11. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (Action, Adventure / PC, PS3, Xbox 360 / Ubisoft)
The third installment of the second installment of this series (…wait, what?) improves, in many ways on its predecessor, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, but mostly fails to fully measure up. If you’ve loved the series, like I have, many plot lines tie up as others unfold; it is a must play for those who want to learn the fate of Altair and Ezio, while slowly developing Desmond. The story is full of well-realized and interesting characters, fun and exciting plot devices and wonderful locales, but where AC really shines is in its gameplay. Not much has changed from its previous iterations, which is a welcome return to the fluid, mostly intuitive and occasionally frustrating environment traversal AC fans have come to love. In my opinion, the most glaring error in this installment was the addition of a tower defense game, thrown in as a punishment for losing previously captured sections of the city. Was this the best Assassin’s Creed, no, but it was a mostly fun and well-crafted gaming experience.
10. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Action, Adventure / Mac, PC, PS3, Xbox 360/ Ubisoft)
I think what I love most about Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the aesthetic. You’re placed in a future world where gold neon and augmented humans rule. You are forced to choose a side in the war between those who choose to augment their bodies with cybernetics, and those who think the act is an abomination. Full of fun, stealthy combat and story-affecting choices, the only real problem with Deus Ex are the boss battles. Farming out any of your gameplay to another company rarely works, and here, you are punished for playing the game in the way Ubisoft intended, a mix of stealth and evasive combat, by having to trudge through these fight-or-die bosses. Besides a disappointing PowerPoint ending, Deus Ex has a real “human” story to tell. It looks beautiful, and is worth any gamer’s time.
9. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Action, Adventure / PS3 / Naughty Dog)
I don’t know how Naughty Dog can crank out the best Indiana Jones movies year after year, but they do. The set pieces and over-the-top action really shine in this heart-pounding and always entertaining action shooter. We finally get some real character development between Drake, Elena and Sully, that pulls at your heart while it satisfies your trigger finger. Unfortunately, the shooting mechanics were a pain to master, and I found myself having to play through sections many times before making any progress. It is punishing, but you are rewarded with intense and beautiful locales, fun platforming sequences, and great adventure. Indie would be proud.
8. Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery (Adventure / iOS / Superbrothers and Capybara Games)
You know what I love about indie (as in “independent”, not “Indiana Jones”) games? They are allowed to take chances. Sword and Sworcery did just that. With its 8-bit look and gripping synthy music, S&S is more like playing a finely crafted piece of art than a game. Did I mention the music is awesome? The story is pretty basic, acquire the item, kill the beast, save the peoples, but it is told in such a fun and funny way, it feels completely fresh and engaging. It is sometimes dark, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad, and sometimes magical. If you are a fan of Braid, Bastion, Limbo, and daring indie titles like these, this game is a must play. Did I mention the music is amazing?
7. Saints Row the Third (Action, Adventure / PC, PS3, Xbox 360 / Volition)
Saints Row the Third is disgusting, sexist, childish, ridiculous, asinine, and one of the most fun games I have ever played. Where to begin… I had to drive 80mph with an angry tiger in the passenger seat without hitting anything so he didn’t scratch me to death. I had to save a pimp from an S&M club using him as a horse in a gimp-style chariot race. I had to kill bunny mascots while avoiding death traps on a reality show called Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax. I had to throw myself into oncoming traffic repeatedly to rack up insurance fraud cash. I drove a car that sucks up pedestrians into a giant cannon and used them as ammo. One of the characters speaks every line with auto tune. And spoiler: BURT EFFING REYNOLDS! This game is so shocking and hilarious; you have to see it to believe it. Volition’s philosophy: Is it fun? Keep it in. Is it tedious? Take it out. Why don’t more developers think this way?
6. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (RPG / PC, Xbox 360 / CD Projekt RED)
You know how most RPGs give you “important” choices to make, later to find out they had little to no impact on the story (Dragon Age 2 ring a bell)? Well the Witcher 2 does not have that problem. I never played the first Witcher, but was easily able to get into the world. The story of the Witcher is rife with interesting lore, grey morality, and tough decisions that completely change the game. For instance, early on you are asked to side with one faction or another. Depending on this choice, you will have a completely different story, characters and locales. This is for 10 hours of content; it’s basically two completely separate games in one. The gameplay is challenging and doesn’t hold your hand in the early levels. You are forced to play defensively and learn to use all of your abilities even against lesser enemies. The look of the world is breathtaking and really shows off the graphical divide that is happening between PCs and current consoles at the end of their cycle. I’m very glad I got to play this game and would highly recommend it to gamers who love RPGs with real consequences.
5. Star Wars: The Old Republic (MMORPG / PC / Bioware)
Bioware really knows how to tell a story. I’ve played over 100 hours of this game and feel like I have barely seen any of it. Taking place a thousand years before the movies, you are asked to side with the Galactic Republic or the Sith Empire. Within these factions you are constantly making choices for good or ill that affect your character and the quests of which they are involved. The main story for each class is unique and wonderfully told, with twists, betrayals and shocking moments a plenty. The gameplay is your usual MMO fair, yet the animations add weight and a visceral impact to the combat. You have many ways to play with others, from groups of 16 working together to kill a world boss, down to the great solo play with your computer-controlled companion. SWTOR is more than an MMO, it’s a great game, and I am
looking forward to hundreds more hours experiencing it.
4. Bastion (Action / PC, Xbox 360 / Supergiant Games)
Bastion is something special. It is 15-bucks on Steam, stop reading this and get it right now… Go ahead I’ll wait... Back? Okay. The story is told quite literally by a lone drifter with a gravelly voice that narrates your every action. This sounds annoying, but it is wonderfully executed. You are a kid from a broken world, trying to build your home back to its former glory. The story is told through its music as much as its narration, introducing tragic and hopeful characters along the way, and an ending that will always stay with me. The music is such a magical blend of dusty guitars, melancholy vocals, break beats and eastern-influence, it oozes style. The gameplay is basic, yet very satisfying, giving you a myriad of ways to slay your foes, and many challenges along the way. Bastion is one of those special experiences I put up there with Limbo, Portal, and Sword and Sworcery. This is a game gamers will refer to for many years to come, don’t pass this one up.
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (RPG / PC, PS3, Xbox 360 / Bethesda Studios)
Skyrim should have been my game of the year, but I played it on the PS3. Despite its game-breaking bugs, Skyrim is one of the greatest games ever made, period. Boasting over 300 hours of content, the world of Skyrim feels so alive and real, you forget you are not actually a Norse man hunting dragons. The systems in place to run this game are mind-boggling. Every NPC has a job, eats when it’s hungry, sleeps in its home, interacts with others, and generally acts like a real person would in most situations. This makes a game that is wonderfully dynamic and always changing. I’ve never had so much fun just walking around and discovering things. In my near 70-hours played I have barely touched the main story line; there is just so much to see and experience in Skyrim. It’s much more than a game, it’s a world.
2. Portal 2 (Action, Adventure, Puzzle / PC, PS3, Xbox 360 / Valve)
Not many games are truly funny. Not many games make you feel smart. Not many games are this fun. Portal 2 is the complete package. Spot-on gameplay? Check. Dazzling story with even better characters? Check. A world that is unique and compelling? Triple check. Everything from the pacing, the humor, the mechanics, the voice acting, the music, you name it, has such a polish, Wheatley could see the gleam from space. Portal 2 takes place in a long-abandoned scientific testing facility controlled by a ruthless AI named GLaDOS. You must escape using your wits and diverse and challenging game mechanics. You never feel so smart as when you figure out the solution to a room that has been irking you for hours. I don’t know how Valve does it, but Portal 2 is such a wonderfully fun and funny experience, it is an absolute joy to play.
1. Batman: Arkham City (Action, Adventure / PC, PS3, Xbox 360 / Rocksteady Studios)
Let me preface this by saying I am a Batman fan… ok maybe that is too tame… I am a Batman super fan; he is my favorite superhero, hands down. In 1989, Tim Burton first showed me his take on the Caped Crusader, and 20 years later, Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum took me to a whole new level of affection for the character. Since then I have been scouring the streets of Gotham, reading “The Killing Joke”, “Hush”, “The Dark Knight Returns”, “Year One”, and the current series of comics. “The Dark Knight” is in my top 5 favorite movies of all time. Why am I telling you this? I want to make my bias clear up front. It is one factor into why Batman: Arkham City was my 2011 game of the year, but it is by no means the most important. Here it what is: this is the most fun game I have ever played. The controls are perfect, tight, intuitive, responsive, and the actions feel like they are supposed to. The combat is sublime, and always make you feel like a larger-than-life superhero. The streets are teeming with villains, and the story is one of the very best Batman stories ever told. If I had a complaint it would be that sometimes I felt like I was being pulled in too many directions at once, with TOO MUCH to do, but what a great complaint to have. Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy give Oscar worthy performances as the Joker and Batman; Hamill won this year’s Spike VGA for best voice actor. This is a game I rushed through because I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next, but at the same time, always wanted to linger to discover all of Arkham City’s secrets. Rocksteady shows a real care to detail and polish that so many games don’t have these days. I am excited to play this again and again, and can’t wait to see what Rocksteady has in store for us next.
Well, that does it for my 11 of 11. What were some of your favorite games? Did I miss anything you think should be on the list? Did you agree or disagree with any of my selections? With excellent games like these and what we have in store for 2012, damn it feels good to be a gamer!
A few months back my computer monitor died. Searching around the internet told me that my problem may be a blown capacitor and it was a $2 part. So I called around. The cheapest repair I could find was over $100. I thought, "How hard can it be to replace a capacitor?"
metals, endless passageways, lava, and even a dungeon full of enemies and treasure! This world is huge! It's scary and full of discovery! I feel like a kid again! Like I'm in my fort keeping the monsters at bay!
"Bit. Trip Beat" is "Pong" meets Paul Oakenfold in this retro-trippy, rhythm game. More than a little difficult, I spent hours being punished only to return for more. The music is fun, thumping, 8-bit fair that sets the old-meets-new tone for the game. The stylistic graphics, matching that of the games music, make this a challenging and fun title I must recommend to gamers looking to reminisce about their early days of gaming.
"GOD OF WAR"!!! This game is HUGE! It's MEAN!! It's TESTOSTERONE INCARNATE!!! BOOBIES!!!! Santa Monica has really gone all out with this title. The game play is highly satisfying, the pacing is spot on and the game design is wonderful. It is truly a sight to behold. The boss battles, the enormous set pieces, this is a Hollywood blockbuster on steroids. I found the ending to be somewhat implausible from a character standpoint, but the ride was absolutely thrilling.
I know, this game is actually came out in 2009, but I'm not reviewing that version (which I did purchase for the PC back then). This is a review of the 2010 iPhone version! "Plants vs. Zombies" really shines with touch controls. This one of only a couple of games my wife will play over and over. The graphics and game play are super fun as you try to defend your home from a horde of ravenous zombies! This has something for all types of gamers.
Let's just admit it, "Star Craft" is the king of real-time strategy, and Blizzard is possibly the king of game developers, they're definitely the most profitable. The production value of this title is through the roof. Everything from the voice acting to the multi player maps are polished to a fine sheen. I found the campaign to be well paced, fun, and beautiful to behold. Its obvious merits withstanding, I would have preferred that the cut scenes were pre rendered, rather than using the in-game engine with my getting-quite-old graphics card. Also, the learning curve, especially in the multi player ladder system, is quite steep. It seems unbalanced when you can defeat multiple NPC opponents on high difficulties, but don't stand a chance against the lowest of human counterparts. I had a lot of fun and equal frustration with this game, mostly due to my own ineptitude.
Man this game is heart-racing! "Heavy Rain" broke so many barriers, it was an experience that changed what I thought games could do. You decide how the story plays out. There is no "game over" screen. If a character dies because of your choices, that character will not return in the rest of the story. This also creates a myriad of different endings and plot twists that make re playability high. I have yet to revisit "Heavy Rain" because the experience was freaking intense! I guess I'm still deciding if I want to put myself through this game again, haha.
Bioware is currently my favorite developer. Their stories are so well told, and finally in "Mass Effect 2", unlike the previous installment in the series, the game play has been brought up to match. The choices you make, the incredible graphics, the thrilling design, this game is phenomenal. You learn to love your team, making the final battle exciting on a level rarely achieved in any medium. I played through this game twice back-to-back in order to experience the extremes of the story telling. As a paragon, I was able to save the lives of all of my crew, but as a renegade, I lost one. While my first play through had a somewhat underwhelming ending, I must say losing the crew member really gave a deep emotional impact to the overall story. This marks the first time I have played a game and have been glad for the mistakes I had made. In any case, there are many ways to experience this deep and highly entertaining story. "Mass Effect 2" will top many lists this year.
This game is like fourteen bucks (the price is in euros, I forget what it was in dollars). There is no story. There are no quests. There are no bosses. There is almost no loot. The graphics are 8-bit. There is almost no music. And I haven't been addicted to a game like this since WoW. This game makes me feel like a kid, a kid who is afraid of the dark. A kid playing legos hiding from invisible enemies in the dark. If you would like to read more, I go into greater detail in a post. Do not miss this game.
"Red Dead Redemption" made me LOVE a genre I hated as a child. I won't go into a full rave about Red Dead, as I've written a post previously, but man, what a rich and wonderful world Rockstar has re imagined. I could play this game forever.
I hate Westerns. Always have.
Red Dead Redemption not only gives you a wonderful story, but a deep and engrossing world full of individual stories, ones that vary widely from person to person. Its world is so full of character and wonder, I could spend hours living within it. What other medium can do this? Roger Ebert, have anything to say?
