I just noticed that someone edited the thread title and got rid of the second o in "proove". I am disappoint.
37.) Proteus (PC)
Not sure I understand the reverence this one seems to command. It's pretty, and a relaxing way to spend half an hour, but hardly the work of "art" I've seen it described as. I did like how the mostly dissonant soundtrack came together into something resembling music towards the end though. Not worth more than a couple bucks, tops.
38.) Anodyne (PC)
An utterly bizarre mashup of Link's Awakening and Yume Nikki. Fairly standard Zelda-inspired puzzles and gameplay amidst vaguely dreamlike and/or nightmarish imagery, music and dialogue. The TATE mode-esque borders on either side of the screen are obnoxious. I liked it, but wouldn't pay the full $10 they're asking for it.
39.) Little Inferno (PC)
How a game that basically boils down to ordering toys and burning them in a fireplace can be so engrossing is beyond me, but it certainly is. Humorously demented until the very (brilliant) end.
40.) Half-Life 2 (PC)
I picked up the Half-Life bundle during the summer sale for ten bucks, so I've been revisiting this series when the mood strikes me. Parts of it still drag on for way too long, but bits like Ravenholm and fighting the gunship while crossing the underside of the bridge still shine as much as they did when they were new.
41.) Half-Life 2: Episode One (PC)
Like the proceeding Episode, this is much better paced than the main game, throwing physics puzzles, mild platforming and clever combat at you at a faster clip. Whereas much of HL2 felt like a chore, this was just fun throughout.
42.) Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II - Retribution (PC)
A nice change of pace after the more methodical Starcraft II. Finished the Chaos Marine campaign and will probably go back to play through the Eldar's when the RTS bug hits again. Entirely too much DLC though, and the online community is pretty sparse at this point.
43.) S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
The Dark Souls of FPS games? The beginning and "good" end (which I managed to blunder into completely by accident) were absolutely punishing. It didn't help that I was trying to play like it was a standard twitchy FPS, which it most certainly is not. Using cover intelligently, aiming your shots and constantly minding your periphery are pretty much mandatory to survive. In that regard it's a much more "realistic" game than most in the genre. Almost anything can be dropped with a well placed shot or two to the head. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. seethes oppressive ambiance when you're outdoors and becomes borderline terrifying when you begin exploring the abandoned labs and military bases throughout the Zone. Not shocking considering how spooky its real life counterpart is, but I was surprised at how much survival horror ultimately played into the experience. Of course the game has a lot (A LOT) of issues, but many are addressed by the rather brilliant Complete compilation of mods. Along with stabilization and localization fixes, it also completely overhauls the visuals with new high res textures, dynamic lighting and realistic weather effects.
I was much more taken with this than I anticipated I'd be, and would even say it's the most fun I've had with an open world game since Morrowind. Looking forward to playing through Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat next.
Bookmarks