Week 8 Task 1

Task 1

Create a list of your top ten games, of these top ten which have really good story lines? Write this in your blog and publish this list.

1. Dying Light

The game revolves around an undercover agent named Kyle Crane who is sent to infiltrate a quarantine zone in a city called Harran. It features an enemy-infested, open-world city with a dynamic day and night cycle. The day-night cycle changes the game drastically, as enemies become more aggressive and more difficult to deal with during night time. The gameplay is focused on weapons-based combat and parkour free running. The game also features an asymmetrical multiplayer mode (originally set to be a pre-order bonus); and a four-player, co-operative multiplayer mode.

The development of the game began in early 2012. Prior to the game's official announcement, several reports claimed that Dying Light was a sequel to Dead Island, another franchise created by Techland. The rumor was later denied. The game's parkour system puts emphasis on natural movement. To implement that, Techland had to abandon most of the story elements, and had to build them again from scratch. The music development was handled by Paweł Błaszczak. According to him, the soundtrack was inspired by movie soundtracks of the '70s and '80s.

At release, Dying Light received positive reviews from critics, with praise mainly directed at the combat, graphics, co-operative multiplayer, navigation and the day-night cycle, while receiving criticism regarding the story, difficulty and technical issues. The game was the best-selling title for the month of January 2015 and broke the record for the first month sales for a new survival horror intellectual property. Techland announced that they would be committed to the game after its release. As a result, in May 2015, they put another project on hold to concentrate on the post-release development of Dying Light. The team released numerous updates, and two downloadable content packages, namely Cuisine & Cargo and The Bozak Horde. An expansion, titled Dying Light: The Following has been announced as well.

2. Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing open world video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Skyrim was released on November 11, 2011, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Three downloadable content (DLC) add-ons were released—Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn—which were repackaged into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Legendary Edition, which was released on June 4, 2013.

Skyrim‍ '​s main story revolves around the player character and their effort to defeat Alduin the World-Eater, a dragon who is prophesied to destroy the world. The game is set approximately two hundred years after the events of Oblivion and takes place in the fictional province of Skyrim. Over the course of the game, the player completes quests and develops the character by improving skills. Skyrim continues the open world tradition of its predecessors by allowing the player to travel anywhere in the game world at any time, and to ignore or postpone the main storyline indefinitely.

The game was developed using the Creation Engine, built specifically for the game. The team opted for a unique and more diverse game world than Oblivion's Cyrodiil, which game director and executive producer Todd Howard considered less interesting by comparison. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released to critical acclaim, with reviewers particularly mentioning the refined character development and the great setting. The game shipped over seven million copies to retailers within the first week of its release, and sold over 20 million copies across all three platforms

3. Battlefield 4

The single-player campaign has several differences from the main multiplayer component. For the most part, the player must traverse mini-sandbox-style levels, in some cases using vehicles, like tanks and boats, to traverse the environment. As the player character,Recker, the player can use two campaign-only functions: the Engage command and the tactical binocular. The Engage command directs Recker's squadmates, and occasionally other friendly units, to attack any hostiles in Recker's line of sight. The tactical binocular is similar to a laser-designator, in the sense that it that allows the player to identify friendly and enemy units, weapon stashes, explosives, and objectives in the field. By identifying enemies, the player can make them visible without using the visor, making them easier to mark for their teammates. At one point, Recker will briefly lose the tactical visor, forcing them to only use the Engage command to direct his squad mates on a limited number of enemies.

The campaign features assignments that require specific actions and unlock weapons for use in multiplayer upon completion. Collectible weapons return along with the introduction of collectible dog tags which can be used in multiplayer. Weapon crates are found throughout all levels, allowing players to obtain ammo and switch weapons. While crates hold default weapons, collectible weapons may be used whenever they are acquired and level-specific weapons may be used once a specific mission assignment has been completed by obtaining enough points in a level.

4. Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is an open world, western action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles on May 18, 2010. It is the second title in the Red Dead franchise, after 2004's Red Dead Revolver. The game, set during the decline of the American Frontier in the year 1911, follows John Marston, a former outlaw whose wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a hired gun. Having no other choice, Marston sets out to bring the three members of his former gang to justice.

Red Dead Redemption is played from a third-person perspective in an open world environment, allowing the player to interact with the game world at their leisure. The player can travel the virtual world, a fictionalized version of the Western United States and Mexico, primarily by horseback and on foot. Gunfights emphasize a gunslinger gameplay mechanic called "Dead Eye" that allows players to mark multiple shooting targets on enemies in slow motion. The game makes use of a morality system, by which the player's actions in the game affect their character's levels of honor and fame and how other characters respond to the player. An online multiplayer mode is included with the game, allowing up to 16 players to engage in both co-operative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting.

Upon its release, Red Dead Redemption was acclaimed by many reviewers, with praise directed at the game's visuals, dynamically-generated music, voice acting, gameplay, and story. Widely acclaimed by various video game publications, the game has shipped over 14 million copies. It won year-end accolades, including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications. It is widely considered one of the greatest video games of all time. After the game's release, several downloadable content additions were released; Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, later released as a standalone game, added a new single-player experience in which Marston searches for a cure for an infectious zombie plague that has swept across the Old West. A Game of the Year Edition containing all additional content was released in October 2011.

5. Prototype 2

James Heller can shape shift and assume other people's identities and memories by consuming them. Taking people's identities and shape shifting into them has become more tactical. Due to Blackwatch's actions in the Yellow Zone, if the player assumes the role of a soldier, people will react to him in a way that shows that they want nothing to do with him. To make sure that enemies do not overwhelm the player, Radical has created a dodging system and new, more realistic AI. Heller will be able to use weapons in the game, such as ripping the Gatling cannon off a tank and using it against enemies. Heller can also sneak up on unsuspecting human enemies, inject them with the Blacklight virus turning them into "BioBomb" to blow up spectacularly. Heller also has superhuman strength and agility, near-invulnerability to harm, near-flight leaping and gliding, infinite stamina, increased speed, and has a sonar sense. The sonar includes a new pulse ability that highlights the key features of an environment to make it easier for the player to find someone, instead of looking in a large crowd for a person with an icon above their head. Radical has stated that the powers will be more meaningful, appearing as mutations and upgrades that let players decide how they want to play as Heller.

To give gamers more power in the game, the developers have added tendrils. Tendrils sprout from Heller's arm and can be used for a variety of purposes. Players can use tendrils to smash objects into other objects, such as a car into a tank, utilising the 'Black Hole' attack. Players will be able to dismember enemies, a force that will become more useful as the game progresses. There are many more ways to kill enemies, ranging from throwing a car at a group of Blackwatch soldiers, hacking off a mutant's head or using powers. Consuming has not changed since the original Prototype, with the exception of some enemies, which are consumed upon grabbing them (e.g. Supersoldiers, Brawlers). It has also been announced that Heller can now control a pack of Brawlers (similar to Prototype‍ '​s Hunters) to attack anything he desires (note: this power is limited to main variant of Brawler). Heller will no longer find 'Events' throughout NYZ, instead starting side-missions by hacking into Blacknet. Blackwatch's system that details military operations and the three areas of NYZ, Heller chooses from a small list of missions at each terminal. Blacknet will allow Heller to find operations that he can disrupt or take control of for his own purposes and find important people that will allow him to learn more about what he has become because of the Blacklight virus. It will also help him find out more about Alex Mercer and what his connections are to his family's deaths. The missions that are selectable can be sidequests or extensions to the main quest that tell Heller more about the Blacklight virus.

6. Modern Warfare 2

The player assumes the role of various characters during the single-player campaign, changing perspectives throughout the progression of the story.

Each level is a mission that features a series of objectives that are displayed on the head-up display, which marks the direction and distance towards and from such objectives. Damage to the player is shown by blood appearing on the screen. The player's health regenerates as time passes. Tasks vary in their requirements, from having the player arrive at a particular checkpoint, to eliminating all enemies in a specified location, to defending an objective from enemy attack, or planting explosive charges on an enemy installation. The player is accompanied by friendly troops who cannot be issued orders. Laptop computers that contain enemy intelligence appear throughout the campaign and may be collected.

7.Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas... a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where film stars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers.

Now, it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.

On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

8.Borderlands 2

The opening cutscene introduces the four new Vault Hunters as they ride a train on Pandora. However, the train is a trap set by Handsome Jack, and it explodes. The Vault Hunters regain consciousness in a frozen wasteland and are found by the last remaining Hyperion CL4P-TP ("Claptrap") unit. The Guardian Angel contacts the Vault Hunters and instructs them to accompany Claptrap to the city of Sanctuary, and to join the Crimson Raiders, an anti-Hyperion resistance movement, in order to defeat Handsome Jack. Claptrap and the Vault Hunters are able to escape the frozen wastes after defeating Captain Flynt, the local bandit leader, and retaking Claptrap's boat. Along the way, Handsome Jack taunts the Vault Hunters, while the Guardian Angel offers advice and comfort.

Upon arriving at the gates of Sanctuary, the Vault Hunters are asked to rescue Roland, now leader of the Crimson Raiders, who has been captured by a bounty hunter called the Firehawk. The Vault Hunters meet the Firehawk, who turns out to be Lilith(an existing and playable character in Borderlands), whose powers as a siren have been significantly enhanced by the new supply of eridium. Lilith informs the Vault Hunters that Roland was actually captured by a group of bandits. After fighting through the bandits' territory, the Vault Hunters rescue Roland and return to Sanctuary.

Roland and Lilith learn that the Vault Key is being transported aboard a Hyperion train, and task the Vault Hunters to retrieve it. To accomplish the mission, the Vault Hunters enlist the aid of former Vault Hunter Mordecai, and of Tiny Tina, a psychotic explosives-obsessed thirteen-year-old. The Vault Hunters derail the train, but instead of finding the Vault Key, they encounter Wilhelm, a powerful Hyperion cyborg. After Wilhelm's defeat, the Vault Hunters recover his power core, which Roland recommends be used as the power source for Sanctuary's shields. The power core turns out to be a trap; it allows the Guardian Angel, who is actually working for Jack, to lower the city's shields and render it vulnerable to a bombardment from the Hyperion moon satellite. Lilith saves Sanctuary, which was originally a large spacecraft, by activating its engines and teleporting it away; for the rest of the game, Sanctuary exists as a flying city in the sky.

Jack's true plan is revealed: to open Pandora's second Vault and unleash The Warrior, a powerful lava, eridium, and rock creature controlled by whomever releases it. Additionally, he is forcing Angel to help him charge the Vault Key more quickly than usual. Angel communicates with the group in Sanctuary, and despite hostile treatment from Roland, divulges that the Vault Key is kept with her in a Hyperion facility. She also shares information about the formidable defenses of the facility. The Vault Hunters embark upon a series of missions in order to assemble what is needed to overcome these defenses, including obtaining an upgrade for Claptrap, visiting the Hyperion city of Opportunity, and enlisting the aid of Brick, now leader of the Slab clan of bandits. During the process, Mordecai's pet bird Bloodwing is captured and killed by Handsome Jack; a grief-stricken Mordecai vows revenge and joins the other three former Vault Hunters at Sanctuary. Roland and the Vault Hunters assault the Hyperion compound and meet Angel, who is not only a real person, but a siren, and Handsome Jack's daughter. She requests to be killed in order to stop her father from charging the Vault Key and gaining control of The Warrior. Handsome Jack sends in waves of security forces in order to protect his daughter, but ultimately, Roland and the Vault Hunters, with the help of late arrival Lilith, successfully kill Angel. An enraged Handsome Jack teleports in, kills Roland, and captures Lilith, whom he forces to resume charging the Vault Key in Angel's stead. Lilith manages to teleport the Vault Hunters out of the facility and back to Sanctuary.

Mordecai and Brick decide to learn the location of the second Vault and confront Handsome Jack and The Warrior. While the Vault Hunters travel to the Hyperion Information Annex and obtains the Vault's location, the two steal a Hyperion ship. The Vault Hunters approach on foot, battling elite Hyperion security forces, while Brick and Mordecai are shot down but left alive. Ultimately, the Vault Hunters confront, battle, and defeat Handsome Jack himself but arrive too late to prevent him from opening the Vault. Handsome Jack summons The Warrior, a gargantuan dragon-like lava creature, and orders it to kill the Vault Hunters. After a long battle, the Vault Hunters defeat the Warrior and execute Handsome Jack in the aftermath.

Brick and Mordecai arrive just as Lilith attempts to destroy the Vault Key. However, she accidentally activates a secret information bank containing a huge map of the galaxy with several Vaults marked on it. Lilith remarks that "there ain't no rest for the wicked" before the screen fades to black.

9.Assassins Creed Syndicate

he game begins in 1868 London, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, close to the era’s end. At this time, England has built the greatest empire humanity has ever known, spurred by its role as the epicenter of technological evolution. According to Creative director Marc-Alexis Cote, developer Ubisoft Quebec chose this era because not only was it an age of marvels in which our world drastically changed for the better, it was an age in which it changed for the worse; the strife of London’s people, the poverty and oppression in which the lower classes lived compared to the comfort and power of the rich, sets the perfect stage for another great battle between the assassins and Templars.

"Only 75 years separate [Syndicate] from the French Revolution of Assassin’s Creed Unity," Cote said during a presentation on the game, "but for players it will feel like 1000 years, because of the technological breakthroughs you’ll see.

"We are leaving behind the medieval era," he said of the Assassin’s Creed series. "I think it's a good pace breaker in the line since it allows us to bring a lot of maturity and a lot of freshness to the game play and to the storytelling that we're going to do."

Victorian London was always under construction, and so will be Syndicate’s London. Players will see the first pieces of the London subway being built, unpaved streets and unfinished buildings. The streets are full of carriages only, with foot traffic regulated to the sidewalks. Developers have worked to painstakingly create Syndicate’s London with the look and behavior of real 1868 London.

10. Need For Speed (PS2)