It's late (3:23 am, just wrote this) so... yeah ignore the waffle and stuff
1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
For me this game is a masterpiece, not just simply the best game of the year, but one of the best ever to be graced upon mankind. I feel that Ocarina of Time has finally been beaten with this latest adventure of Link. From the get go you are introduced to a brilliant art style that merges both the adult look of Twlight Princess and the more cartoon vision in Wind Waker. It’s a style that I hope Nintendo keeps when moving Zelda onto the Wii U as seeing it in standard definition is simply gorgeous, I can only imagine what that would be like in full 1080p.
It’s not just the graphics that are refreshing, god no, what Skyward Sword does is promote the very reason why we should use motion control in games. The combat in Skyward Sword is masterful, so much so that I can’t imagine a Zelda game without it anymore. Being able to attack in eight different angles spices up the combat more than you could imagine, and Nintendo knows this since a lot of encounters are based around this new ability. After finishing this and playing other games that featured melee based combat, they just didn’t capture me in the same way that the motion controls did in this game. To finish it off Skyward Sword has some of the best dungeon designs and puzzles EVER in the series. They are smart and aren’t just the old classic move blocks and light fires. Nintendo did well by celebrating 25 years of this epic franchise, and they did it by making this, one of the best games ever. Congrats Nintendo.
2. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
This is without a doubt, in my opinion, the best western RPG to date. What’s surprising is that if you played the first Witcher game you might not have thought that CD Projekt Red could pull something like that off, it this is their second game in the studio’s life after all.
With some crazy witchcraft they’ve brought us a game with a very interesting and deep story along with choices in dialogue and quests that can’t simply be deciphered as “this is the good way or this is the bad way” unlike some other western RPGs of late. Gone is the strange rock, paper, scissors style combat of the first game and is replaced with a more streamline, faster paced combat that is quite challenging. Mix this up with some of the best graphics seen to date in both technical and art then you can see why the Witcher 2 deserves to be on any Game of the Year list, it’s just that damn good.
3. Uncharted 3
I was super stoked for this title since Uncharted 2 was my favourite game of 2009. That said I still do think Uncharted 2 is the best in the series, probably due to Uncharted 3 being more of same, but 3 is still an amazing piece of gaming itself. Its set pieces still manage to be jaw dropping, making the player feel like they are in some big budget Hollywood action adventure film. What was nice about the third entry is that it also fit in some slower pace sections, like the desert situation, seeing how Drake is obsessed with finding the treasure he’s always being seeking for. Apart from the initial aiming problem, that is now patched, the combat is improved, featuring one of the best grenade throw back mechanics ever. Naughty Dog has done wonders on Drake’s likely last PlayStation 3 adventure.
4. Super Mario 3D Land
It’s the best portable Mario game ever. That’s a bold statement for me to make, but I feel that Super Mario 3D Land captures everything that makes a Mario title great. It feels familiar, with its mixture of open spaced galaxy style platforming, yet manages to incorporate levels that feel as if Super Mario Bros 3 just got redone for the 3D era. I don’t know what magic they use at Nintendo, but after making plenty of Mario titles it seems Nintendo can always throw something in to make the next instalment seem refreshing. It’s also the only game so far on the 3DS system that incorporates 3D into bits of the gameplay, and that means it needs to be noted.
5. Dark Souls
Yes! I love myself some Demon’s Souls, and I was so chuffed about the sequel that bests the first game in every way. Gone are the level stages, instead Dark Souls implements an open world style environment where every location is connected in some way. The difficulty is still there, something that I wouldn’t want to change at all. But along with that are the improvements to the combat system and the online system, which was so unique in the first game. In this one you get to join clans and that clan affects how people will see you online, be it guarding forests for people who aren’t part of the forest guild, or just being a nuisance and sending enemies into other people’s worlds to steal their souls. It’s clever how it handles online, and in 2011 this was one of the true hardcore games. Goodbye to holding my hand.
6. Saints Row: The Third
I was super disappointed with the serious tone of Rockstar’s GTA IV, thankfully Volition wanted to make the third tale of the Third Street Saints a bit of a wacky one. Where to start with this game… well I can say that Saints Row: The Third is absolute BONKERS. Not just a tiny bit, but holy bat shit insane that your mind just keeps asking “What the hell were those guys smoking when they made this?” Driving with a tiger in a car, fighting in cyberspace combatting lag with wrongly equipped avatars (a walking toilet with a gun is a lot funnier than it sounds) and meeting Burt “Fucking” Reynolds puts this game on my list for those facts alone, oh and it’s also one of the best open world experiences I’ve ever played, pure adultery fun.
7. Ghost Trick
It’s not often you can tell people that you played a game where you take on the role as a dead man after he is murdered. Out of all the portable games I managed to get through this year, this title from Shu Takumi (the dude who created the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series) is a refreshing twist on the adventure puzzle genre. If we had awards for the most imaginative games then Ghost Trick would easily make it to the top with its brilliant thought out manipulation chain reaction solutions. Add to this with solid characters with amusing personalities, fantastic music from the composer of Phoenix Wright, and the game’s slick 2d animations, and you’ve got yourself one of the best handheld games of the year.
8. Shadows of the Damned
It’s Resident Evil 4 with adult humour, personality and great characters. If that doesn’t get you interested then you should stop reading and go hang your head in shame since you all should have experienced the journey of Garcia “Fucking” Hotspur and his ever changing gun Johnson (yes he turns into a big boner!). These two work off each other so well, like a stand up comedian duo, just listen to them reading the story books in the game about the game’s bosses and you’ll understand.
It’s got some big names behind it, like Shinji Mikami, Suda 51 and the brilliant Silent Hill audio composer Akira Yamaoka. What this means for us is that we get the craziness of Suda 51 but matched with some great gameplay and a top soundtrack. It’s a game that’s genuinely funny without being awkward.
Shadows of the Damned is probably the best game that you didn’t play, since no one bloody bought the thing.
9. Bastion
Every year there’s always one surprising game that pops up out of the whole pile of AAA titles on the market. Bastion is Supergiant Games first game and boy what an amazing why to start your company’s portfolio. What’s special about Bastion is how it evolves the way of storytelling in video games. As you play, a Narrator (and also a character in the game) speaks about the actions that are happening on the screen and the progress of the character, making for a unique and damn right cool experience as you play through the adventure. It’s not just a one hit wonder though as Bastion has GORGEOUS hand painted like graphics and a brilliant soundtrack that when all merged with the light RPG style gameplay comes off as sheer brilliance. The best downloadable title of the year.
10. Batman: Arkham City
After playing Batman: Arkham Asylum, who doesn’t want more Batman? It put superhero games on that map. Not once before was it ever imagined that a superhero game could be contender for Game of the Year, yet Rocksteady told us you can. Now two years later we are here with the sequel which takes everything from Asylum and makes it bigger and better, adds more villains and new gameplay mechanics built on top of the amazing ones already in place. The combat is still one of the best in its genre, and it gets you pumping with high adrenaline. Anyone with the pad in hand while playing Arkham City actually turns into Batman as he smashes skulls and pummels dudes to dea…knockout. That’s how much it makes you feel like the greatest detective.
