WWE '13

Rating for this Game: 9.2

Happy Price: 49.99

Gameplay

I remember when I played WWF Attitude in 1998 on the PSX. I had this idea of what a wrestling game should be, what I wanted to see and do in a game. WWE '13 has finally fulfilled that idea. This is the most complete wrestling game I've ever played.

WWE Attitude Mode: This mode is the closest thing to a campaign mode. You're taken back to 1996 when Bret Hart got screwed out of the title by Vince Mcmahon, and relive all the events up until the conclusion of the attitude era. If you were a wrestling fan during this time, it's one of the best experiences you will have playing a game, and the best experience on a next-gen wrestling game. Each match has different objectives to match what actually took place. For example, the famous hell in a cell with Undertaker and Mankind. In order to get the unlockable, you must throw Mankind off the top of the cell through the announce table. You can spend hours in this mode to unlock everything.

WWE Universe: This mode is oversold on the back cover of the game. The stories generated are quite minuscule and not fulfilling. Essentially you set your own goals of what you want to do, and choose how you want it done. This mode has no restrictions. If you create a wrestler, you can set up a title shot his first match, or choose to fight through the ranks and having the WWE Universe generate the timeline for you. Cut scenes and scenarios are quite repetitive, but you can spend hours in this mode as well. Most of the time you're just waiting for something exciting to happen, but nothing does.

Customization

Superstar: Customizing your superstar can take 3 hours alone. There are hundreds if not thousands of items to select from. The layering system allows for creating unique facepaint and tattoos. You can also create your own clothes if you don't like what's provided! After you've created your awesome avatar, you must select the move-set. There are thousands of moves to choose from. This process can take a long time but it's fun to construct a wrestler from the ground up. The option to choose a move set is also available. After the moves are selected, you can create an entrance. Doing all this work makes WWE universe worth playing, even though it lacks creating scenarios for your created superstar.

Matches/Scenarios: You can create your own PPV's, Shows, Arenas, and match styles. For people that love to create worlds  as I once did when I was about 11 and had a huge imagination, this can be very fulfilling. Want to pit Sheamus against Randy Orton? Then have CM Punk interfere, the power to do that is given. You also have the ability to merge Attitude era superstars into the universe. So you can have Stone Cold wreak havoc on all the modern superstars. Knowing I had this ability diminished the fulfillment of when cool things occurred though, because I could have just created them myself. That's the drawback of giving the user this much power without a penalty.

Conclusion

A must buy for a wrestling fan. You can easily spend 40+ hours in this game. Although with THQ being sold their servers haven't been working properly, so online is unstable. This game is selling for 39.99 and well worth it. To beat the Attitude Era and win the WWE championship in WWE universe mode without making drastic changes to it will take over 40 hours. That's $1 an hour to play this game!
I am going to keep this game, plus we don't really know if Yukes will develop the next installment. This is the best one yet, purchase it and hold onto it.

Assassins Creed 3

Rating for this game: 9.5 

Happy Price : 44.99

Gameplay

Assassins Creed 3 has stuck with the core mechanics of timing combos, assassinations, and parkour style building jumping. The recruitment of Assassins is also still present. There are quite a few additions to these mechanics that have great polish and separate this game from previous entries.

Combat: The only way I can describe the combat is "savage" or "barbaric" and frankly, fulfilling. The new character, Connor, doesn't kill as cleanly as his predecessors. His combat style is filled with animations that will consist of quick repeated blows to the head with his tomahawk, or sliced hamstrings that will lead to the snapping of a neck. There is nothing more fulfilling that stabbing a redcoat with a bayonet, and then shooting his comrade with it while inside the body as they attempt to double team you.

Navigation: This remains unchanged for the most part from previous installments. Although the team at Ubisoft has done a great job in creating a large New England forest to run around in. The placement of trees, branches, and rocks have been meticulously placed and not thrown together. With a large environment like this, one would expect that with the short development cycle this game went through, things would be randomly placed. But that's not the case, the level design is ever present and very much appreciated. It's a great feeling when you come across a tree stump that leads to a set of carefully placed tree branches, that can then lead to an air assassination of a redcoat attacking a convoy traveling along the forest path.

New Features

Driving Ships: Who would have thought that ships would be present in an Assassins Creed game. Ship battles are like a whole different game within the game, and best of all they're fun to do. The oceans have steep waves and troughs in storms or when there are many ships on the battlefield to influence such a thing. The best thing about it is that it isn't just a shader that cannonballs can fly through. Being in a trough can actually provide protection as the wave in front of the ship will absorb enemy fire. This will also apply to you when firing upon an enemy that has taken cover behind a large wave. Naval warfare also allows the user to barrage coastal forts on land which is always fun. It's a great feeling when their defenses can't touch you as a moving target, and your ship can cause total destruction to the static target. You feel like an assassin of the seas.

Assassin Classes: Recruited assassins now have classes. You can select which type of assassin you want to aid in battle. If you need a marksman, call upon the marksman. The max amount of Assassins you can have is 7, and they must be called individually, but all 7 can aid Connor at one time. Not every assassin is combat related. There is a group that pretends to arrest Connor in order to sneak into Redcoat bases "Trojan" style. Another assassin might stab somebody to cause a chase, to clear out an area for Connor. Recruited Assassins no longer die, but are just injured. Recruited Assassins now have personalities and are integral to the plot of the game, but are still something done on the side.

Conclusion

This is the best installation of Assassins Creed I've played to date. Everything feels very polished. The whole "Don't fix what isn't broken" mantra definitely fits this game. They've just added animations and a new environment to play around in. Not to mention all the historical references in this game. Riding with Paul Revere, navigating secret Freemason tunnels, and disputes with George Washington are immersive. You really feel like you've aided in the construction of America when playing this game, and you feel like a total badass doing it. I haven't played a game this fulfilling since Skyrim. The main storyline is short though, around 20 hours or so. If you don't do much of the side activities like recruiting assassins or naval missions, this game will creep up and finish on you in a hurry. It's a must buy, but considering the short story, wouldn't feel good paying full price for the game.