Top 10 games of 2012

Trials Evolution

While Trials Evolution doesn't set out to completely reinvent itself in this sequel, it does more than enough to earn its place in my top 10. The locations are much more varied and the gameplay even more addicting. TE's new tool set allowed for a whole community to get behind it and create some mind as well as controller-bending stuff. Just watching Brad or anyone else play this game made me instantly turn my Xbox on and just play.

Blacklight: Retribution

BLR took me by surprise by being a F2P game that didn't suck. It has a number of issues but I still kept coming back for more. The gameplay is rock solid and Zombie Studios update it regularly to keep me coming back. While the game modes are your standard FPS modes, the huge draws for me were its futuristic art style and wealth of customisation options. As you level you don't unlock a weapon but parts to guns and other equipment that allows each player to be unique from someone else.

Rock Band Blitz

RBB took a week of my life away and I'm completely ok with that. I've been a fan of GH/RB for a number of years but never actually played any of the older Harmonix games simply because I didn't own a PS2 but with RBB I couldn't keep my fingers away. RBB finds this great line between enjoying the game and the music which can often be the opposite with RB3 where you play a song you love to listen to but it can be a dog to play.

The Walking Dead

What would a list of best games of 2012 wouldn't include TWD? Well, probably one that has to do with best gameplay but that's beside the point. TWD expertly crafts a story that absolutely captured me. I've not read the comics or seen the show but I've played a large percentage of TellTale's games so I was incredibley intrigued when I first heard they were doing something that wasn't something entirely comical. I didn't actually play TWD until episode 4 came out and played them one after the other with each episode more gripping than the last but it was episode 3s "fucking hell" moments along with a tug at the heard strings that forced me to take a partial break. With episode 5 ever so close, I went back in, completed the season and sat back in my chair as the credits rolled. Your choices may not come down to much but TT do an amazing job of making them feel important not only the story but to the player as well.

Borderlands 2

The game hooked me much in the same way the original did but refined a lot of it to improve that experience. The areas were more varied, the guns and armour were more dynamic and the writing and story were more interesting and funny. If you didn't like the first game or maybe even OD on it, it will have its issues of being too samey but I just wanted more Borderlands which is what the game serves up whether you liked it or not. The games loot-fest is as joyous as ever and it had me hooked. The Mecromancer was the perfect addition to what I thought was a quite lackluster character roster that tried too much please the fans of the original. She came a long at a perfect time when interest was just tipping off to get me back in the game again and approach what I had already played with Zer0 in a whole new way.

Far Cry 3

I didn't enjoy the original Far Cry. It promised this open world with intelligent A.I but playing it was a different story where you found yourself going around closed environments and the second one guard knew your position, they all knew which made stealth impossible. I didn't even bother with 2 as it just seemed very uninteresting to me despite a lot of interesting mechanics that got in the way of the game. With Far Cry 3, they took a lot of those systems out and retained what worked and made one heck of a fun game. Sure, like many, I was drawn into this game because of the amazing intro and a lot of people say that the story was shit but I quite liked the decent in madness Jason takes as he becomes more and more of a psycho. The game presents you with a ton of options on how to spec your character making you faster and more deadly yet still remain silent yet you can fight your way out of any situation.

Tokyo Jungle

I instantly fell in love with this bizarre little game after seeing it at this years Eurogamer mostly due to its fluffy little Pomeranian star but the game progression and challenge system are what kept me coming back. The gameplay throughout is often the same but it ultimately comes down to what's the quickest way to unlock the dinosaurs.

Dragon's Dogma

Story, graphics and world navigation mean nothing to Dragon's Dogma nor my overall enjoyment of the game. It is massively flawed in all of these areas but also part of the charm. Just having fast travel through out a world where getting to the location is part of the challenge and excitement would ultimately ruin it but after doing it a whole bunch of times also hampers that same experience that made it fun to begin with. The 2nd act of the game also doesn't help things which is more challenging with the enemies you face but just boils down to a dungeon crawler with copy/paste design. The real meat of Dragon's Dogma comes down to its gameplay that remained fresh and engrossing throughout my 80+ hours with it.

Journey

Journey's enjoyment for me came down to whoever I played with. If my first time with Journey were with my 2nd partner, I probably would've damned it along with many other games as my partner had little idea what they were doing and rushed about the place. Thankfully, my first playthrough was with the most wonderful person on PSN for all I care. From the moment we met, they didn't leave my side. It was the most bonding I've ever done with someone online and we couldn't even speak and I don't even know who they were. We explored and found items together, surfed down the sands and climbed the frozen peaks, huddling together for warmth as we could barely muster a peep.

FEZ

Say what you will about Phil Fish but at the end of the day, he and his small team at Polytron have delivered a gameplay experience that no one was expecting. It's a gorgeous game just to look at with a rich world for you to explore and discover. The game had some bugs that hampered performance but they never got in the way of my enjoyment of the game and it's only when someone told me "Quick brown fox" was my mind completely blown. Outside of the game was a community that scrapped and scraped at ever inch to uncover its mysteries and one of the most special moments for me in 2012.

Honourable Mentions:

Gotham City Imposters

While GCI cuts from the same CoD cloth, it does enough unique things to set itself apart with its cast of zany, cartoon characters and sometimes oddball weapons. Unfortunately the game never reached enough of a popularity to really stick around. It did eventually go F2P but I've not played it since to see if it has a community.

Max Payne 3

I'm a huge fan of the original games but MP3's story and change of direction are what put me off playing it for a long time. When I did get around to playing it though, I found that Rockstar has made their finest shooter to date. The core gameplay is incredibley tight and extremely satisfying but in some ways feels like a step back from MP2 that took bullet time an extra step further whereas Rockstar felt the need to add cover mechanics. The games brutal difficulty on hard also left me frustrated as I found myself dying after 1 well placed shot. Modern day gaming has pretty much killed a lot of what made the original games a lot of fun. Due to the likes of Quick Saving and being able to carrying every single gun, you could be incredibly experimental and approach any situation the way you wanted, not the way the game dictated to you. Instead, MP3 opts for a 2 gun limited at all times. While you can carry 2 small guns and a larger weapon such as a shotgun, if you dual wield, you'll toss your shot gun away. It's a few small niggles such as these that really hampered my overall enjoyment of an otherwise fantastic game.

Planetside 2

PS2 is a truely massive world, the likes I've never seen in any shooter before. The scope is incredibley vast and even whilst driving around I've found myself in awe at some of the beautiful landscapes that SOE have created then you ignore all of that as you roll into a base being defended by hundreds of players. It can sound quite daunting and even useless as you question how useful can 1 person out of a thousand really be but in the right squad, every member can be extremely effective. From defending a base against a massive platoon of tanks on the ground, holding off dozens of soldiers with jetpacks in the sky to going lone wolf and secretly capping enemy bases, PS2 is just a ton of fun.

Hotline Miami

As much as I'd love to put HLM within my top 10, I simply just haven't spent enough time on it to really make a fair judgement call. The game oozes style from the moment you start with its trippy start menu to just the flow of the game where each room can be handled as its own separate puzzle.

FTL: Faster Than Light

There seemingly isn't much to FTL on first glance with its stark interface and minimal graphics until you find yourself hours in, cautious on what you should do next as your ship is invaded during a storm so you can't see anything inside your ship or your enemies. That is when you discover how brilliantly designed FTL is. The reason it only makes my honours list is that I beat the game on my 4th try and I just haven't gone back to it.

Games of 2012 I will play in 2013

XCOM:Enemy Unknown

Spec Ops

Mass Effect 3

Civilization V: God's & King's expansion

Mark of the Ninja

Sleeping Dogs

Need 4 Speed

Torchlight II