Twenty Eleven gave us so much I could not play everything. This includes Rayman: Origins, Minecraft, Little Big Planet 2, Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together, Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP, Outland, Super Mario 3D Land, Catherine, Shogun II, NBA 2K12, FIFA 12 and Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Still, I played a great amount and it all comes down my top twenty five.
The Witcher 2 draws you into the thick of battle quickly and rapidly teaches you that you need to think well before striking each foe be it man, beast or witcher. Its a fantasy world that focuses more on the human side of things like vice, war, betrayal and sex. You will find an engrossing story with one of the best protagonists in gaming, excellent dialog, a story that changes due to the consequence of your actions and next generation, gorgeous graphics expertly rendered forming a beautiful, medieval setting. Its an RPG like no other and should be experienced by all.
[PC] Skyrim is what Betheseda has been trying to craft for more than ten years. Its an epic quest set in a gigantic open world filled with wonder and danger everywhere you go. Its an adventure you define with every action you take and it immerses you in its world and does not let go, at least until an amazing glitch happens. Not many games can make you sink in one hundred plus hours into them and not even be halfway finished. The best part is you will want to play a hundred more because shouting the magical language of dragons to set anyone flying 50 feet in the air.
Topping Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto was unheard of until The Third did it easily this year with its insane amount of memorable missions. No game has as much style, great characters, awesome villains and batshit insane content. This is the best open world game ever made. Trust me, you should play Saints Row: The Third.
Valve always has surpassed expectations with every game they make and Portal 2 is no exception. Mind bending puzzles and a great, funny storyline that introduces two of the best characters this medium has seen in years, the little robot orb Wheatley and Cave Johnson and the best ending in recent memory. New to Portal is the Coop mode which might ruin friendships as much fun as it is because of the teamwork needed on its expertly designed puzzles.
The era of the 2D action RPG remains alive in the Bastion. Superb controls, story, weapon combinations, narration, music and gorgeous hand painted like graphics made me go through the entire game various times.
[PC] Multiplayer is what Battlefield is all about. Its unpredictable nature gives every match an intense feel where all sixty four players constantly have to keep up and change their approach to any type of mission. There's always danger of dying by enemy fire, armor or aircraft, explosions anywhere and amazing destructibility on buildings. Battlefield 3 is an experience no other entertainment medium can accomplish.
Not since Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox has a game been so rewarding while constantly punishing you with its insane difficulty. Dark Souls might be intimidating and downright stuck in a past era of games but the fighting system and the world aesthetics are so well done it actually makes it great and quite unique.
What surprises about Gears of War 3 is that it has a good story and character development. It has the same cover based third person shooter but feels like everything has a purpose other than shoot monster A in head and it has a greatly enhanced graphics style. Also, horde mode is the best coop experience you can have with three friends this year.
No fighting game is as crazy fun, easy to get into and downright epileptic inducing as UMC3. Also Mike Haggar beats you to death up with a steel pipe.
Developer Sucker Punch makes it like making an open world, superhero game is easy. Tight controls giving outstanding freedom of movement, experimenting with your electric powers against crazy people or monumental, screen filling monsters and a city design that lets you jump from roof to roof easily make this game just a joy to play.
Steampunk futuristic worlds are a rare sight these says. When you combine with great mechanics like stealth, shooting, conversation trees and a strong rpg system that lets you customize the main protagonist to the point that makes every playthrough different and you have one of the most unique and memorable games this year.
While Uncharted 3 does not have the same impact or story quality of its predecessor, its action set pieces and voice acting go beyond anything in the industry today. Just for the lost in the desert sequence alone this game should be played.
More Batman is always a good thing. More Arkham Asylum with an open city where there are fools at every corner to beat up is a better thing. Giving you an open city to explore and a good storyline while keeping the awesome, deep fighting system makes Arkham City a worthy sequel.
The first moments of Dead Space 2 have a mans head ripped apart because an alien is ripping through it from the inside. Its a great way to establish a tone and to mark the return of Isaac Clarke to rip limbs off monsters with power tools. Its more third person action horror but to an extreme that the first game could not even touch.
Finally back to its 2D roots and ridiculous gore, Mortal Kombat is a great, well balanced fighting game that anyone can pick up. Also the story mode is actually the best Mortal Kombat movie ever made.
Its weird that in this day and age the purpose of a game is to survive and explore. Complete and utter freedom is simply unheard of. Terraria makes this fun by letting you craft your own survival tools and construct anything while forever changing the landscape of your little 2D world.
It speaks highly when you have four games in a row this generation and the fatigue is almost nonexistent. This is due to Assassin's Creed unique settings and the possibility of murdering people with a hidden blade in a staggering amount of ways never gets old.
Skyward Sword's motion controls give a well deserved tuneup to the series, making battles challenging and easy item management. While it takes forever to start up, you cant skip slow text and has too many fetch quests, Skyward Sword clings into the Ocarina of Time formula and rises up a good game even if it does not quite compare to the magnificence of the other 3D Zeldas.
Finally, a great modern Sonic game. It took combining the classic genesis era 2D levels and the more controller friendly mechanics of the more recent 3D games to achieve a game that goes beyond fond nostalgia. Great sense of speed, fun gameplay and a decent storyline (sans the horrible voive acting) makes this a welcome surprise.
The maker of Resident Evil 4 made another third person shooter but with an unique setting and the best sidekick ever, a depraved skull named Johnson that turns into your weapons, a motorcycle and has an english accent. Fighting through hell to get your girlfriend has never been so messed up and weird/japanese.
Taking the next step forward in crazy, maniacal FPS games like Painkiller and Serious Sam by making you kill your foes in inventive, skillful ways, Bulletstorm felt refreshing after playing so many serious modern day war games.
I loved top down shooters in the arcade and Jamestown stands with the best of them. Adaptable difficulty, bullet hell chaos, high replayability, Super Nintendo era style graphics and an unique 17th century Mars colony setting makes me remember fondly why I spent so many quarters back in the day.
Adhering to a more corridor based shooter style does Crysis 2 no favors but the amount of strategy and freedom involved in approaching each encounter with your suit powers of strength, stealth and armor makes it stand out from the rest.
No game this year makes you feel as overpowered. Mowing down thousands of orcs with world ending weapons is cathartic to say the least. Though its an unfortunate generic sounding title, Space Marine redeems itself by having a well told story, interesting lore and great shooting mechanics.
Bringing the dual stick shooter formula to a top down driving game with G.I. Joe inspired shenanigans makes this old school game incredibly fun.
