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Johnny_Reckless

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My 25 favorite games of 2011

This list is born from the effort to create my own personal top ten list of 2011 releases. Every game on this list has been played for at least five hours, if not to completion. That means games like Terraria, Kirby Mass Attack, Renegade Ops, Skyward Sword, Sword and Sworcery, and other titles were not experienced to a level that I felt was complete enough for consideration. That being said, my last count suggests that I've played at least 90 video games released during 2011. That both suggests that I play way too many video games, and that I may be at least somewhat qualified to select my own 25 favorites from the year.

List items

  • Bethesda, you have reached the pinnacle of western RPGs in a way that only you can. Congratulations on a game that will be talked about well into the next generation and beyond.

  • Never before have I played a game like Saints Row: The Third. Remember when we were all talking about how Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was totally insane? Yeah...we had no idea.

  • Amazing presentation, from the incredible art style and superb soundtrack to the magical narration, paired with an extremely enjoyable action-rpg makes for a legitimate GOTY contender in Supergiant's debut entry into the video game scene.

  • Well, this is the sequel to Portal. Take that game, add in new types of puzzle elements, a more open environment, and J.K. Simmons, and you've got yet another amazing Valve release.

  • Uncharted 2 is one of my favorite games of this generation. The third title in the series proves that Naughty Dog can still make an incredibly well-polished action-adventure starring the best ensemble cast of characters in gaming today. I'll never forget Nathan Drake falling to sleep with his head on Elena's lap.

  • I've played all three Gears games, and it wasn't until I played this game that I realized how much I started to care about the characters. Now don't get me wrong, they're all still just a bunch of gruff muscle-heads, but at least now I care about what happens to them. Throw in the best iteration of Horde mode yet, and you have easily the best game in the series.

  • I have played nearly every wrestling video game released in the United States, and a number of major Japanese releases. WWE All Stars is one of the only wrestling games in a long time to truly capture the spectacle of Vince McMahon's brand of "sports entertainment." WWE All Star's outrageous art style and gameplay make every match a complete joy in a way that wrestling games desperately needed. A fantastic party game, and the best wrestling game of this generation.

  • Honestly, I wasn't so sure that Rocksteady would be able to match the quality of Arkham Asylum. Arkham City promised to be larger and more feature filled that the previous game, while offering up contact with characters from Batman's rogue's gallery that were missed the first time around. An extremely ambitious target, but I'll be damned if they didn't hit it. Another game from Rocksteady, another fine time as the goddamned Batman. Nolan North's finest non-Drake performance this year, in my opinion.

  • As someone with a very limited past with Rayman games, this game really took me by surprise. Amazing graphics, music and level design. As far as I'm concerned, this is not only the best looking game of the year, but the best 2-D platformer of this generation.

  • I'm part of that group of people who can't seem to get enough of Suda 51's brand of batshit insanity, so when I heard about Shadow's of the Damned, I was understandably stoked. I love No More Heroes, I love Killer 7, but I can admit that Suda's games tend to feature gameplay that is a complete chore. A chore I'm willing to work through in order to get all of the fucked-up stuff that is found throughout one of these games, but a chore nonetheless. So when Shadows of the Damned came out and featured gameplay by Shiji Mikame, I was excited to finally have a truly playable game by the man that brought us Travis Touchdown. Now, does that mean that the game is completely free of issues? No, there are still problems that result due to the Resident Evil style of action, but the game is still an amazing experience throughout. I can't recommend it to most people, but if this is your kind of game, you'll never forget it. Demon with a goat's head riding a horse with a man's head. Yep.

  • Outside of Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, I have had the pleasure of playing every Double Fine game to be released. There is something about the studio's delightful sense of humor that makes each game a true joy to behold. I love Psychonauts, find Brutal Legend to be far better than most, and regard Costume Quest to be one of my favorite downloadable games. I can now add Trenched/Iron Brigade to the list of incredible experiences I had with a Double Fine game. While I found this year's Stacking to be a whimsically enjoyable twist of puzzle gameplay and the silent movie aesthetic, it couldn't match up to the experience of mech-based tower defense loot fest that is Trenched. Double Fine, your foray into downloadable titles was one of the best moves you could make. Well done, I salute you.

  • The Gunstringer is what happens when Twisted Pixel is turned loose with the budget and time to create a full retail release. Not only is this game full of the crazy sense of humor and creativity paramount to releases by Twisted Pixel, down to the amazing FMV fever dream of the Wavy Tube Man Chronicles, but this game is also the best game on Kinect.

  • As someone who has relatively limited experience with the Mortal Kombat franchise, typically favoring Capcom fighters, I can easily say this is the best fighting game of the year, and second this generation only to Super Street Fighter IV. That being said, that distinction is mostly related to personal taste, as MK might be the greatest single-player fighting game of all time. Loads of content, an amazing story mode, and a seemingly endless challenge mode for someone with limited MK skills like myself. Mortal Kombat is back people. Capcom, take notice.

  • I never got to play American McGee's Alice when it first came out, but by the time I was through with Alice: Madness Returns I had managed to play the first game, read the book again and watch the Disney animated classic. There is just something about the incredible style of this game that pretty much had me hooked for about a month during the summer. Went back to revisit it recently, and it still holds up. An extremely solid platformer, with a delightfully twisted take on Wonderland that does the original game proud.

  • My favorite 3D platformer of all time is Super Mario Galaxy 2, so it's an easy choice for me to put Super Mario 3D Land in my list of favorite 2011 games. A more classical-feeling Mario game than the galaxy series, this game is an absolute joy for fans of the Nintendo franchise that have followed the series for decades. Designed around the idea that EVERYTHING has a tanooki suit, Super Mario 3D Land proves that yo, Nintendo can still make a good Mario game.

  • The best trivia video game of all time. Yep, I said it. Challenge me.

  • I have played every iteration of THQ's WWF/WWE wrestling games. All of the Smackdown games, the various Day of Reckoning, RAW, Wrestlemania games, all of them. WWE '12 is essentially the next in the long-running series of Smackdown games, and I would dare say is the best of this generation's iterations of that series. Gameplay tweaks, a more refined story experience, an improved Universe mode, and the inclusion of "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) put WWE '12 right at the top of the Smackdown series, joining Smackdown 2 and Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain.

  • Demon's Souls scared the shit out of me after playing about two hours, but for some reason I sank over ten hours into Dark Souls over a couple of days time, and fully intend to jump back in soon after I finish Skyrim. This game is absolutely not for everyone, but there is something truly exhilarating about finally defeating some asshole monster that had been killing you REPEATEDLY over the last two hours.

  • Infamous was quickly one of my favorite PS3 exclusives, and the sequel moves right along that same path of very enjoyable open-world action platforming. New powers, a more unique city environment, and the refinement of the traversal style gameplay that I really love makes this an easy inclusion on my list. Also, Infamous 2: Festival of Blood is pretty good.

  • This game was kind of a surprise to me. I played MvC 3, and figured that the Ultimate edition was little more than a cash-in title. Still, I decided to check it out, and was more than pleasantly surprised. Between the new characters, the Heroes and Heralds mode, and the gameplay tweaks, this is easily the superior version of the two. Plus, ROCKET RACCOON.

  • I didn't get a chance to play Rez until it was released on the XBL marketplace, but the game caught my attention enough that Child of Eden was solidly on my radar when it was released. Granted, the content may have been a little bit thin in places, but the music, visuals and overall presentation still completely blew my mind and left me emotionally affected in a way few games have been able to do. Also, SPACE WHALE THAT TURNS INTO SPACE PHOENIX.

  • I basically had no knowledge of the Warhammer universe (in any form) prior to playing the demo of this game, and promptly preordered it upon finishing the brief preview. Once I received the game, I had played the demo for somewhere in the neighborhood of four hours and promptly jumped in and powered through the game proper. For its unfortunately generic sounding name, Space Marine felt like a surprisingly fresh take on shooting and brawling gameplay that never got old. The melee combat is incredibly satisfying, with every hit feeling like the poor ork on the other end of your chainsword is being absolutely WRECKED. Matched with completely competent shooting, silly voice acting, and even a decent multiplayer component make Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine a surprisingly enjoyable early fall release.

  • I'll be completely honest here: when I bought Dead Island, I kinda expected it to be completely broken and awful. Fifteen-odd hours later I had found a game that, while not always free of bugs, is a really enjoyable and interesting experience. Basically some kind of Borderlands mashed up with Fallout 3 and zombies experience, Dead Island is truly a pleasant surprise that I need to jump right back into sometime very soon. Analog combat is a must, in case you were wondering.

  • You know, I really didn't want to put this on my list, but then I looked over at the plastic container I have full of something like 20 Skylanders. This game is far better than it had any right to be, with a toy-based hook that is pretty cool. Honestly, this would have driven me crazy as a kid, and came pretty close to doing that to me as an adult.

  • Hey, remember when first person shooters weren't solely about providing us with the most realistic modern military experience? Yep, so does People Can Fly, so they gave us one of the craziest FPS games of all time. Between the really entertaining skillshots, the awesome weapons, and the guilty pleasure of the creative cursing, Bulletstorm reminded me of what first person shooters used to be, while still feeling fresh.
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