The Games of January

I'm still catching up with all the games from last year. Here are all the games I've recently purchased and/or am trying to play ...

Gears of War 2

Still having a blast playing this game. I love "Horde" mode, which pits five players against wave after wave of Locust. I've been playing the regular multiplayer for the achievements when I get a chance. It's not shootie enough for my tastes (since you regen health the emphasis is on quick kills, specifically those found in close quarters) and I'm also exceptionally bad. I often say I'm bad at things, but in the Gears 2 multiplayer I'm always at the very bottom of every single statistic.

Age of Booty

This was my wife's "Christmas XBLA Game" and I've played it a good bit as well. It's pretty good and I just have one mission left in the single player. The greatest feat it has achieved (or any strategy game has every achieved) is being simple enough that my wife could get into it. Kudos!

Lock's Quest

I love tower defense, and tower defense games have just started to show up at retail. Lock's Quest is Nintendo DS role-playing / tower defense game, which is certainly different. I've only started playing the game but I really enjoy it.

Defense Grid : The Awakening

Another retail tower defense game, this one purchased from Steam. This is the game that's been getting the most play from me, largely becase of ...

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

My wife and I really liked the Lego Star Wars game. I mostly liked it for all the Star Wars Lego stuff (since I'm a big fan of both). I haven't really gotten into this game though -- the lack of Star Wars and all. My wife's been playing it on the 360 most nights, which is why I'm stuck on the PC like a loser.

Ratchet: Deadlocked

I had extra GameStop trade-in dollars so I picked this up after many many years. I really really like Ratchet and Clank games. How much do I like them? Well, this year I'm hoping to get a PS3 largely to play Ratchet and Clank Future and whatever this fall's sequel will be called.

Sometime before then I'll need to punch through Ratchet: Deadlocked, aka "The One Without Clank." I do not have high expectations for the game. The best PS2 R&C (of the first three that I've played) was the second, "Up Your Arsenal."

Penny Arcade Adventures 2

I haven't actually purchased this yet, but I got the necessary points last weekend. I adore Penny Arcade and I can't wait to play the game.

Moria

I'll admit that I didn't buy this game. But I was just thinking today that I should re-embark on my 13 year quest to defeat the Balrog.

Dawn of War : Soulstorm

Forgot about this. Bought this to get in the DoW 2 Beta early, and also because I just wanted to play Soulstorm, especially when I get it on sale from Steam for $7.50

Dawn of War 2 : Multiplayer Beta

This is kind of embarassing because it has never happened to me before, but here goes : DoW 2 won't start on my computer because my video card is so bleeding old. I'm going to buy a new card in a week or two so I can Play Games, something I consider important. Hopefully soon after that I'll be able to get an LCD monitor (I'm still using a 19" CRT).

(Honorable Mention) Ninja Town

Another DS Tower Defense game, GameStop was out of stock but I also hope to pick it up soon. Bloody GameStop.

In a way I think I've gone crazy though -- I've bought (or will have bought) eight games in the past month. That's usually a half year or a year's supply of games for me.


UPDATE: Oh yeah, Assault Heroes

Forgot about that -- I was listening to a very old Bombcast because I was bored, and they mentioned that Assault Heroes, the venerable dual joystick shooter, had dropped down to 400 points (five bucks). So I picked that up too.