Obligatory March Madness Tie-In: The First Round!

Hello and welcome to the first second round of play here at the OMMT Tournament! Without any further adieu, and because this premise is already wearing thin, let's get the action started. Hooray!


Kojima Regional

#1 Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar, 2001) vs #16 Final Fantasy XIII (SquareEnix, 2010)

FFXIII, fresh off it's wondrous comeback victory by default in the play-in game, wows the competition with it's beautiful graphics and fully voiced action. It then makes a furious assault headlined by it's frenzied fighting system and memorable characters. And then Claude from GTA III walks up and blows them away with a tank. While already having 6 stars. Impressive.

Final Score: GTA III- Tank. FFXIII: Not Tank.


#8 Max Payne (Rockstar, 2001) vs  #9 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Konami, 2001)

The second of Rockstar's crop of 2001 games heads into battle against one of 2001's most anticipated titles. It is, in all honesty, a heated contest throughout, with Max Payne's international conspiracy theme cancelling out MGS2's international conspiracy theme. Then, right near the end, Raiden gets naked and MGS2 eats itself in front of a live, 2001 national television audience. Tragic to see. Max Payne wins.

Final Score: Max Payne- Constipation Face Max Payne MGS2- Naked Raiden


#5 Gears of War (Epic Games, 2006) vs #12 Perfect Dark (Rare, 2000)

Gears of War was all like "Hell naw we got chainsaws." But then Perfect Dark was like "we got laptops that turn into turrets, son!" Then Cliff Bleszinski showed up and called everyone lame and everyone exploded and died. Except Marcus Fenix, because he is apparently made of granite and doesn't wear a helmet because he doesn't have time to bleed. Perfect Dark would have survived, too, except it forgot to bring the Expansion Pak that held it's entire campaign. Whoops?

Survivor: Gears of War


#4 Batman: Arham City (Rocksteady, 2011) vs #13 Warcraft III (Blizzard, 2003)

Warcraft III, mismatched from the start, held off valiantly through 30 minutes of grinding, slogging, true RTS style ball denial. Arkham City, through no fault of it's own, was down by half a dozen entering the final five minutes of play. Then Arkham City remembered that it stars Batman, and it broke both of Warcraft III's collarbone/shin/spleens. The game was called due to blood loss.

The Winner, Vengeance, the Night: Batman


#6 BioShock (2k Games, 2007) vs #11 Halo: Reach (Bungie, 2010)

BioShock uses it's high-concept concept to race out to what seems to be an insurmountable lead, only to see Bungie's last Halo game make a furious comeback based solely on the fact that it is actually fun to play in large bursts. Unfortunately, it couldn't maintain it's own momentum, which is sad considering it's literally the easiest thing for a Halo game to do. BioShock wins in one of the better contests thus far.

#3 Half-Life 2 (Valve, 2004) vs # 14 Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare, 2009)


Half-Life 2 wins solely on the strength of one level. Ravenholm. Dragon Age fans get all upset and start complaining about how their game, the greatest game ever made, is so unjustly neglected. No one listens. Especially not BioWare. Half-Life 2 just won on the strength of one level alone. No big deal.

Has Ravenholm: Half-Life 2.

#7 Resident Evil 4 (Capcom, 2005) vs #10 Final Fantasy VIII (Square, 1998)


FFVIII comes agonizingly close to pulling an upset, until everyone realizes how terrible most of it's characters are and sobers up. The junction system is still cool, I guess. RE4 survives despite it's lack of coherence and and semblance of holding up over time. Hooray!

#2 GTA: San Andreas (Rockstar, 2004) vs #15 Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, 2008)


Brawl, though a decided underdog, becomes one of the darlings of the pre-tournament, building up a nigh-ridiculous amount of hype around itself. Then, Sonic grabbed a Super Smash and killed all the other players. San Andreas in a landslide.