Best Story - Portal 2
By the simplest and most reductive definition of story Portal 2 does not deserve the accolade. After all it is nothing but escaping a facility and defeating an evil sentient robot. However, what makes the story of Portal 2 so memorable is the manner in which it is told and the ability for Valve to take what was ostensibly a game in Portal 1 and turn it into a universe with Portal 2. To a large degree this is due to the amazing dialogue and voice work of the supporting cast of Wheatley, GLaDOS, & Cave Johnson (see: Best New Character) who fill out the world and give it personality and context. The retro levels with Cave Johnson were great because they give a great deal of history but more importantly flesh out the personality of Aperture Science and its workers. The betrayal of Wheatley was great not because of how it happened but because of the attachment the player had with him. The alliance with GLaDOS was similarly great because of the history and conflicts the player had with her. The characters give the world of Portal 2 a great sense of identity and while it does tie back to the Half-Life universe they do a great job of making it matter on its own. It tells a funny, touching, and powerful story from start to finish and is your choice for Story of the Year
Runner Up: Bastion
Best Ending - Portal 2
As mentioned earlier the story in Portal 2 is a great, powerful, and emotional story. It also played host to one of the most powerful endings in a game one that conveyed a multitude of emotions from the player. At the beginning is the feeling of retribution as the player confronts Wheatley to shut him down and take back the facility. This turns to fear as Wheatley fights back and floods the chamber with nerve gas giving the situation a sense of urgency. From there the game instills hope as all 3 cores are placed and the core transfer is initiated only to experience shock as the trigger is rigged. Then the game provides what is possibly the biggest HOLY SHIT!!!! moment in any game when you see the ceiling crumble away and the moon visible. Firing that portal at the moon and the scene that followed is one of the biggest moments in games that easily dropped a lot of jaws across the world. This all culminates in the return of GLaDOS to her perennial throne. Finally the player is treated to a joyful, funny, and charming ending in which they are bid farewell by an opera of turrets and a cameo by the Animal King himself and finally are thrust out into the world with their faithful companion cube.
With all that said it still was not enough. Valve continued to one-up themselves by including another harmonious musical piece by GLaDOS that continues to entartain and inform. Finally as the curtain draws we are treated to the final monologue of Wheatley as he regrets his actions. This scene is both touching and hilarious as the space personality core throws his great Internet Meme in the background. Portal 2 is your choice for Best Ending of the Year
Runner Up: Bastion
The Unsung Game of the Year - Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
The Nintendo DS was one of the hallmarks in handheld gaming. It recieved a lot of criticism before its release but since has proven to be one of the most unique and creative gaming devices around. There have been many games that utilized various features of the DS and some did so in some very creative ways. The addition of the DSLite and DSi were excellent that greatly improved the ergonomics of the system and its broad appeal. As the twilight of the DS approach to make way for the 3DS many developers began to move their efforts over to that platform. Thus like many consoles the final batch of games for the DS were substandard at best. One game that was the exact opposite and blew away many gamers was Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. This game was developed by Capcom and led by the same team that gave birth to the Phoenix Wright series. The story follows a man who at the beginning of the game finds out that he is dead and is now a ghost. However, he finds that he can possess objects in the world and interact with them. He uses these powers to save people who are being assassinated an can possess the body of the victims to go back in time and prevent their murder.
Like many DS games there is a very unique gameplay experience found here. Players can move back in time to see how a situation develops and then interact with objects in the environment to alter the path of players or point them in certain directions or distract the assassins giving the victims a chance to escape. As the game progresses there is increasing complexity of the puzzles and they become a Rube Goldberg experience of creating a chain reaction effect of objects in the world. It is very fun to play and much like any good puzzle game the satisfaction of finally solving a puzzle is very high. This is also backed up by great story, funny interesting character, silky smooth animation, and a phenomenal soundtrack. Unfortunately Ghost Trick was lost in the archives of the DS as both gamers and Nintendo themselves began to prepare for the upcoming 3DS. However, Ghost Trick is a fantastic game and a fitting swan song for one of the best handheld devices around.
Runner Up: Shadows of the Damned
Most Disappointing Game - Dragon Age II
For those old enough to remember Bioware was one of the leading developers in Western RPGs back in the 90's. They did a fantastic job of transitioning the D&D formula to the video game community with the release of games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. They then went on to go to other franchises and new ideas and while these titles were fantastic (Mass Effect, KOTOR) there was a wish from the fans for a return to that style of RPG. This wish was fulfilled with the release of Dragon Age: Origins. While the game featured a setting that was very familiar to the fantasy world it was the strategic, challenging gameplay and team based combat that was critically acclaimed by both fans and critics. Naturally there was a desire to expand and improve on these features for the sequel.
Dragon Age II launched less than 2 years after the original game and featured a big departure from the original. This departure made the game quite polarizing. While the story and visuals were improved, there were many choices made by Bioware that fans did not like at all. The combat while it was faster and more visceral was not as tactical and broke down into a button mashing game that did not require and tactical skill or teamwork. Also the setting was significantly smaller and had a much smaller impact on the world than the original game. Lastly was the design of the game. While the main quests were fun to do, the side quests were repetetive and the design of the dungeons were exactly the same giving players very little incentive to do them. Dragon Age II is still a good game and a lot can be attributed to Bioware's short development cycle and need to broaden its audience but the result is a game that fails to live up to the high expectations set by the original making it the most disappointing game of 2011
Runner Up: L.A. Noire
Giant Bomb Video of the Year - Skyrim Marathon
Who would have thought watching someone play a game would be fun. Greg Kasavin sure thought so.
Runner Up: Fortune Street (TNT)
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