Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Ninja Theory put a heck of a game together here, with some incredible art direction and animation, level design, and the best adventurous duo since Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher. The world traversed by Monkey and Trip is colorfully portrayed and brilliantly built, the gameplay is perfectly formulated to support the characters and the story, and while I admit the game's early levels outdo the somewhat abrupt ending, this was the best original IP I played in 2010.
Metro 2033
I'm just going to tell myself that my esteemed Joystiq colleagues didn't play this moody, flawed FPS, because I hate the idea that I'm the only one with whom it resonated. With a single trek through a post-apocalyptic Russian underground, Ukrainian developer 4A became one of the developers I'd follow anywhere. It's got problems, specifically with a pretty lackluster combat system, but there's also nothing else like it.
#review
While millions of World of Warcraft players do just fine with your standard two-button mouse, SteelSeries reckons they could do better the extra twelve provided by the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse. Are they right? More »
Cave Story
I am mad at everyone I've ever known for not telling me to play Cave Story before I grabbed it late last year. Within two months, I had beaten it four times across two different platforms. It's arguably the most charming game I've ever played, with deep layers of Metroidvania-esque exploration and a level of difficulty which expertly straddles the line between challenging and frustrating. It's one of the most polished games I played during the year, and if you find yourself with an overabundance of virtual Nintendo currency, you absolutely need to own it. Twice, if you have the means.
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Nothing ruins a perfectly good fantasy world like an enormous angry dragon tearing through the surface of the planet, destroying everything in its path. How does Blizzard's ridiculously popular online role-playing game fare in the face of this Cataclysm? More »
#mmolog
Our second and final MMO Log for World of Warcraft's Cataclysm expansion begins with a five-year-old Horde character defecting to the Alliance. More »
#pc
Studying players' time following the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm 10 days ago, Raptr determined that the top 11 percent of most active users account for more than half of the total time spent in the game. More »
#wow
With its latest expansion Cataclysm having been out for a few days now, the hardcore World of Warcraft players have already bought it and are exploring its many changes. Those who haven't, you are being tempted by free game time. More »
#mmolog
It's been a week since Blizzard unleashed the Cataclysm in World of Warcraft, and I spent the past seven days getting to know the Goblins and the Worgen. Which one did I prefer? More »
For the week ending December 11, Chart-Track's UK All Formats chart had Call of Duty: Black Ops at the top, FIFA 11 in second and the highly anticipated expansion, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, in third. Yes, that math feels all kinds of wrong. Here's a perfect example of how the lack of online sales tracking can create an issue when looking at Chart-Track and NPD results. Cataclysm was the first WoW expansion, a game that reportedly has 12 million subscribers, to be available both at retail and online. It seems that unless players were interested in baubles, they were more than happy to just pay Activision-Blizzard for the authorization key directly online.
In other news, it looks like the UK caught on that Disney Epic Mickey launched. The Wii exclusive, created by Warren Spector's Junction Point Studio, finally broke into the Top 40 at 37, "misunderstood" design and all.
And because it's our obsessive fascination, we'll tell you that Just Dance 2 slipped a mere single spot into sixth. That means we are only a few weeks away from a member of the Just Dance franchise holding a place in the top ten for nearly all of 2010. Check out the UK's top performing titles after the break.
Half of everyone on the planet plays World of Warcraft -- that's just scientific fact -- so, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the game's recently released expansion made quite a splash on its launch day. According to Blizzard's calculations, the Cataclysm add-on sold 3.3 million units within 24 hours of its release, becoming the "fastest-selling PC game of all time." The previous record holder? World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, which sold 2.8 million copies in one day back in 2008.
Frankly, we're a little appalled at Blizzard. Like, they've obviously found a golden goose here. Why not let other developers create World of Warcraft expansions as well, giving them a chance to capitalize on this lucrative market? Why are they being so darn greedy?
#pc
The latest expansion pack for World of Warcraft crushed the last 24-hour sales record set by the massively popular, massively online computer game, selling 3.3 million copies in a single day. More »
With today's launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm looming over us like, well, "a giant dragon" is probably a bit redundant ... Nevertheless, we turned to Massively's Ryan Greene to explain why you might be interested, either if you're new to the game or simply looking for an excuse to return to Azeroth.
Have you noticed a new excitement in the air? Have you felt the rumblings from the deep places of the world and tasted dread on the wind? Have you wondered why all your nerdiest friends planned months in advance to contract fake illnesses on the same day?
Cataclysm has arrived, and World of Warcraft will never be the same ... which is the same cheesy line you've been hearing for weeks, if not months. WoW's third expansion is huge news for dedicated players, but what does it mean for everyone else? For anyone who has never tried WoW or who gave it up many moons ago, the changes Deathwing hath wrought (with Blizzard's help) mean there has never been a better time to jump into the game. Seriously.
