Received the latest issue of the Swedish gaming magazine Level (I believe it's the best selling one) and thought I'd share their Best Of List. There's quite a lot of categories in the magazine so I'll be trimming it down some and I should point out that they only provide text for the number one spot (and I'll be skipping some of them). Also take their writing with a grain of salt since I'm surely to misrepresent some of what they're saying due to my shitty translation skills. But hopefully you'll get the gist of it.
Best newcomer:
5.) Vanquish
4.) Demon's Soul (Remember that this is a European magazine)
3.) Enslaved
2.) Heavy Rain
1.) Bayonetta
Hideki Kamiya abandoned Capcom but did not leave his heritage behind. Along with Platinum Games he brought Devil May Crys arcade spirit, cranked it up and founded the genre non-stop climax action. We are already looking forward to more.
Best sequel:
5.) Mass Effect 2
4.) Red Dead Redemption
3.) Super Mario Galaxy 2
2.) Starcraft 2
1.) Halo : Reach
It would have been easy for Bungie to settle with some new good levels and then be on their way. Instead we got a redesigned multiplayer, a new graphics engine, third person sequences, jetpacks, arcade like space battles and environments like nothing seen before in the series - and hundreds of small passes back to the series pasts. That's how you make a sequel.
Best Graphics:
5.) Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
4.) Red Dead Redemption
3.) Super Mario Galaxy 2
2.) Final Fantasy XIII
1.) Gran Turismo 5
At a press conference Kazunori Yamauchi showed pictures of real cars alongside ingame models and asked the audience to point out the original. We failed. With almost half a million polygons for each car model (the first one had 300) Gran Turismo 5 is the most photo realistic game to date. In a game that tries to simulate reality that is a crucial attribute.
Heroes of the Year:
5.) Per Strömback (Some dude in Sweden
)
4.) Super Meat Boy
3.) Suda 51
2.) York (Deadly Premonition)
1.) Noble Team
Villains of the Year:
5.) Tiger Woods (?)
4.) Team Ninja
3.) Kratos
2.) Bobby Kotick
1.) The Origami Killer
Best Innovation:
5.) Heavy Rain
4.) Gran Turismo 5
3.) Move
2.) Kinect
1.) Rock Band 3
Best Multiplayer:
5.) NHL 11
4.) Lara Craft and the Guardian of Light
3.) Call of Duty : Black Ops
2.) Halo : Reach
1.) Starcraft II
It's when the campaign ends that Starcraft II really starts going. Pro-gamers and amateurs, solo players or 4 player teams, Terran, Protoss and Zerg - there's something for everyone here. The battles on Battle.net is nothing short of a digital drug.
Good despite being Swedish (It comes off as much harsher in English) :
5.) The Fight
4.) Above
3.) Just Cause 2
2.) Amnesia : The Dark Descent
1.) Battlefield : Bad Company 2
Best Indie Game:
5.) Battle Kid
4.) Amnesia
3.) Super Meat Boy
2.) VVVVVV
1.) Limbo
DLC of the Year:
5.) The Lair of the Shadow Broker (Mass Effect 2)
4.) Minerva's Den (Bioshock 2)
3.) Case Zero (Dead Rising 2)
2.) Undead Nightmare (Red Dead Redemption)
1.) The Write (Alan Wake)
Best Portable Game:
5.) Cut the Rope (Iphone)
4.) Dodonpachi Resurrection (Iphone)
3.) God of War: Ghost of Sparta
2.) Metal Gear Solid : Peace Walker
1.) Might & Magic : Clash of Heroes
A perfect blend of strategy and puzzle.. Might & Magic : Clash of Heroes takes the troops from Heroes of Might & Magic and blends it with the simple, color matching based puzzling of a game like Puyo Puyo. The result is as simple as it is addicting.
Game of the Year:
5.) Ensalved
4.) Rock Band 3
3.) Bayonetta
2.) Starcraft II
1.) Super Mario Galaxy 2
When Super Mario Galaxy was release it seemed like the definite 3D plattformer. When you play the sequel it you understand it was only the beginning. Nintendo has filled its game with more brilliant ideas then the most developers can come up with during an entire lifespan. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a 242 star long smile.
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I'll sum up my opinions:
- No Civilization 5 makes me :'(
- No PSP or DS RPG makes me :'( Happy to see Capybara and Cave represented though!
- Kinect/Move as top innovations makes me :'(
- Enslaved and Rock Band 3 in Top 5 makes me :'(
- Weird that Halo: Reach became the best sequel of the year ahead of Galaxy 2 but didn't even show up on the GOTY.
Best newcomer:
5.) Vanquish
4.) Demon's Soul (Remember that this is a European magazine)
3.) Enslaved
2.) Heavy Rain
1.) Bayonetta
Hideki Kamiya abandoned Capcom but did not leave his heritage behind. Along with Platinum Games he brought Devil May Crys arcade spirit, cranked it up and founded the genre non-stop climax action. We are already looking forward to more.
Best sequel:
5.) Mass Effect 2
4.) Red Dead Redemption
3.) Super Mario Galaxy 2
2.) Starcraft 2
1.) Halo : Reach
It would have been easy for Bungie to settle with some new good levels and then be on their way. Instead we got a redesigned multiplayer, a new graphics engine, third person sequences, jetpacks, arcade like space battles and environments like nothing seen before in the series - and hundreds of small passes back to the series pasts. That's how you make a sequel.
Best Graphics:
5.) Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
4.) Red Dead Redemption
3.) Super Mario Galaxy 2
2.) Final Fantasy XIII
1.) Gran Turismo 5
At a press conference Kazunori Yamauchi showed pictures of real cars alongside ingame models and asked the audience to point out the original. We failed. With almost half a million polygons for each car model (the first one had 300) Gran Turismo 5 is the most photo realistic game to date. In a game that tries to simulate reality that is a crucial attribute.
Heroes of the Year:
5.) Per Strömback (Some dude in Sweden
)4.) Super Meat Boy
3.) Suda 51
2.) York (Deadly Premonition)
1.) Noble Team
Villains of the Year:
5.) Tiger Woods (?)
4.) Team Ninja
3.) Kratos
2.) Bobby Kotick
1.) The Origami Killer
Best Innovation:
5.) Heavy Rain
4.) Gran Turismo 5
3.) Move
2.) Kinect
1.) Rock Band 3
Best Multiplayer:
5.) NHL 11
4.) Lara Craft and the Guardian of Light
3.) Call of Duty : Black Ops
2.) Halo : Reach
1.) Starcraft II
It's when the campaign ends that Starcraft II really starts going. Pro-gamers and amateurs, solo players or 4 player teams, Terran, Protoss and Zerg - there's something for everyone here. The battles on Battle.net is nothing short of a digital drug.
Good despite being Swedish (It comes off as much harsher in English
) : 5.) The Fight
4.) Above
3.) Just Cause 2
2.) Amnesia : The Dark Descent
1.) Battlefield : Bad Company 2
Best Indie Game:
5.) Battle Kid
4.) Amnesia
3.) Super Meat Boy
2.) VVVVVV
1.) Limbo
DLC of the Year:
5.) The Lair of the Shadow Broker (Mass Effect 2)
4.) Minerva's Den (Bioshock 2)
3.) Case Zero (Dead Rising 2)
2.) Undead Nightmare (Red Dead Redemption)
1.) The Write (Alan Wake)
Best Portable Game:
5.) Cut the Rope (Iphone)
4.) Dodonpachi Resurrection (Iphone)
3.) God of War: Ghost of Sparta
2.) Metal Gear Solid : Peace Walker
1.) Might & Magic : Clash of Heroes
A perfect blend of strategy and puzzle.. Might & Magic : Clash of Heroes takes the troops from Heroes of Might & Magic and blends it with the simple, color matching based puzzling of a game like Puyo Puyo. The result is as simple as it is addicting.
Game of the Year:
5.) Ensalved
4.) Rock Band 3
3.) Bayonetta
2.) Starcraft II
1.) Super Mario Galaxy 2
When Super Mario Galaxy was release it seemed like the definite 3D plattformer. When you play the sequel it you understand it was only the beginning. Nintendo has filled its game with more brilliant ideas then the most developers can come up with during an entire lifespan. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a 242 star long smile.
---------------------------------------
I'll sum up my opinions:
- No Civilization 5 makes me :'(
- No PSP or DS RPG makes me :'( Happy to see Capybara and Cave represented though!
- Kinect/Move as top innovations makes me :'(
- Enslaved and Rock Band 3 in Top 5 makes me :'(
- Weird that Halo: Reach became the best sequel of the year ahead of Galaxy 2 but didn't even show up on the GOTY.
