Drake and the Dragonborn: My Winter Break

Man, can I pull off this afghan or what?

With winter break over and grad classes back in full swing, I will always look back fondly on the winter break of 2011 where I sat down to take a sledgehammer of awesome to my “to-play” pile and pound out the platinums for two Game of the Year nominee’s: Uncharted 3 and Skyrim. Going into it, I knew it was going to take a lot to unseat Portal 2 for my vote and, while all definitely superb games that solidify the video games industry’s curb stomp of quality over the movie biz, one definitely rose to the top.

From everything I heard before going into it, Uncharted 3 was said to tone down the over the top action a bit and hit all the other finer points of the series on the head. From my experience, this certainly was the case. Naughty Dog’s blockbuster did what summer movies want to do but did it better, telling the latest tale of Nathan Drake with some really great set piece moments and the patented humor the series is known for.

Up against some English chick named Marlowe who most likely fell to Sully’s charms back in the day and her sidekick who can apparently get shot in the head and walk away unscathed, Drake and crew race to discover the “Atlantis of the sands,” a city with equal amounts of treasure and fucked-up-shit. Joining the cast is a mate named Cutter, who’s gruff persona balances out the usual cast well. The banter between all of them was definitely my favorite part of the game and stands as a fine example, like the rest of the series, that really great writing can be a leg to stand on for a game. Even if the combat and platforming weren’t refined, I would have trudged through the game simply because I cared about all the characters and needed to know how it all turned out.

Above: Likeable as fuck.

But thankfully this isn’t the case as the game mechanics of Uncharted 3 are just as fine as the earlier installments. After a nice flashback section where you get to play as a young Drake, the man himself alternates between said platforming and gunfight sections as the plot rolls on. There was a bigger emphasis on hand-to-hand combat with the addition of a few strictly fisticuffs areas and, while satisfying, I didn’t feel like they really did much other than provide another wrinkle to the gameplay. It’s fun to smash a tuna on dude’s face, but felt ultimately unnecessary after the third time.

In terms of difficulty, there were definitely some annoying parts to get through in Crushing mode, especially the mini-gun fight on the cruise ship, but overall it’s all pretty manageable. I distinctly remember a much greater  challenge on the other two, but it’s not easy enough to put up a big stink about it. Uncharted is all about the characters, so an easier run didn’t bother me.

Along with a more robust online experience and co-op modes, Uncharted 3 feels like the pinnacle of Drake’s adventures, doing everything the series does, and doing it well. I still think I enjoyed Uncharted 2 more simply for the appreciation of the jump it was over 1(and the clown joke at the end), but 3 is just fine and dandy.

Amazing, but not enough to top Portal 2 in my eyes.

Someone order an extra large slice of awesome?

Then came Skyrim. The beast. With an estimated time to platinum said to be around 100-300 hours, I did it a cool 87 and loved every second of it. I played a little bit of Oblivion back in the day but never really got into it. With Skyrim however, for whatever reason, I was in from the first sword swing and started waking up with my fiancée at 6:30 in the morning when she got ready to go to work just so I could play. While there are some definite technical issues, the scope of what Bethesda created earns it a pass in my book and still feels like one of the most epic adventures of all time.

One of the things I appreciated the most about the game was the flexibility you’re given when creating a character. Rather being stuck with a class, you could explore other play styles without starting from scratch, building up skills with simple use. When the game started off, I was a warrior redguard who rocked a mace in one hand and some magic in the other. Later on, I slowly began to embrace light armor and bow skills, and felt like my character had simply evolved rather than changed “classes.” It’s a design choice to appreciate, especially in a game where there’s so much to do and multiple playthroughs would be a massive time-suck.

And in a time where these is so many other great games to play, it’s downright considerate, I would say.

You can play however you likeeeeeee

Immersion is the word that kept buzzing in my ears as I played, falling into my role as Dragonborn as I helped return the thieves guild to their former glory or got wasted with some dude who turns out to be a daedric god and havd to figure out what I did last night like Nordic version of “The Hangover.” Ever town has its own feel and practically every character has their own story to tell and become involved with. The world feels like the most complete one I ever experienced in a game and that accomplishment in itself is one that can’t be understated.

As it was widely reported though, Skyrim isn’t without its technical issues, especially on the PS3. Along with buggy quests (my poor cousin’s game will simply refuse to load the swindler’s den) and graphical glitches (hilarious backwards flying dragons), there is a tremendous lag issue that has rendered  a lot of players’ games unplayable when they passed the 10mb save file size. I sweated up a storm as my file slowly approached and passed the mark and, while noticeable, it thankfully wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t play. Turning off auto-saves really cut down on the issue and, while I did experience a handful of crashes, my experience wasn’t soiled too badly outside of chugging my way through Whiterun. I’m sure it would have gotten worse the further I played (by the time I got the plat, I probably did maybe half of all the available quests), but my trip through Skyrim was luckily smooth for the most part.

Textures? We don't need no stinkin' textures!

While I definitely get how pissed players must feel who didn’t fare as well as I did, there’s no denying the landmark in gaming Skyrim is. Just from browsing through the mods popping up on the PC front for it, it’s clear that this is a game people will be playing for a long time. And, for a single player experience, that’s certainly an accomplishment. While I loved each and every second of Portal 2, Skyrim is an experience I will never forget and made me feel part of a world like none other before it. That’s why, with a confident knock with my gaming gavel, I declare it as my personal Game of the Year of 2011. The only other game that might have given it a run which I didn’t get to play(yet) was Dark Souls, but looking back at my time with Demon’s Souls, I figure that it will be fun, but the difficulty willy trump the fond memories it will create.

Overall, bravo games industry. 2011 was one for the books in terms of quality. Now bring on 2012!

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh