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reisz

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Video Entertainment Titles of the Year Two Thousand and Twelve

As a newly minted Giantbomb user I figured I should dive into the community by voting for the users Game of the Year for 2012, a simple exercise I thought, as not only had I not played many games this year but the ones I did focus on were all right up my alley. Piece of cake right? yeah that's what I thought too.

WARNING: I am long winded, that is in full effect here, proceed at your own risk.

The following is a reflection of My 2012 games of the year, the way I experienced these games is a bit of a filter to how stuff can even make it on this list, Bad Taste? Good Timing? Low Expectations? Luck? all of these are reflected in my picks for this year. For instance the simple fact that I never experienced the game save bug in The Walking Dead is the reason it can even be on this list, I'm truly saddened that not everyone has the opportunity to experience that game untarnished.

Sure there are twelve games in my top ten, those last two would've had a higher spot in any other year I'm sure of it, but I enjoyed them both way too much to forgo an opportunity to mention them here.

List items

  • The thought that my favourite game of 2012 would be an adventure title based on The Walking Dead franchise still shocks me.

    I burnt out on Robert Kirkman's world in 2010 so I didn't even give it a second glance until I heard amazing things about its ending. So I bought in and ended up playing the whole game over the course of 3 days. I can't say enough about how affecting this story was for me, phenomenal performances were the perfect companion to great writing in a package that despite the marginal amount of "actual" gameplay could not have been presented in any other format as successfully. The choices are the interface through which this story becomes so emotionally investing. The Walking Dead is a big part of why I play video games, to experience moments that can't be experienced anywhere else.

  • In The Walking Dead it was the story that kept me riveted to each moment. In XCOM: Enemy Unknown it's the gameplay. Every action has such a perfect balance of risk and reward that it kept me coming back for one more turn, scan for activity one more time, a triumph of strategic complexity meeting enjoyable accessibility, I can't wait to get back to XCOM.

  • It's the action game I always wanted to play, the core mechanics feel so good that just moving through the level and picking up weapons is graceful and genuinely fun. Add to that the speed of the action, and the puzzle like nature of each encounter and the product is an eminently re-playable romp through Florida's seedy underbelly. The presentation is worth as much if not more praise. Visually and especially musically it overflows with style. subtle story telling touches such as your ever changing apartment, go much farther and are far more endearing than you'd expect from a game with Hotline Miami's body count.

  • With Mark of the Ninja, Klei brought a quality and level of gameplay polish to match their always outstanding animation style. Superbly balanced and transparent in all the right ways, Mark of the Ninja is the game my adolescent brain always wished Shinobi could be. The choice to reward avoidance and viciousness equally is the perfect encouragement for a multitude of play styles.

  • A Japanese role playing game that isn't. Sort of Monster Hunter meets Demons Souls; Dragon's Dogma gave me all the things I wanted but never got from Skyrim. The asynchronous nature of the pawn system was an excellent way to populate the world with highly individual NPC's, A super fun if not super polished combat system and a climbing mechanic reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus are some of my favourite little touches that make Dragon's Dogma feel really unique amongst an increasingly homogenous genre.

  • I love the Forza series but the only thing missing was a nice long freeway to enjoy its superb physics without all that tension and precision that's found in circuit driving. Horizon is an exemplar of what can be accomplished when the assets built by one team are opened up for use to another, kind of like a professional Forza total conversion. Sound up and music off, no assists, manual with clutch, miles of road ahead and excellent engine recordings gave me the best driving experiences I've ever had with a controller in hand.

  • Black Ops II gave me the opportunity to continue the story of two men I grew unexpectedly attached to back in 2010. With a campaign more ambitious than I would've ever seen coming from such an established annual franchise. The same highly polished multiplayer has some truly enjoyable changes for me this year and the near future setting turned out to be far better for the franchise than it seemed on the surface. A bit of whimsy and sci-fi does wonders for that "Modern War" fatigue

  • Ghost Recon Online scratched all my Metal Gear Online itches after that great but tragically unsupported game went offline earlier this year. A truly excellent balance of classes and equipment supported by my favorite cover system to date means the right team can provide some of the most exciting and satisfying moments in competitive multiplayer. The aesthetic and setting are immensely appealing to me and Ubisoft's commitment to a tuly free to play game has to be commended. A short stint among the best players in the world (as small as that sample likely was) cements this as one of my Games of the year despite it's technical shortcomings.

  • I met my wife playing World of Warcraft. This gives me a soft spot for all of Blizzards missteps (in my eyes) over the years. Diablo III isn't the game I wanted it to be, but the tight accessible nature of the gameplay has given my wife and I more hours of fun than any other Co-op game in years. My misgivings about the real money Auction House fell away when an investment of ten dollars turned what would have been a disappointing slog through inferno into a hilariously fun session of "Your damage went up by how much!?" now Paragon levels are a fun and relaxing gaming session with my wife in the evenin. Without any of the pressure or forced difficulty that we so lamented in WoW. Not to mention as her introduction to ARPGs it's a perfect primer for Torchlight II!

  • I bought a Vita this year, some people would tell me that was a bad move. You know what I say to them? Nothing, because I'm too damn busy jumping off of buildings and sprinting through the streets of New Orleans or climbing trees and canoeing through the bayou to spend time listening to naysayers!

    Liberation is Assassins Creed wherever you go, not like the DS or PSP versions, but actual Assassins Creed. I haven't played an AC game since Brotherhood, so I am in a sort of unique position on this but the sheer amazement of honest to goodness portable Assassins Creed in a genuinely fascinating setting with a properly interesting main character outshines any frame rate issues or multiplayer failings that could be held against it. Don't heed the naysayers, Aveline's Lady persona is no where near as bad as you've heard and it's a method of blending in that Altair, Ezio or Connor could never have pulled off.

  • Snowboard Ninjas with rocket launchers, Drop ships with arms, shark headed mecha serpents. Intrusion 2 is an old school Metal Slug Homage that get's everything it's trying to do right. I almost threw quarters at my monitor when I died. It's awesome.

  • Oh god the music, phenomenal for an entirely different reason than the soundtrack to Hotline Miami. From the feeling of my first few attempts and the thought of how impossible it seems, through to hitting that 40 second mark on Hexagoner. Super Hexagon made me feel like I was mastering my own body with every second of improvement, Once you understand the patterns and learn to identify them as they appear, Super Hexagon is a fever pitched battle to improve your own reflexes. That first 60s+ run was one of the most satisfying things I did without reason all year.
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