1. Borderlands 2 ; This comes in at the top almost more because of the sheer amount of time I've put into this game, and have continued to do so since I recently purchased the season pass. The work they've put into the DLC is pretty mind-blowing as well. I can't believe how large Pirate Booty is, and there are still 2 more to come.
2. Mass Effect 3 ; I'm in the same mind as
Brad Shoemaker, where I'm recognizing the series as a whole (a la the Oscars with Return of the King) instead of just this installment. Feelings on the ending aside, Bioware attempted something extremely ambitious and I feel for the most part were very successful.
3. The Walking Dead ; Only 3 episodes in, and while I see all the mechanical problems that I've heard/read about, it's still a great experience, and I am eagerly looking forward to finishing the story. (and possibly starting a fresh run making different decisions)
4. Silent Hill: Downpour ; What a pleasant surprise! Having never played any Silent Hill games, I really didn't have any compass for which to gauge this title. It seriously piqued my interest in the franchise, but unfortunately the problems with the HD remake collection will have me waiting for the next installment.
5. Assassin's Creed 3 ; Similar to Mass Effect, this is again more of recognition of the series so far than just this particular release. Sure, it lacked the level of polish the previous releases had, but the core gameplay of parkour and stabbing was still intact and super fun. My feeling is that this title suffered more from a change in leadership with Patrick Desilets' absence than anything else. Add to the fact that the series has not experienced the same jump in quality like it did between 1 & 2, and I think it underwhelmed a lot more than it should have.
6. Alan Wake's American Nightmare ; I loved the original Alan Wake so much, and this was a great example of how 'more of the same' is NOT a bad thing. I quietly wonder if Remedy had released the original as a series of downloadable episodes if they would have beaten Telltale Games to the punch.
7. Deadlight ; A great little 3D sidescrolling puzzle platformer, reminiscent of Shadow Complex (minus the Metroid/Zelda backtracking to unlock inaccessible areas). Some slightly unorthodox control scheme choices makes for some mild frustrations here and there, but all in all a well done story and a fun game.
8. Asura's Wrath ; Just finished this one up this morning (minus the DLC episodes), and wow, what a wild ride. So angry. So bombastic. So awesome.
9. Binary Domain ; I had way more fun with this than I probably should have. It had all the makings for a mediocre 3rd person shooter experience, but somehow the whole ended up being greater than the sum of its parts. The over-the-top dudebros, the squad system, the upgrading system and the great story twist at the end made for a super fun experience that I would highly recommend.
10. Syndicate ; A really fun game that I think was marred by what seems to be typical gamer backlash against reboots of older, beloved games. This was another one that looked to be a 'meh' kind of experience, but actually ended up being a lot of fun, especially considering the well worn futuristic corporate dystopia milieu that the game was set in. I think if more people had played this, they wouldn't have been as butthurt about Mass Effect 3's ending. (Yeah, it was pretty bad.) I'm also sorry there wasn't more people playing the multi-player, it was great fun that petered out too quickly.
2011. Catherine ; In all fairness, this should probably be up around #4, but I the rules are the rules. The way that Vincent's behavior in the 'real world' was reflected in the nightmare sequences was brilliant. Really, an almost perfect example of gameplay feedback loops.