Best of 2011

Here's a list of what might be my favourite games of 2011; if I'm remembering correctly, written before I definitely forget.

Notable omissions:

Dirt 3: Didn't like it as much as Dirt 2, but it did feature what was probably my best multi-player moment of the year and Gymkhana was an incredibly fun addition. The moment in question was some kind of free-for-all car CTF; and weaving through other players hell-bent on stopping you is really fun, especially when you dodge two at once coming from opposite sides to clinch the victory.

List items

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  1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

  Oblivion might be my favourite game ever, so having a game on the same platform that is superior in so many ways is a no-brainer addition to my list.

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  2. Dead Space 2

  I love horror games and Dead Space is definitely a favourite of mine. The game's really memorable and plays really well, not always a given in horror games.

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  3. Gears of War 3

  HORDE!

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  4. Portal 2

  Really funny, looks great and was a lot of fun to work through the puzzles. The story beats and Stephen Merchant's inclusion didn't hurt either.

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  5. L.A. Noire

  L.A. Noire's approach of more advanced dialogue and interrogation is phenomenal. More mainstream games are starting to bore me a little, and out of nowhere comes a game that offers things never before seen in the medium; yet at it's surface it's a solid open-world game. I don't care for the setting (like with Red Dead); but the game and it's tech are so well made I can't help but be enamoured with it nonetheless.

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  6. Saints Row: The Third

  Dumb and great. Forgoing sense they've made the game a lot more fun to play. Sprinting and drop-kicking the windscreen of a car to jack it seems so natural now; playing GTA V might take some adjustment.

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  7. Bulletstorm

  I found Bulletstorm pretty funny and the gameplay concepts were fantastic. It gave you diverse options and didn't punish you for experimenting with them. Crude humour aside it left a good taste.

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  8. Orcs Must Die!

  The name and general concept didn't do much for me but after playing a demo it just hit me. The gameplay works really well and it's easily my favourite Tower-defence game. It came out and did the things I was looking for at the time, it just happened to also be a fantastic game as well.

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  9. Shadows of the Damned

  This game is crazy. My first experience of Suda51's magic. The action was fun and to the point and everything else was dripping with style. I hope Suda gets to make more games and games generally get less restrained, the results are pretty fucking cool.

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  10. Dark Souls

  Dark Souls. Love it, Hate it. Probably my most played game of the year (excluding Street Fighter). 134 hours played and despite getting immensely frustrated dozens of times I never gave up nor wanted to. I don't agree with the consensus that DS is hard but "always fair"; but despite not liking hard games or challenge I got past every hurdle and learnt an obscure, unfriendly and vague game world like the back of my hand. I'm still undecided on exactly how I feel about Dark Souls but I'm definitely glad I played it.