2012 was an interesting year for games. I can't decide if it's because of the excellence in the indie scene this year, or the stumbles of the AAA, but whatever the reason, my top ten list this year is certainly... strange. I'll go ahead and list them all here, in order.
In an age with the glorification of the military and the smash success of the modern military shooter, Spec Ops: The Line has the bravery to raise questions of the state of our industry and our society. The messages contained within Spec Ops: The Line transcend the many pillars it is made to stand upon, not only as a modern military shooter that exists as a scathing, burning indictment of the modern military shooter genre, but what it means to we as a society that we willingly and unquestioningly allow this type of fiction to become predominant in our culture. Not only is Spec Ops: The Line one of the best games and best stories of the year, but it could very well be one of the most important video games of the decade, a game that is finally daring enough to ask hard questions of we as gamers as well as we as a people. The dialogue this game creates is simply fascinating, and I can only hope that more games in the future take more chances as Spec Ops has.
This game was absolutely out of my field of interest when I first saw it at E3 this year, and the trailer did nothing to pique my interest. The open world environment, however, really captured my attention, and the game managed to shock me overall as a surprisingly great game compared to its predecessor Far Cry 2. While perhaps a bit less ambitious than Far Cry 2 was, Far Cry 3 ramps up the fun in all directions, with a well-populated, lush island jungle to play around in with some of the most fun I’ve had since Just Cause 2. Whether I was hunting out in the wilderness for crafting materials, raiding an enemy outpost to free sections of the island from their tyranny, or climbing radio towers with surprisingly fun and frustration-free first-person platforming sections, Far Cry 3 was always fun and engaging. Combine that with some of the best graphics of the year as well as one of the best villains of the year, and you have what may very well be the most fun game I’ve played all year. Oh, also, I ran over a shark with a JetSki, and it made the most satisfying <b><i>thump!</i></b> noise I could’ve ever imagined. Magnificent.
Many years ago, when someone told you a game was ‘very Japanese’, it meant something. That meaning has long since changed over the years as video games hit their mainstream and major elements of the Japanese market decided to shift towards the western market. Tokyo Jungle feels like a game trapped in time, a game that doesn’t exist anymore given our modern conventions, and it’s simply amazing. Playing as either of the enormous list of wild animals ranging from vicious Pomeranian pups to helpless baby chicks to speedy rabbits, all the way up to ferocious lions and massive elephants, and virtually everything in-between, this Japanese permadeath survival-based game is some of the most fun I’ve had all year. It is bizarre, fun, hilarious, and incredible all at once, and goddammit, I really miss weird Japanese games like this.
While the popularity of zombie fiction seems to be taking a slight dip recently, The Walking Dead adventure game has proven that zombie stories can still be exceptional with the proper writing and execution. And just about no game this year has told a better, more heartfelt story from beginning to end as The Walking Dead has. The choices made feel incredibly weighty and intense and only get heavier as the situation around you slowly erodes from bad to worse. While the gameplay itself rarely ascends above it’s point-and-click trappings with the occasional quick time event, the story and characters were enough to keep me playing and to keep me hungry for the next episode, mulling over my choices until I got to see what would happen next to the cadre of characters I’d grown to love and hate, then hate and love. This game is simply amazing, and I can’t wait to see what they’ve got lined up next for Season 2.
Frantic, fast paced, and intense. These are the words I would use to describe Hotline Miami, an indie surprise that came out of nowhere and completely rocked me this year. Grimy sprite-based visuals with intense violence and gore, fast paced murder and death throughout each level that leaves you winded once an encounter has come to an end, and perhaps the best soundtrack of the year, Hotline Miami feels like a proper mixture of a murder simulator and a puzzle game with the odds consistently stacked up against you and the threat of virtually everyone out to kill you. With the steam sale going on right now knocking this game down to half price, everyone should give this a try.
As not only a successful indie game but one of the premier examples of a successful kickstarter funded indie game, FTL’s randomized frantic space journey stands up against the Triple-A titles and well-funded indies alike as one of the best experiences I’ve had all years. Ranging from the happy surprises of finding weapons just floating in the vastness of space to the hair-pulling stress of jumping away from a losing battle only to jump into another losing battle within a murderous asteroid field, no part of FTL ever felt so anger-inducing or unfair to the point that I wanted to quit playing for good. Rather, all I wanted to do was just try again, and switch up my tactics. Permadeath has never felt quite so much fun.
ThatGameCompany strikes again with what is certainly the best game they’ve released so far. With amazing jaw-dropping visuals, emergent multiplayer, and a beautiful soundtrack, Journey’s short length only serves to encourage players to try and finish the game in one sitting and experience the Journey from beginning to end as it was meant to be played. Everything comes together perfectly to seamlessly transport you to an alien world in what is potentially one of the most ambitious games of the year, and stands to exist as an example of an exceptional work of art in the video game medium.
I’ll be frank here. When I learned that SquareEnix bought the remaining assets of the latest True Crime game to finish up and release for themselves, I just laughed. Oh, big ‘get’ there, guys. But when the game actually came out, I realized that maybe they were actually on to something. Open world sandbox games are one of my favorite genres, so when Sleeping Dogs properly combined a fun open-world, good driving controls, and melee combat that is rivaled only by Batman: Arkham City, I was hooked. The visuals are magnificent, and I appreciate their commitment to maintaining the Hong Kong atmosphere with Asian music, culture, and emphasis on Chinese spoken language, and I can only hope that this spins out a proper sequel to capture everything they did right in this first game.
If you told me that a free browser –based flash game was going to be on my top ten list this year, I would’ve called you a liar. And yet, here we are. Frog Fractions is a send up of edutainment games familiar to those of us who spent our elementary school years at the back of the classroom playing Math Blaster or Oregon Trail. The visuals are appropriate to the theme they’re attempting to convey, the music presence of later portions of the game is incredible, and so much of the fun just comes from finding all the surprises the game has to offer through subversive gameplay. Rather than explain why, I’ll simply suggest you google ‘Frog Fractions’ and play it for yourself. Once you discover the first secret and unlock the true game beneath the surface, the possibilities are nearly endless.
While I had become initially concerned of how this game would come out after the abysmal Dragon Age II had thoroughly disappointed me, Mass Effect 3 managed to set most of my initial worries on the side. Many of the story lines and characters I had grown fond of during the first two games had loose ends tied up in ways that, while sometimes rather overly convenient, felt like a conclusive end to those existing conflicts. Mass Effect 3 is also the best playing of the franchise so far, with fun and snappy combat that made each encounter engrossing and enjoyable, as well as a multiplayer mode that I was surprised to find was fun to play, despite the frankly gross free-to-play trappings of the ‘real money for random loot’ system. Even with the hot button topic surrounding the ending of the trilogy, Mass Effect 3 still feels like an excellent and fun way to send off the series. Here’s to hoping they don’t bungle whatever they’ve got planned next.
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