of basic morals to the list of reasons as well. In 2002 the company showed great kindness by offering grieving families some financial help with burial costs - all they had to do was allow Acclaim to desecrate the grave of their loved ones by putting an advertisement for ShadowMan 2 on the gravestone. The publisher attempted to justify the marketing ploy by suggesting that they would be assisting "poorer families" with their financial burdens. In addition to being incredibly immoral, it is illegal to advertise outdoors without a permit and there are laws against desecration as well.

1. Splinter Cell: Conviction
We're not sure how holding up a bar at gunpoint relates to Ubisoft's 2010 game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction, nor can we discern what kind of moronic marketing group would think this to be a good way to promote a game or anything else, but someone managed to pull it all together. A man with his hands wrapped in bandages showed up to a bar in Auckland, New Zealand and pulled out a realistic-looking fake gun and began threatening terrified patrons, sending them diving for cover. After a few tense moments once the police showed up, it was realized that the gun was a fake and that the whole scene was publicity stunt for the new Splinter Cell game. The police called the promotion "ill-advised" and the marketing company behind the event issued an apology saying, "It was just marketing gone wrong." It's frightening to consider how many different ways this idea could have ended in tragedy under slightly different circumstances.

Written by: Mike Glubish

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[GOTY] vgZero 2011 Awards - Biggest Surprise & Disappointment

Biggest Surprise

Winner - Dead Island

The video game industry is one of the more diverse entertainment industries and through this the market has a wider range of products and often you'll find something unexpected making its way into your life. Often games will get denied at first by the consumer whether it be down to returning to a classic franchise which had a less than stellar previous outing or perhaps the game might be retreading an overused idea. This award is for the game that offered unexpected brilliance and 2011 was a strong year for surprises. Indie developers got into the act with Bastian which for a small digital-distribution title it offered fantastic writing and voice work to match its unique art style and classic isometric gameplay. Some games were expected to be good but ended up surprising everyone by blowing away all expectations like The Witcher 2 which was one of the best PC (and soon to be 360) titles in years thanks to it's beautiful visuals of a rich fantasy world along side a much more refined gameplay system than its predecessor. There were several more modest titles that rose above expectations such as Shadows of the Damned which while liking polish had great writing and was incredibly fun - a quality often forgot about in modern games. Ultimately there can only be one winner and that is of course Dead Island a game revealed several years ago that fell off the radar and became close to vaporware but made a triumphant return with an emotional CG trailer that brought the game back to the lime light. Dead Island surprised not only by being developed by a relatively small Polish developer (Techland) famed for budget racing titles and the first-person western franchise Call of Juarez but by also taking the much-used 'zombie' scenario in a new direction. Not only was the game set on a tropical island but it was also sandbox allowing you to explore freely and even took cues from Left 4 Dead and had 4 player co-op. Featuring RPG mechanics and a quest log system added depth to the game and aided the experience by giving you more control over the development of your character but also more freedom to do what you please on the island. Dead Island was the best selling new IP of 2011, and with good reason too.

Runner up - Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex was one of the greatest games of all time, the sequel Invisible War... not so much. Fans had a right to be skeptical over future games thanks to the flop sequel but after the franchise laid dormant for 8 years the prequel Human Revolution released and put fans' minds to ease as it blew away expectations. Eidos offered an experience that was close, if not on par, with the legendary original. Deep skill-trees, you decide how to tackle every situation from a variety of options, well written... the list goes on. We agree that Human Revolution was a better game than Dead Island but this is about the biggest surprise and while Human Revolution met skepticism Dead Island was the bigger shock.

Biggest Disappointment

Winner (Loser) - Dragon Age II

Now if we flip the coin we see that not every game can be a winner. Some games just fail to meet up to fan demands or critical expectation. Game of Thrones: Genesis was a strong contender purely because of the hugely popular book and tv series it is based upon but unfortunately it was a rushed under-developed tie-in and fans had to look else where to get their fix. Some games are just unfortunate enough to be shooting above their own weight, as was the case with Homefront. The game was hyped up to be a challenger to genre leaders Battlefield and Modern Warfare but released with a whimper, the game did find some love though as our reviewer fell in love with the game and it managed to develop a small but devoted following and established the foundations to be built upon. Some games shoot heavily under their weight and this was evident more than ever in 2011. id Software's first full game since 2004's Doom 3 was met with lukewarm reception, Rage was hyped not only because of the new technology being used but because of id's first-person shooter pedigree. The game faced numerous bugs at launch and was overall infuriatingly average. On the contrary Uncharted 3 released to critical acclaim and was widely praised as an excellent game but fans couldn't help to feel disappointed as instead of a huge increase in quality as seen in the jump from 1 to 2 the third game was equal to the second, if a little worse. It just goes to show that no matter how good a franchise is when it plateaus... it's still stagnation. However one game was more disappointing than the rest and by quite some distance and hits a lot of the targets mentioned above. Acclaimed developer? Check. A sequel to a widely praised title? Check. Hype? Check. Dragon Age II had a high bar of expectation and it fell well below. Bioware met heavy criticism for their changes to the sequel. The art style wasn't particularly unique or good looking, it just came across as lazy and ugly. The first game wasn't particularly a looker but it featured a lot more detail and still passed off as a respectable looking modern game for its scope. The deep combat system of the first was cut down heavily, party control and the control of the protagonist was limited as it became more action based than strategy. The game had a much smaller scope than the first by being more linear, featuring less speech and less quests, more repetition, and by losing the unique varied opening scenarios the first game had. It was a backwards step in every way. Dragon Age II managed to lose fans of the first game, lose fans of Bioware and turned away potential new customers. Let's hope Dragon Age III corrects these faults and returns to the style of the original or finds a happy median.

Runner up - Rage

Rage wasn't a bad game. The problem was it was incredibly average and was coming from a legendary developer after 7 years of work. The game looked good but the new technology wasn't incredibly impressive and upon release had a lot of visual bugs. The world was bland and the gun play was boring. The game had potential but unfortunately fell well short of greatness.

Stay tuned as we still have more super well respected awards to dish out to the best developer, publisher, trailer and more!

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vgZero Top 10 - Best Video Game Commercials

Video game ads on TV are becoming almost as commonplace as Hollywood movie commercials these days, as you no doubt experienced over the Holiday season when you were bombarded by ads from big-budget games and game companies competing for the right to your hard-earned dollars every time you watched your favourite shows. Much like movie commercials though, the vast majority of them are pretty uninspired and forgettable. Once in a while though, an ad campaign emerges through some real creativity and turns into something really memorable. Here are ten video game commercials that rose above the call of duty (pun not intended) to deliver something really special.

10. Super Smash Bros.
Nintendo had no idea the kind of success it was going to have on its hands with the Super Smash Bros. franchise. The company known for its guarded, kid-friendly stance on games sure surprised us when it decided to make a game that brought several its most famous characters together to beat the crap out of each other, and that sentiment couldn't have been more perfectly demonstrated than in this commercial for the N64 original.

9. Sega Saturn - Segata Sanshiro
The Sega Saturn was a commercial failure, selling fewer than 10 million units its lifetime. In fact, you probably wouldn't be wrong in suggesting that the Saturn's failure played a key role in driving Sega out of the hardware business. Regardless, after watching this ad campaign starring some sort of Saturn-obsessed superhero Judo master though (Japanese Chuck Norris?), I think we can all agree that the console's failure to move consoles could have had nothing to do with Sega's marketing techniques in Japan.

8. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time pretty much marketed itself, you know being one of greatest video games ever created and all. Its fitting then that the game had one of the coolest commercials ever to accompany its release, showing off many of the game's coolest moments to an epic musical score and even taunting viewers in Ye Olde English. It's no surprise that Nintendo used the commercial again 13 years later for the release of Ocarina of Time 3D in 2011.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Speaking of Zelda on the N64, Majora's Mask is known for being the darkest and most serious entry in the series, and this commercial evokes the atmosphere of the game perfectly. The bead of sweat dripping off the player's eyebrow probably exemplifies the kind of stress and intensity a lot of players felt as they struggled to fit all their actions into that looming 3-day window. Watching this ad again just intensifies our hope that the game makes it onto the 3DS soon too!

6. Halo: Reach - "Deliver Hope"
While Halo fans wait patiently (or not so patiently) for the Hollywood movie adaptation that will probably never happen, Bungie has been teasing them with some top-notch live-action ads that began with Halo 3: ODST and culminated in this awesome commercial for Halo: Reach. The short minute-long sequence manages to effectively tell a story that is a microcosm of the emotional ride that players would experience in Bungie's excellent final Halo game, no small feat for a brief TV spot.

5. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Maybe it's because the Zelda series is so highly regarded that its marketing team feels it can step outside the box to deliver some really unique advertisements, demonstrating the fact that this is the third Zelda commercial on our list. Wind Waker was endlessly scrutinized and even criticized for its new cartoony visual style, but even critics of the cel-shaded graphics couldn't help but be impressed by this darker narrated commercial that demonstrated that the series had not lost its sense of story during the transition and that the gameplay would be as epic as ever.

4. Gears of War - "Mad World"
If you've played Gears of War, you know by now that at no point during the game is the fear and emotion conveyed by this famous commercial ever demonstrated within the story. That doesn't make the advertisement any less effective though, evidenced by the fact that the "Mad World" song played in the commercial instantly became a hit again in 2006 when it first aired, and the emotional tone and music became a staple for numerous trailers for Gears 2 and 3 as well thanks to the popularity of the original.

3. Metroid: Other M
We can sit here and argue all day about why we feel Other M was a success or a failure, and we probably would if you got us started (so don't get us started). Be that as it may, few would argue the awesomeness of this commercial for the game, a beautiful combination of music, live-action, CG, and gameplay that conveys the game's plot perhaps more effectively than the game itself.

2. PlayStation 3 - "Michael"
After the Kevin Butler series of PlayStation 3 ads ran its course, Sony's marketing team had to come up with a worthy follow-up campaign. Enter the "Long Live Play" moniker and this unforgettable commercial that is an homage to hardcore gamers everywhere. Even the most avid observer would have to watch this ad repeatedly to pick out all the game references, culminating in your favourite game characters raising their glasses to toast you, Mr. PS3 owner. Casual gamers may not see the appeal of the commercial quite the same, but this is fan service at its absolute best.

1. Halo 3 - "Believe"
As if Halo 3 needed much of a marketing effort. The fact that the game was the first entry in one of the industry's most popular franchises on the Xbox 360 would have been enough to make it one of the biggest game launches in history on its own. Leave it to Bungie though to still come up with this incredibly unique and artistic ad for the game that, Halo fan or not, had to give you goosebumps. There isn't one second of gameplay or storytelling in this commercial, so the fact that it tops our list is testament to how well-made and memorable it is. The average non-gamer wouldn't have a clue of what the game is like, but even they would have to be intrigued after watching this video.

Written by: Mike Glubish

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[GOTY] vgZero 2011 Awards - Sound & Visuals

[GOTY] vgZero 2011 Awards - Sound & Visuals
While Mike has been filling you in on what is in store for the year ahead I don't think we should forget about 2011 just yet. It was a hell of a year and it deserves some recognition as one of the best years in gaming ever, it had everything from highly anticipated sequels such as Skyrim along side fresh new titles like L.A. Noire as well as new platform releases in the 3DS and Vita. We got our first look at the next generation when Nintendo revealed the Wii-U and rumors have started to surface about the next Xbox and the Playstation 4 but rather than dwell on the future possibilities let's get back to the past and present to hand out some much coveted vgZero Awards (Personally I'd say we're up there with the Emmys, but more respectable). After much deliberation we've reached a conclusion and in the coming days you'll see the results, just don't expect teabagging and a game trailer every 3 minutes. Here's part one, enjoy! Best Visuals
Year on year we see a vast improvement in visuals in the gaming industry. Developers use a number of methods, such as giving the art team a larger role giving us gorgeous looking lands as displayed in games like The Witcher 2 or perhaps by trying a different quirky style like Nintendo used in Skyward Sword - what it lacks in polygons it makes up for in personality. However this year the best looking game came down to pure technological achievement and is none other than Battlefield 3. DICE pushed the bar higher than anyone else this year by not only delivering the best looking PC game to date but also translating the spectacle straight onto consoles with a stellar porting effort. It's hard not to be taken aback when first seeing Battlefield 3 on its highest settings, from the lighting to the textures it all just screams excellence and can easily be compared to the waves the original Crysis made back in 2007. Speaking of Crysis the sequel to the visual powerhouse released in 2011 too and while the game didn't disappoint in the visual department it didn't set the bar far above anything else like its predecessor did. Battlefield 3 took that honor this year.

Runner up
Coming in second is no shame, nor would coming in 17th and that is a testament to the strength of the competition this year. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception delivered the next best visual experience without the benefit of the higher-end technology DICE had at their disposal for the PC market as Naughty Dog again showed how they're at the forefront of PS3 development.

Best Sound
Audio is often under appreciated within games yet it is something that can make or break an experience as demonstrated by Bastion in 2011 - not to say the gameplay is bad, it's far from it, but the narration throughout is splendid and neatly guides the game forward. Often licensed songs can provide a better experience, like with Saints Row: The Third taking its cue from Grand Theft Auto with in-game radio stations and one moment in particular with two characters singing along as you drive provided me with a hearty laugh. Sometimes a breath taking orchestral score provides the game with an added slice of excitement like in Skyrim which gives it a sense of grandeur. The best audio this year came from a game that had an average original sound track and voice acting that wasn't out of the ordinary. Battlefield 3 excelled in its audio design for the in-game sounds and make the experience really nail the feeling of immersion and this more than makes up for original music and voice acting. The sound of every bullet that pings past, the sound of the jets soaring above or the rough noise of the tank as it navigates the rocky terrain to deliver a round that causes a deafening explosion near by. You don't need high-end headphones to enjoy it either as even through your TV speakers you'll get a stellar audio experience.

Runner up
In a game that aims to not only create tension for the player to evoke fear but to also create scenes of sudden urgency and panic you need a good audio team. Visceral Games has just that and more. In 2008 they released Dead Space to acclaim and in 2011 they hit it out the park with the sequel, Dead Space 2. The game manages to create both terror in paranoia with foot steps and feint screams but also panic when being chased by a mob of hideous screaming necromorphs as the music reaches a crescendo. The sound is an integral part of the experience and it excels at its role.

Check back next time when I'll take a look at the biggest surprise of the year and the most disappointing, and no Battlefield 3 doesn't win every award... I promise.

Written by: James Stevenson

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RE: [GOTY] vgZero 2011 Awards - Sound & Visuals
Tbh, these days I'd say there're two sub-categories in "good visuals"

There's the pursuit of perfect realism, which these days is only really attainable in mega-budget FPS games such as Battlefield or Crysis.

and the Artistically amazing/clever graphics, such as is more often found in indie games.

Case in point, last year VVVVVV was probably one of my favourite games graphically, but there's no way it'd go up against anything made in the past few decades for good graphics in the classic sense.

either way, since I've not been the elitist PC gamer for a while - Crysis 1 still remains unbeaten for graphics IMO (Although BF3 came close, maybe next year), so my favourite visuals for 2011 would probably be Minecraft, Bastion or Limbo.

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vgZero Top 10 - Best GameCube Games

On November 18th we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the launch of the GameCube. Despite its shortcomings, the Cube undeniably provided some incredible experiences, so to honor this milestone we attempted to pull together a list of our top ten titles to grace Nintendo's little purple box of entertainment.

10. Luigi's Mansion
For the first time in Nintendo’s history of home video game consoles, the GameCube did not have a Mario game at launch. Instead, Nintendo opted to hand the torch to brother Luigi for his first starring role in a video game and he bore the burden remarkably well. Luigi’s Mansion was quite a dramatic departure from the brothers’ traditional platforming roots, instead plunging the cowardly plumber into a light-hearted romp through a haunted mansion. In search of his missing brother, Luigi takes up a flashlight, his "Game Boy Horror", and the “Poltergust 3000”, a vacuum pack capable of capturing ghosts, and reluctantly treads his way through the mansion’s many rooms. Luigi’s Mansion provided a strong showcase for the graphics capabilities of the Cube, and the innovative gameplay and clever puzzles provided a strong foundation for one of the GameCube’s finest launch titles. Perhaps most appealing though was the game’s amusing atmosphere, particularly Luigi’s adorable cowardly cries for Mario in his most dire situations. Thankfully, Luigi’s Mansion will finally get a much-deserved sequel on the 3DS next year, 11 years after the original provided one of the first compelling reasons to own a GameCube.

9. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Retro Studios stunned Metroid fans and newcomers alike with the amazing Metroid Prime (more on that one higher up on our list), but with that success came great expectations for the game’s sequel a couple of years later. Echoes featured a very similar gameplay formula to the first game, however it was infused with a clever new mechanic to keep the sequel feeling fresh. The planet Aether (the setting for Echoes) featured two alternate dimensions, a light and a dark dimension. Light Aether was the planet in its normal state, but Dark Aether possessed a poisonous atmosphere that could only be withstood with a special suit, as well as harboring a menacing alien race known as the Ing that were capable of reanimating the dead. It was in this dark dimension that Samus would also encounter her own evil counterpart, Dark Samus. The action-adventure gameplay was just as tight and enjoyable as in the first game, if not even more refined and enhanced through the game's light/dark world theme and Samus' corresponding light and dark beam weapons, and the game’s graphics were among the best in the industry at the time. Much to the delight of the hardcore GameCube crowd, Echoes provided one of the more challenging experiences on the Cube as well. We can also thank Metroid Prime 2 for giving us what has to be the coolest of all of Samus’ suits: the uber-sexy Light Suit. Let's just forget about those tacked on multiplayer features...

8. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
When Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty hit the PlayStation 2 in 2001, it sure made the legendary 1998 PlayStation-exclusive title Metal Gear Solid feel rather dated. Enter Silicon Knights, a talented development studio with an affinity for the Metal Gear Solid franchise, the first game in particular. After receiving Konami’s grace, the developer went to work on a GameCube-exclusive port of the critically-acclaimed first game. The Twin Snakes was not your average port though, featuring overhauled graphics, re-recorded voice work, newly written and directed cut-scenes, and some new features originally introduced into MGS2, such as the first-person mode and improved enemy AI. The transformation was executed wonderfully, and the magic of the original game was translated to the next generation remarkably well. The graphics looked even better than in MGS2, and the original’s unforgettable story was masterfully told through the gripping new cut scenes and fantastic voiceovers while remaining faithful to the source material. It’s hard to imagine that a remake of a masterpiece could be realized any better.

7. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
It’s fitting that Eternal Darkness was the first Mature-rated video game to be published directly by Nintendo, as it truly carried the company’s tradition of excellence. Coming from relatively unknown developer Silicon Knights, Eternal Darkness offered a unique take on the psychological horror genre. The story followed a number of people living in various time periods spanning hundreds of years as they use a magical book called the Tome of Eternal Darkness in an attempt to impede the summoning of an ancient evil that would feast on the souls of all the living. The game featured twelve playable characters as they fought against grotesque creatures while struggling to stave off their own descent into insanity, ranging from a 12th century Cambodian slave girl to an 18th century doctor in colonial Rhode Island to a World War I field reporter and a modern-day Canadian firefighter. The story and its many settings and characters were fascinating, and each chapter featured weapons unique to its respective setting and time period with which players were encouraged to defeat enemies by targeting specific limbs, as well as utilizing a variety of “Magick” spells. The game is perhaps most well-known for its trademark “sanity effects” that occurred when the character’s sanity meter became empty from encountering too many otherworldly foes without destroying them appropriately. These sanity effects messed with the character and player’s minds by manufacturing creepy background sounds like heavy footsteps or a child crying, bleeding walls, sudden apparent deaths, or finding themselves inexplicably walking on the ceiling. Sometimes they even messed directly with the player’s mind with fake “Game Over” screens, abruptly shutting off the screen, or displaying a message that the controller had become unplugged. The innovation and unique story provided an unforgettable experience exclusive to the GameCube and unfortunately one of the most criminally overlooked games of all time.

6. Super Mario Sunshine
Mario took a nice, long holiday after his mega-hit launch Nintendo 64 launch title Super Mario 64, much to the chagrin of Nintendo fans. When the long-awaited follow-up was revealed over 5 years later, fans were quite alarmed about the radical changes being made to Nintendo’s venerable mascot. Most of the series’ recognizable enemies were gone along with the expected settings for traditional Mario platformers, making way for a tropical paradise setting called Isle Delfino. Even more surprising was that Mario would be relying on more than his own platforming prowess to defeat baddies and traverse the game’s environments with addition of FLUDD (Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device), a water pack attached to Mario’s back for the duration of most of the game. FLUDD gave Mario the ability to clean up graffiti, hover in midair, rocket himself high into the air, gain additional sprinting speed, and to defeat baddies. The dramatic changes proved to be skin-deep however, as players discovered that Super Mario Sunshine continued the franchise’s tradition of platforming excellence thanks to the usual ingenious level design and smart implementation of FLUDD. It may not have been exactly the Mario game fans were looking for, but it was nonetheless one of the best games on GameCube and absolutely worthy of Mario's rich history.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Most people will remember Twilight Princess as a Wii launch title, but the game was, in fact, built from the ground up for the GameCube. Zelda fanboys openly wept tears of joy while millions of others rejoiced in a much more sensible manner when the game was first revealed at E3 in 2004, sporting a more realistic Zelda that hearkened back to the style of the excellent N64 games that preceded the cartoony Wind Waker in 2003. The response eventually proved to be warranted after an agonizing two-and-a-half year wait, as Twilight Princess offered not only an enormous and beautiful world, but unparalleled gameplay that held true to the classic Zelda formula. TP took on a rather dark tone, forcing Link to traverse not only the sprawling Hyrule landscape, but also the eerie twilight realm where he would assume the form of a wolf. The huge game world was filled with many interesting locations and fun things to do in addition to the nine primary dungeons, giving players dozens upon dozens of hours of classic Zelda gameplay. Twilight Princess is also recognized as offering one of the deepest and most gripping stories yet seen in a Zelda game, told through numerous enthralling cut scenes. Though it may be remembered as the perfect introduction to the Wii, Twilight Princess should not be forgotten as a phenomenal send-off to the GameCube.

4. Resident Evil 4
The GameCube was not rich with either big third-party games or M-rated titles, but thanks to Capcom owners got the best of both worlds with Resident Evil 4. RE4 represented a re-imagining of the classic Resident Evil gameplay, shedding the series’ trademark bewildering controls and zombie-infested corridors. The fourth game would adopt a behind-the-shoulder perspective, something that was not common at the time but has since become a staple design in many shooters, as well as moving to a rural European setting, quite unusual for the franchise, where protagonist Leon Kennedy would attempt to rescue the US President’s daughter from her kidnappers. Upon arrival in a creepy village, Leon discovers that the residents have become inexplicably irrational and violent. The Los Ganados, as they would come to be called, were far more intelligent foes than the brainless zombies veteran RE players were used to fighting against, making even more formidable and disturbing foes. The new perspective suited the game perfectly, and though some claim that a certain degree of the series’ survival horror roots seemed to have been lost in the transition, Resident Evil 4 still had a delightfully unsettling atmosphere with some uniquely creepy locations, enhanced by some of the best graphics ever seen in a video game at the time. RE4 is still often recognized as one of the greatest video games of all time, and as such was later ported to the PS2, PC, Wii, and more recently even to the Xbox 360 and PS3.

3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
It’s hard to imagine that following the widespread outrage that surrounded Wind Waker after its famed 2001 reveal that just a few years later it would be recognized as one of the GameCube’s best games, and even one of the greatest video games ever made. Once fans had some time to adjust to and perhaps even embrace the bold new artistic direction that Nintendo was taking its most revered franchise, they found that underneath the cartoony cel-shaded visuals was a fascinating world with all of the features that made Zelda so awesome in the first place. The almost overwhelmingly huge oceanic game world was littered with an endless number of things to do, items to find, and locations to explore, wrapped in a unique plot for the franchise while maintaining the amazing classic Zelda gameplay and dungeon-exploring formula. Wind Waker’s soundtrack was once again unforgettable, and yes, despite the shocking new style the visuals were positively gorgeous and have since provided the foundation for several other Zelda games, without the public outcry. Wind Waker was a lesson learned for many gamers, in that never again should a game be judged based on its aesthetics, as beneath the game’s radical shift in visual style lie one of the most unforgettable gaming experiences ever made.

2. Super Smash Bros. Melee
It’s funny that people almost seem to forget that Super Smash Bros. existed years before the GameCube ever came along, but Melee absolutely destroyed all previous conceptions about the franchise. SSBM more than doubled the roster count and more than tripled the number of stages to do battle on. There were numerous new gameplay modes, a ton of new items, a laundry list of collectible trophies, gorgeously improved graphics, an unforgettable soundtrack, and refined gameplay mechanics. The result was a ridiculously fun and fast-paced, action-packed experience, one that most owners (there were over 7 million of them, more than any other GameCube game) will confess to have spent literally countless hours in both single-player and, much more so, multiplayer modes. The gameplay formula never seemed to get old, and there has perhaps never been a more enjoyable game to play for hours on end with a group of your buddies in the comfort of your living room/dorm room/etc. (online whatsa?), assuring yourselves of endless laughter, ribbing, and trash-talking. Melee's endearing presentation and excellently balanced and smooth gameplay instantly made Super Smash Bros. one of the most popular franchises in the video game industry.

1. Metroid Prime
New platform? Check. Unknown foreign developer? Check. Fundamental gameplay changes? Check. All the necessary components were in place for Metroid Prime, the first Metroid game to be released in eight years, to be a total disaster. What GameCube owners got instead was an absolute masterpiece. After all previous outings having been side-scrolling platformers, developer Retro Studios brought the series up to modern standards by making MP into a first-person action-adventure game. With arguably the best graphics seen on any console at the time, Retro created the gorgeous alien world of Tallon IV, featuring lush forests, underground caverns, frigid snow-covered landscapes, and barren deserts, each inhabited by a myriad of unusual alien life forms. Complementing this wonderfully-created world was a perfectly haunting soundtrack, helping to create an unforgettable atmosphere of loneliness and unfamiliarity. The story unfolded not through dramatic cut scenes or lengthy narratives, but simply through exploration of the world and the items and brief texts that lay within it. Then there was the gameplay. A lock-on mechanic was quite a risky proposition for a first-person shooter, but it was pulled off extremely well. But then, Metroid Prime wasn’t really a first-person shooter: the game’s massive world that encouraged exploration and puzzle-solving ensured that MP was as much adventure as it was action, while remaining equal parts enjoyable. Even the monumental task of integrating the morph ball mechanic was pulled off flawlessly, effectively creating some of the game’s most uniquely enjoyable moments. Despite all things working against it, Metroid Prime did for the Metroid series what Super Mario 64 did for the Mario series and Ocarina of Time did for The Legend of Zelda series; that is, carry the franchise into the modern era almost without fault, and even pushing their respective genres beyond any comparable in the industry and marking new standards for all future games to aspire to.

Written by: Mike Glubish

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