Pads & Panels

Best Video Games of 2011 – Honorable Mentions

Pads & Panels will soon be counting down its Top 10 Video Games of 2011, but before we get to that point, we’d like to pay mind to 10 other games that stood out as top contenders for the year. They were all part of our discussion and all deserve some recognition for their achievements in gaming, even if they didn’t quite make the cut of the illustrious Top 10. All 10 of these titles were games that earned our attention and respect in one way or another in 2011, the list of them effectively serving as our 11-20 choices, presented here in no particular order. (more…)

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Title: LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game

Platform: 360 (PS3, Wii, PC, Mac, 3DS, DS, PSP)

ESRB Rating: E10+

Publisher: Disney Interactive

Developer: Traveller’s Tales

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The latest franchise to be stamped with the LEGO makeover is Pirates of the Caribbean, following the release of the fourth film in the series. Fans of previous LEGO titles (like Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones) already know what to expect here, and the Pirates franchise proves a great fit for the zany LEGO characters and stories. Players can, as usual, go solo or play with join-in/drop-out co-op, working through 20 stages divided evenly between the four movies, with cutscenes done only the way LEGO can. Port Royal serves as sort of an expanding hub in this one, where players can accomplish more by earning characters of differing abilities, the most noteworthy of which is the addition of underwater elements. All in all, it’s a great addition to both franchises, and fans of the series will get a kick out of the game, even though the later films undeniably sucked. (more…)

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Title: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Platform: DS

ESRB: T

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Rating:

Review by: Archie Easter

I was very pleasantly surprised by Capcom’s Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. It’s been some time since I’ve come across a DS game with this much charm, personality, and overall fun gameplay. In a twist of the normal standard, the game actually begins with the death of the main character, Sissel. He awakes with no memory of who he is and must quickly discover who he was before he died and the reason behind his untimely demise. Fairly early on, he discovers he has “ghost tricks,” special powers that allow him to influence objects in the living world and even rewind time to change the fates of the recently deceased. (more…)

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Best Games of 2010 – Honorable Mentions

Creating a Best of List for Pads & Panels is no easy task. It involves everyone putting in feedback, a get-together and copious amounts of drinking, when we argue our cases for what belongs where on the list. Inevitably, fantastic titles don’t make it to the top of the tower, and we’re left feeling bad for not honoring the enjoyment some of these games provided us throughout the year. So that’s where the Honorable Mentions come into play. These are the list of games that didn’t quite make our Top 10, but we think you should be playing them nonetheless. Plus, it’s always kind of fun to make our readers wonder, with titles this great on the honorable mentions list, what is going to make our Top 10. They are essentially our #11 through #20 picks, but are presented in no particular order. Enjoy! (more…)

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Title: Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

Platform: DS

ESRB: E10+

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Level-5

Rating:

Review by: Sarah Kumley

Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke, have found another mystery to solve, with plenty of puzzles and strange characters to meet along the way. In this new story, the Prime Minister disappears after Dr. Stahngun demonstrates his new time machine. Other scientists disappear over the next couple of weeks, and Luke and Professor Layton receive a strange letter that is dated 10 years in the future. They follow the directions to a local clock shop, where a portal transports them to London, 10 years from their present. (more…)

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2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the Action Gaming Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Call of Duty: Black Ops

(360/PS3/PC/Wii/DS)

Activision’s popular shooter series is back this year with the Treyarch-developed Call of Duty: Black Ops.  If the shooter fan on your list wasn’t already camped out for a midnight release of the game and doesn’t already own it, this one is essential.  A brand-new single-player storyline, as well as new multiplayer levels and the return of the zombie mode from World at War will guarantee plenty of Prestige ranking, zombie killing, multiplayer fun. (more…)

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2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the DS Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

For those that like their puzzle games served up with a healthy amount of narrative, the Professor Layton series has been a definite favorite. The newest title in the series, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, finds the professor and his apprentice Luke in a tale of time-travel and mystery after receiving a dire warning from the future. Combine that with over 165 puzzles to solve, and you’ll lose some time yourself in solving this mystery. (more…)

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Title: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Platform: 360 (PC, PS3, DS, Wii)

ESRB: T

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Beenox

Rating:

Review by: Matt Peters

Since 1992, Activision has published games based on the adventures of Marvel Comics’ flagship character, Spider-Man. After several less-than-stellar games, it seemed that Activision was content to rely on the name alone to move copies. With Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, developer Beenox has offered an apology to gamers and comic fans alike. Featuring four different versions of the web-slinger with distinctive gameplay styles, this has the makings to be a true crowd pleaser. (more…)

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Title: Marvel Super Hero Squad

Platform Wii (DS)

ESRB: E10+

Publisher: THQ

Developer: Blue Tongue Entertainment

Rating:

Review by: Jason King

Where the Marvel Super Hero Squad Show works well (and it never even works all that well) for children, the game fails miserably for children. And where Super Hero Squad works well for adults…well, to be honest it never works well for adults.

The premise of the video game is very similar to the premise of the show – Dr. Doom wants to recreate, from Infinity Fractals, a sword through which he can rule the world. The role of the characters – because there are never less than two characters on the screen, even in a single-player game – is to stop this from happening. The means through which the characters will stop Dr. Doom is apparently by hitting one button over and over and exploiting painfully bad AI. The main methods Dr. Doom uses to stop the characters from succeeding is a nightmarishly horrible camera and crippling lag. (more…)

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Title: LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Platform: 360 (Wii, PS3, DS, PC, PSP)

ESRB: E10+

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive

Developer: Traveller’s Tales

Rating:

Review by: Sarah Kumley

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 plays much the same as the other LEGO games, but with everyone’s favorite adolescent wizard. The game follows the stories of the books and movies featuring Harry and his young friends for the first four years they attend Hogwarts. The students attend classes to learn new spells and can switch between them for whatever tasks need to be performed. Players can also switch between characters as some spells are only available to certain ones. There are also parts of the environment that cannot be accessed from the beginning, but rather can be once certain spells are mastered. It is through the spell unlocks that puzzles and progression unfurl. (more…)

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