Best of 2011
My top games of 2011 (or games of the year, if you will). - WIP - This list is based on what I actually played this year. There are plenty of games I wanted to play, but couldn't for various reasons. But those are for another list.
List items
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I've never really been into the Elder Scrolls series, or RPGs like this in general. I wasn't even very interested in this until Greg Kasavin's 12hr marathon. After that it just hit me. I'm now 140+hrs in (across two characters) and no where near being done with it. I'm absolutely loving the open world and free-form leveling. Sure, it has its issues, but they're far out weighed by everything else.
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This easily could have been my number one pick this year; a testament to Valve's genius. They took a fairly simple game (story wise) and completely fleshed it out, giving Aperture Science, as well as GLaDOS and Chell, a back story. With the addition of Cave Johnson and Wheatly (and some other characters) they were able to expand the humor beyond the morbid passive-aggressiveness of GlaDOS from the first game. The game's only real downside is the lack of re-playability with the puzzles, but thanks to co-op and DLC, I will undoubtedly revisit this next year.
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I've yet to complete this as of the time of writing this, but this game is pretty amazing. The music, art style (including the ground forming before you), story, and the all important narrator each ad to how great this game is.
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Some would argue this game's actual release date or whether or not it is, in fact, a game. To me, the alpha and beta phases of this game were nothing different than that of a pre-order beta or demo for "Big Budget Shooter Game"; it just lasted a lot longer. For me a game must be fun, interactive, and have some kind of end-game, be it hard-coded or self-imposed. Minecraft has all of these (to a degree). And it's the wide range of things you can do in it that earns it a place on my list.
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Yeah, it's Pokemon. If you've played any of the Pokemon games since Red/Blue/Yellow, you know the formula well. It's what Black/White (White specifically in my case) does differently that makes it stand out to me. It is the first game since the first generation to start out with only new Pokemon; there is not a single older generation Pokemon to be seen (trading aside) until you've beaten the game. That, along with the improved UI and battle animations, polygonal sets, and music (new and remixed) earn Pokemon Black/White a spot on my list.
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In a world that has grown tired of modern military shooters, this WWII shooter is a breath of fresh air. That is not just because it isn't modern military, but because it is also very different. This is not a fast-paced, twitch shooter. Rather, it is much more tactical and slower paced. When the large maps can have large open spaces and you can be killed by only one shot from a guy in a window somewhere, you can't just run around bunny-hopping everywhere. Not to mention its tank battle mechanics. It is all the attention to realism that made Red Orchestra 2 stand out to me.
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Being a WWII tank strategic-shooter-MMO makes this one of the more unique games this year. I spent a lot of time this summer with this game. I also played a good deal of this during the closed beta and, while it still has some issues, it's come a long way.
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