I played a lot of stuff from this year, and this game still had a very lasting impression on me. Anybody else pick this as their personal game of the year?

The Last of Us

It's in the top three. Last of Us is my game of the year, with Bioshock probably in second, followed by Tomb Raider.

It's probably third on my list, behind Saints Row IV and Stanley Parable. Didn't play that many games this year, to be honest.

It's my favorite.

It's number 2 on my list, but thats only because I have played so much DotA this year. Bioshock Infinite is really an incredibile game, and the combat was more fun than everyone made it seem it was going to be.

For me yes. tho fire emblem and assassins creed 4 where really close to

Fourth on my list.

Yes! I'm so surprised that it seems like anywhere you go on the internet people make it sound like it was the most disappointing game of the year. I really loved every minute of it.

No

My game of the year is actually a three way tie between The Last of Us, GTA, and this. I loved all three and thought they were all amazing.

It's basically the only game I played this year that actually came out this year.

There's a chance it would be beaten out by TLoU, supposing that I had the chance to play it, but Infinite's story turns drew audible reactions from me more than once.

Yepper. It was the most enjoyable experience I've had this year.

Pretty close! But GTA V for me. I had it third. I find some of the blowback on this one odd and forced but hey.

Yes.

Absolutely not. Fire Emblem all the way

Yes. Yes it is.

In fact, here's a list. The most correctest one.

#4 on my list but I still love it dearly.

Yes.

No. But if I had a top 10 list it would (probably) be on there. I was pretty disappointed with it though. I was expecting a lot more than a linear fps with super powers. Not only was Irrationals initial description for 1999 mode falsifed, but their first few 'gameplay trailers' are far from what the actual game is. I was under the assumption that I was going to be playing a game with complex levels, randomness, and lots of player choice.

@wmoyer83: Wait a minute...That card...

Right behind Tomb Raider. I had no expectations and loved it way more than I could've imagined.

It is in my top five but it isn't #1. I'm only just now playing The Last of Us and it might be a surprise last minute winner.

It's in my top 10, but only because I've played less than 10 games this year. Same goes for The Last of Us.

I don't have a top ten but I think The Last of Us had a better story. Neither game was perfect but TLOU stands out for me this year.

Yep.

What if I loved it... and I thought it was the most disappointing game of the year?

No, but it'd probably in my top-10, if only because I haven't played 10 games that came out this year. The combat and level design was really repetitive, and I didn't really think the story was anything spectacular.

Not really sure how that's possible unless you have rock bottom expectations for all video games nowadays, or had sky high expectations for Bioshock Infinite.

No. It's sixth out of six on my list so far and there are still a few games I haven't played yet.

liked it but no, to much plot holes: spaghetti plot != a good plot.

No. I haven't made a list, but it probably wouldn't make top ten. I'm not saying it's a bad game, I've just played a lot of stuff this year. I think it's flawed in a very critical way though, and those flaws very much impacted my enjoyment of the experience. Unlike the first BioShock, which though very obviously flawed (that ending), managed to leave a very positive lasting impression. And it seems like the more time that passes the less I care about Infinite. At this point when I look back all I can think is that it was a pretty cool world that I enjoyed exploring, and that's about it.

But who knows. I haven't spent any great deal of time thinking up a list, so maybe it would make it in around the bottom of a top ten.

Yup, is my #1 from this year. The haters don't phase me.

@president_barackbar: I don't think it's a contradiction, really. I had a fantastic time playing the game, but I also thought almost every aspect of it could have been many times better.

To throw out some random examples...

The sky-lines were a blast, controlled surprisingly well, but were only really necessary in the last battle, and they were never very cleverly or excitingly integrated into their arenas.

The vigors were all beautifully designed, fun to use on their own, and even moreso in combinations, but the usefulness of them was never well explained and the fights were rarely designed to make them any more helpful than just shooting dudes.

The story was unique and fascinating, but the pacing was bad, the character beats/developments were awkward, and the changes in tone were impactfully jarring.

Basically the game presented on its own was good, but very, very flawed. It was only when I pushed myself to try things further than the game was pushing me, and overlook the flaws, that I had a great experience. When I made myself use the sky-lines even though I had no need to, when I focused on mainly vigors even though it seemed the game was at best indifferent, and when I enjoyed the story from the things that I inferred, rather than what was presented... I loved it.

My list would be pretty meager, as I have only played a handful of 2013 titles. However, considering that Infinite, to me, was on par with the original Bioshock, which was my all-time favorite game, it must be my game of the year. I actually thought it was the most complete game I've ever played; it excelled in all aspects. I played the game twice, and my second playthrough was surprisingly better than the first, even though the ending didn't have quite the same impact.

@joshwent: Ok, I can totally see what you mean now. And honestly, the first game had a lot of what you described about needing to infer things or abide by the rules the game wants you to follow (like not just using the wrench and shock plasmid). But I honestly don't think it detracted from the game one bit, as I am someone willing to abide by those rules.

No way

nope, it's interesting game, I found a lot of actually good. But it could have done better job in a different gameplay style. Maybe years from now they will explain development of the game, and Burial at Sea seems to be better then the original released game.

Padded, bullet sponging gameplay with a very nice intro and neat ending. The gameplay itself is sub-par and I feel people are letting the strong opening negate the step back in gameplay over previous BioShocks. (the combat is less varied and more linear)

But damn, the highs of that game are so fucking good. The entire first hour of walking around columbia is so spectacular, and then they ruin it with what is nothing but run of the mill FPS combat and audiolog collecting.

Not even close.

Yes. I have high hopes for it doing well in the overall GOTY on Friday. I'm guessing... 3rd or 2nd depending on how much Brad and Patrick push it down and how much Drew, Alex and Jeff push it up. I think Vinny will be somewhere in the middle since he ranked it at 4.

Yes. There have been some other strong contenders this year, but I'm a huge sucker for atmosphere in games and Infinite had it in spades from beginning to end. The music and setpiece design was top-notch as well.

All of this GOTY stuff is making me want to go replay it, actually.

Nope! It's behind both TLoU and GTA V on my list.

Its not my game of the year, but its a game i enjoyed this year.

Yes, and I'd probably put it in my top 10 best games of all time.

No. Initially I found it's story, world and characters to be great, but the actual 'game play' wasn't particularly enjoyable, and I didn't feel like it had moved on in the slightest from the original Bioshock. The weapons, fighting, collectables, recordings etc felt increasingly boring and stale compared to games of the last several years. I played Tomb Raider immediately after this and in comparison the 'game play' felt much better and more enjoyable as a result.

It's third on my list. It might have been higher if I played on normal my first time through instead of hard. Vamping difficulty through bullet sponging has been my least favorite design trend of the generation.

It's close

Nah, that spot is reserved for Saints Row 4. It might be like, six or so but I haven't really thought of much past the top four spots.

I don't understand how BioShock Infinite is actually showing up in so much GOTY stuff. That game is forgettable in every way. The characters are kind of crap, the storytelling is ham-fisted, the gameplay is awful, and I find Elizabeth to be one of the most soulless, exploitative, pandering female characters I've ever seen in a video game. I cannot believe that Tomb Raider got a big uproar about what its designer merely said, and almost nothing has been said of the fact that Elizabeth is nothing but a design to appeal to a male audience made to look like a woman. How can a thing somebody said be so bad, when far worse is put into practice so blatantly and nobody in the video game industry makes a stink about it, comparatively?

And then there's all the potential themes that the game could have touched on to make interesting storytelling, but squanders absolutely every opportunity. The issues of race, exceptionalism, nationalism, Americanism, sexism, history, culture, all of it is either completely ignored or actively trampled on by its ham-fisted delivery of it's nonsensical self-indulgent made up bullshit. It was a game with historical themes, and yet it seemed incredibly unaware of history. It was a game with racial themes, and yet it invariably handled them similarly myopically, seemingly painting with incredibly broad, meaningless strokes because that's as far as its understanding goes. From start to finish, that game had so many opportunities to look at things, to say something, to mean something, and it never did.

That game was one of the sourest experiences I had all year, even with the art direction and graphics being completely spectacular. BioShock Infinite makes me want Ken Levine to get tossed out and make Ragnar Tørnquist do all the writing for that studio from now on.