Coint and Plick 2014 - The Seventh Annual ILX Video Game Poll

alright, will give it a shot tomorrow

It never becomes a game, really, but it does become different non-games.

lol @ these terrible, wonderful results

i voted for europa because it was a vote for death

lol @ these terrible, wonderful results

I'm glad I can finally share the lols with others

#21: Tomb Raider - PS3/X360/PC - 36 pts - 4 votes

http://i.imgur.com/W3fY2CS.jpg

Website | Metacritic | PSX Extreme | Push Square | Deviant Contest | Trailer

this game rules, feels kinda like an uncharted but without relying on guns guns guns and hordes of assholes with guns. the bow n arrow shit in this is super fun

― joe bogus (am0n), Sunday, June 2, 2013 2:02 PM (9 months ago)

the best bits of this are where you're actually climbing on and exploring random jungle shit, not running down corridors blasting fuckheads

― Hockey Drunk (kingfish), Sunday, June 2, 2013 11:30 PM (9 months ago)

i hate the QTEs, so pointless

― joe bogus (am0n), Monday, June 3, 2013 11:56 AM (9 months ago)

come on it's like a cutscene you can fail

― goole, Monday, June 3, 2013 12:54 PM (9 months ago)

lost some shine when i played far cry 3 after it. There's definite similarities with Tomb Raider falling short in the lack of open world gameplay, which would be fine but it makes moves towards being that type of game which leave you wondering what if. Still the puzzles are better then FC3 and the protagonist is 1 billion times less annoying. - bnw

I didn't like the lack of actual tombs/puzzles and the ridiculous amount (imo) of gun fighting and shootouts (why does a remote island have a seemingly endless supply of firearms and ammo anyway?) in this game. But the few side tombs in this were pretty good, and the game looked nice, and I somehow mostly enjoyed it despite the imbalance of guns to puzzles. - salsa shark

i only started tomb raider after the rollout began but it's fantastic. the QTE's are ridiculous, yes, but the combat is - unlike numerous complaints - lots of fun and the tomb raiding is as great as ever. the puzzles are great too! and the collectibles are OCD-inspiring!

so i just discovered this exists http://www.reddit.com/r/incremental_games

#19 (tie): Gunpoint - PC - 40 pts - 2 votes - TOP PC EXCLUSIVE

http://i.imgur.com/JDt4Bfl.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Game Informer | Escapist | Trailer

You play as Richard Conway, freelance spy. He's hired by various clients to break into secure buildings and steal their secrets. If that concept immediately makes you jump up and down and say, "Ooh! Ooh! Just like Sega's Bonanza Bros!" then congratulations, you've got a head start in understanding the gameplay. You view Conway in dinky side-on pixel art, and must work out the best way to get him from his starting point at the left of the level, through the building in question to his prize, and then safely to the subway station on the right hand side of the stage. - Dan Whitehead, Eurogamer

I recommend checking out "Gunpoint," which is a funny little digital gumshoe action megajumping game where you can hack building wiring systems for access and/or boobytraps. - kingfish

finally got to play space team last night, and must echo all the praise given to it. and it's free! seriously, anyone with an ipad/iphone must check it out ASAP

definitely would have thrown it 15+ points had i played it in time

lol @ my one tomb raider quote, after a threadful of effusion

lol @ just like Bonanza Bros

did make me want to play it tbf

not a knock!

#19 (tie): Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition - PS3/PS4/Vita/X360/Xbone/WiiU/iOS/Android/PC - 40 pts - 2 votes

http://i.imgur.com/cNaHTB1.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Canadian Online Gamers | Thunderbolt | Newbie | Fan Fiction | Trailer

Netherrealm's obvious follow up to their last two games, the cruddy Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and nostalgic spit-shine pleasure Mortal Kombat (2011) lived up to the hype, improving both MK's casually passable (but still, classically janky) fight system into something balanced and very playable online, as nearly competitive as a serious fighter as your Street Fighters and BlazBlues. I put a lot of enjoyable time into multiplayer, but the B-movie/DC Animated Universe style story mode is where it's at. Also from MK, every other fighting game needs to steal their format ASAP for single player story modes in fighting games, where you get little chunks of story in a grander (still dumb, but fun) plot in a round-robin of playing every character for a few matches as the plot progresses. Lots and lots of cute fan service in this, and not just characters showing up in the background, but in things like the ridiculous amount of alternate costumes and the customized Clash dialogue between most sets of combatants (even the DLC characters got these - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okPN16xUygg). Incredibly easy to recommend for a good time whether you're a mild comic book fan or hardcore fighting enthusiast. - Nhex

Playing Injustice on the iPad and it's very grindy, very quickly. I've got as far as Sinestro on the second page and already need to to spend the majority of points earned on upgrading the skills to keep pace with the challenge, so I can't do anything about new characters without grinding through low levels (which, because they're completed, only pay out minor points and minor xp). Also not entirely sure what the point of skills above lvl 1 are since the major attack of the AI seems to be to use the lvl 1 skill and power drain, meaning you struggle to get to lvl 2 power in any case. - aldo

Story mode in Injustice (console vers.) is enjoyable insane. They clearly spent a ton of money on that nonsense - abanana

oh hello youtube embed

#16 (tie): Dishonored DLC: The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches - PS3/X360/PC - 40 pts - 2 votes - 1 top game votes

http://i.imgur.com/uSGHxMx.jpg

Website | Metacritic Dunwall | Metacritic Witches | Strategy Informer | Gamespot | Fan Fiction | Dunwall trailer | Witches trailer

Dishonored.

While The Knife of Dunwall's missions may not reach the heights of the Boyle's masquerade or the Golden Cat, the first mission -- which sheds more light on Dunwall's grisly whaling industry -- is undoubtedly one of the best designed game-spaces in both the DLC and game proper. It both encapsulates what makes Dishonored such a delight to play and introduces a few new things, including the horrific Butchers -- a particularly nasty enemy who requires a wee bit more thought that most to dispatch. - Fraser Brown, Destructoid

Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches may not mark a massive departure from Dishonored's appealing blend of stealth and stabbing despite the focus on a different character, but it introduces enough new elements to render its five or six hours of game time as alluring as Corvo's epic odyssey. Taken together with The Knife of Dunwall, The Brigmore Witches affords us a rare chance to see the other side of the story in gaming, with the result that you may briefly find yourself wondering who was in the right after all. This may be the end of Dunwall's story arc, but it's a fitting and quietly triumphant addition that adds true meaning to Corvo's tale rather than a few extra hours of playtime. This is DLC as it should be done. - Leif Johnson, Gamespot

The Dishonored DLC earns its place for its superb level design, on par with or improving on the already sprawling and intricate levels in the base game. - one way street

I just love this game so much. The DLC episodes were just meaty enough, and when I say meaty I mean whale meat, because I mercy-assassinated a whale. - Jordan

Injustice looks kinda amazing -- is one of the characters the dude from Bioforge!?
But uhh, yeah, I haven't enjoyed a fighting game like that since International Karate Plus lolz old dude comin' through.

Anyways, I played Frog Fractions and ... wow? Gave up at the Porn Manager stage and just found a walkthrough to see what was coming up, but it was a pretty entertaining romp. Think the underwater maze was where I found my interest flagging. Then the weird arrow thing that it took me a while to figure out what I was supposed to do on (and uh, even then I failed completely, but apparently the game didn't actually give a shit, so that was nice) Gotta say I preferred Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing!

high five, bro!

also I assume you're talking about Cyborg

Injustice on iPhone/iPad kind of ruled for about a week, then I wanted to play the real fighting game iteration but didn't want to spend any money on it

Haha, I thought it was some mashup thing where they had old video game characters meeting comic book characters. I guess it was pretty idiotic to assume Bioforge would be a source for something like that.

(xp obv)

Is Gunpoint similar to Mappy or Elevator Action?

#16 (tie): Kentucky Route Zero - PC/Mac/Linux - 40 pts - 2 votes - 1 top game votes

http://i.imgur.com/6tF2HJH.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Escapist | Hooked Gamers | Trailer

And while Kentucky Route Zero does ostensibly exist within a video game space, it is more interested in the function of spaces within that space. It is based on the expressive forms of experimental theater, installation art and modernist literature, not on the ideal of the holodeck. It creates non-Euclidean spaces that cannot exist, not as an expression of the possibilities of video game space when unshackled by the constraints of the real world, but as an outright rejection of the common standard of video game spaces. - Eric Swain, Pop Matters

KR0 is unfinished, mostly linear, and with fairly light interactivity, but has particularly strong writing and an amazing sense of atmosphere, and as a displaced Kentuckian a magical realist take on the state's backroads is irresistible to me. - one way street

I've really been charmed by Kentucky Route Zero, but it strikes me that it could be quite gimicky, or that they'l never finish all 5 chapters. - CraigG

i very much want to play kr0 and will the moment it appears on a humble bundle

Ok although I didn't play it, I'm fairly shocked about the low placement of injustice, I was fairly sure that would go top ten

i am shocked that inj placed top 50 honestly. or am i? is this year that sketch? i mean if you get beaten by fucking dishwasher DLC...

the first official ILX, you are disappoint. at least it got Top 20!

I haven't played a fighting game since Tekken 3 and I was never any good at that, but I had a great time with Injustice. Love the way it makes it's super crazy overpowered moves easily accessible instead of hiding them away behind 20 step input strings.

This next one leaves me with an even 15 to finish next week, although I could do five more today if people approve.

#16 (tie): Counterfeit Monkey - Interactive Fiction - 40 pts - 2 votes - 1 top game votes - TOP INTERACTIVE FICTION

http://i.imgur.com/fhuQzAr.jpg

Website/Game | IFDB | Scatmania | Game Trailers | Horrible Review | Podcast

The game world is a real treat to explore and discover. The setting is rich and detailed; it is possible to examine and interact with everything mentioned in every room description, and you will often see unique messages for certain objects when examining them for the first time that prompt you to “remember” moments from your past, which help round out the protagonist’s backstory and provide information that would be too unwieldy to present otherwise. The story itself is an espionage tale told over about one hundred rooms that span the city of Atlantis; there are many NPCs to interact with, most of which can react to your actions (such as the officer during the protest scene) or carry on conversations with you (even non-story-relevant ones). The presentation of the story flows naturally and smoothly, giving a good balance of puzzles and plot. The conversation mechanic, however, is rather weak; the game essentially presents you with options to choose from during dialogue and is forthright in, effectively, telling you how to play, e.g. “[I want to] ask whether [that item] is for sale” or “[I want to] tell him the truth”. Yes, this does give the player hints on what phrases will carry on the conversation, but this feels less like meaningful interaction and more like “Press X to Plot”. I feel these scenes could have been replaced with zero-input (canned) conversations without taking much away from the feel of the game. However, the conversations are unintrusive and relatively short, so this may not bother you at all. On a similar note, I was a bit put off by one sequence where the game gave me the illusion of having control over a particular scene (i.e. accepting my commands), but then surprised me with the announcement that someone else would be controlling my actions during this sequence and that I could not do anything except “wait” several times in a row until I regained control. But this is a minor detail; the story and setting are both extremely well-written, well-researched, and well-developed, and it is easy to get lost in one’s mind’s eye in the world of Atlantis. - ScruffyED, June 10, 2013

I support this somewhat empty enormous technical achievement 100% - Gravel

5 more today
5 more today

#15: Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption - iOS/Android - 42 pts - 5 votes

http://i.imgur.com/rDgB4Pg.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Touch Arcade | Action Button | Trailer

It's rare but sooooo pleasing to play an iOS game that just FEELS RIGHT and this one kills it. Love the floaty gravity on those fish gently falling like stinky seawater snowflakes. Plus WTF @ that ending which I fully did not see coming. - Will M.

I enjoyed the art and music in Ridiculous Fishing, but found playing the game to actually be a chore & sort of shit (after the shine of the first couple of minutes). Little things missing made it even more annoying, like no reset when you screw up. I feel like the first part of the game, dodging fish is okay, but then coming up and catching fish is less fun (and seems to take forever) and shooting the fish once you get to the surface is boring and also takes too long. - JCL

i loved the aesthetic and thought it was a pretty fun game, but i kinda hate any ios game that makes me move my phone around as a core game mechanic

#14: BioShock Infinite - PS3/X360/PC - 45 pts - 2 votes - 1 top game votes

http://i.imgur.com/ygWvcJn.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Game Informer | Console Monster | Lighting | Fan Fiction | Trailer

Bioshock -- the "sequel in spirit" to System Shock 2

Strong story, music, characters, acting, environments. Game-play was fun and challenging if you had the difficulty level cranked up right. There were all sorts of legit criticisms - story line chickened out, mechanics repetitive, a lot of pretty and lifeless decorations, ken levine crawled up his own ass. The first bioshock had a setting that played into some of those weaknesses. Infinite does not and its a less of an experience for it. But it still blew everything else I played out of the water. - bnw

This game was great fun, and easily the most beautiful-looking game I have seen so far. Also I really liked the combat, and am kind of confused by everyone who says it sucked. Aside from just pointing the trigger and shooting, you usually had multiple hiding spots, tearable gun turrets, all the vigors, etc. so many different ways to approach most combat situations.

High point of the game for me was zipping around a looping skyline while trying to take down a single huge dirigible halfway through the game. - Adam Bruneau

Ugh, it does so much right and so much wrong at the same time that my points assignment has been fluctuating the entier time I was writing this. It is, without a doubt, absolutely gorgeous to look at, gameplay itself is better than either of the prior games, and certain mechanics although underused are stunning (what up skyline). but at the same time, the ugly illusion of choice that worked so well in the first one is brutally apparent and unwelcome and misused here. add that to the most insulting metal gear style 30 minute cutscene ending, and theres def some problems to be had - jjjusten

i don't know what is worse about b:i, the narrative or the mechanics. it's gotta be the mechanics just bc that's the fundamental need of a game - to be fun to play - but the story is dumber than inception. - Mordy

too high.

that crap beating Cookie Clicker is a travesty; shame on us

just sitting on my hard drive. I need to try it.

#13: The Cave - PS3/X360/WiiU/PC/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android/Ouya - 45 pts - 4 votes

http://i.imgur.com/4XUJEJz.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Adventure Gamers | Strategy Informer | Trailer

doublefine just keeps not quite hitting the mark, forever cursed with great ideas and mediocre execution like a western suda 51. you can ignore the purported replayablility considering that 70% of the game is identical regardless of who you pick, but theres something here, a neat dark mean-spirited sensibility that is worth the time if you are willing. as always, story and vibe over gameplay, but its a pretty great story and vibe. - jjjusten

My only real complaint about this game is that some of the puzzles were wholly arbitrary. On the plus side, the storyline is viciously funny and the fact that each character gets its own special portion of the cave to explore/screw up grants extra replayability. - DJP

The only game that my girlfriend has played with me (as navigator) all the way through since Limbo. - Jordan

re bioshock: i've been finishing this one up over the past week after giving up on it about a year ago. i think it's enjoyable but i don't really understand the hyperbole around it. definitely preferred bioshock 1

of probable interest to poll followers: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/03/07/icarus-proudbottoms-world-of-weekly-typing-series/

#12: Desktop Dungeons - PC/Mac - 50 pts - 2 votes - 1 top game votes

http://i.imgur.com/zkpo2To.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Quarter to Three | NPR | Soundtrack | Trailer

It’s a stressful game, in the best possible way – stress that drives you to do better, try harder, understand more. The consequence of ill-judged moves early on may not become apparent until the final stages of a quest, when you’re up against fearsome level 9s or even the boss, and you’re just a handful of experience points or a single potion short of victory. In a canny but dastardly design decision, Desktop Dungeons ensures you’ll be well aware that you’re going to die several moves before it happens. Hover the mouse over an enemy and the game will show you the outcome of the next attack – how much damage you’ll do, how much health the monster will take in retaliation, any extra effects such as mana drain, and whether by the end of that exchange of blows you are SAFE or DEATH. Yeah, the grammar doesn’t quite work, does it? Safe or death! Safe or death! But you get the point. - Alec Meer, Rock Paper Shotgun

This is the best desktop dungeons game that there ever will be. If you liked Desktop Dungeons (and man, I like Desktop Dungeons a lot), you got so much Desktop Dungeons in this game. - Gravel

is that game out yet? I played the early version a few years back and loved it, and I knew they were working on a "real" version, but I lost track; guess it really came out!

yeah, i gotta check that out!

#11: Rayman Legends - PS3/PS4/Vita/X360/Xbone/WiiU/PC - 50 pts - 4 votes

http://i.imgur.com/qevGK1s.gif

Website | Metacritic | Slant | Globe and Mail | Fan Fiction | Speed Run | Trailer

The platform game has been around for so long that it's easy to assume that the genre has run out of surprises. A showcase for the game designer's art and one of the greatest platform games of this - or any - year, Rayman Legends disproves that in glorious style. From its gorgeous visuals to its painstaking design to its abundant generosity, it shows once and for all that "hardcore gaming" is about style, flair and good, old-fashioned challenge - not how many pixels of brain matter you can spray across the screen. - Dan Whitehead, Eurogamer

rayman legends is a childs idea of play, all bright colors, mutable, endless running, jumping the freedom of weightlessness. i liked playing it a lot. - Lamp

I'm a huge fan of co-op games that I can play with my girlfriend and this is the best we played this year. Great art direction and super tight 2D platforming. - diamonddave85

Looks great, sounds great. - salsa shark

I got addicted to the daily online bits of this for a bit, especially the race to the bottom ones (I came in the top 100 once). That part was kind of like 1,000 Heroes except much better executed. The musical levels in the main game were fantastic fun also. - if

Argh, I was out when my top game placed. I was actually going to write a review/blurb thing for it but never finished, so does anyone mind if I just dump the notes for "things that are great about Counterfeit Monkey" here?

do it

Ha, okay, it really is just a bunch of crap notes. But if it gets anyone to give it a go, I will be happy. It probably won't, though, as only like three people play IF here.

THINGS THAT ARE GREAT ABOUT COUNTERFEIT MONKEY

> wave r-remover at t-shirts
No doubt this would be a cogent statement about the commercialization of the body, if it weren’t for the fact that T-SHIT doesn’t describe anything anyone with a functional colon has ever heard of.

* Excellent built-in tutorial to allow new players to get a feel for the game.
* A map: not only does this remove my least favourite thing about IF (I have a terrible time trying to picture layouts and can never be arsed to map games out myself), but it is also a beautifully designed thing that I would happily hang as a poster on my wall.
* Very well implemented and thorough -- see above quote, you can try anything you like, really.
* Perfectly integrated wordplay puzzles with compelling plot: I love wordplay games, and there are some that are fairly good at providing a plot structure that gives you a reason to go on doing yr wordy puzzlehood, but *none* have been this good at it.
* The expansion of your word-changing abilities provides a really well designed ramping up of difficulty.
* Pretty huge game but you don't feel like you're getting trapped there for eternity.
* Emily Short is best at writing. (I, clearly, am not.)