What can I say about the Walking Dead, that hasn't already been said. This game is absolutely fantastic. The episodic releases had me excited every month for the next chapter to come out. I also kind of  teared up after the final chapter. I'll man up and admit that. Anyone who said they did not feel something called emotion at this game's conclusion is a stone cold motherfucker. Hands down one of the greatest uses of storytelling in a video game.

This is where you toss everything I said about the Walking Dead's amazing story out the window. Far Cry 3's story isn't the best, but the game is a heaping mess of fun. Whether it be playing through the story missions or just goofy about, I don't know, hunting deer with grenades, Far Cry always provides me with a reaction along the lines of 'oh shit, did that just happen?' I really enjoyed Far Cry 2 with all of its baggage, and the improvements made to its successor are truly great. The game itself is gorgeous and its tropical setting provides a great playground for straight up craziness.

I love this game. Which may make me a crazy person. I'm just not sure yet. The concept of ruling an entire kingdom or a small province is oddly appealing. Also, did I mention this game might be for crazy people? Maintaining diplomatic relations and figuring out a way to take control of that prized piece of land you want is a hell of a lot of fun. I generally tend to just try and straight up assassinate fools. Which isn't the BEST idea when it comes to governing a kingdom, but it gets the job done. Or well. Fucks me over entirely and I have all of Europe gunning for me. This game is dope.

If you told me last year that Torchlight 2 would have been more fun to me than Diablo III, the game I've been waiting years upon years to play, I would have punched you in the jaw. No really. But that was the case this year. Don't get me wrong, Diablo III is a great game, but once I got through the game once. I kind of had my fill. Torchlight 2 on the other hand had me playing over and over. It has the perfect mix of old and new. I mean some of the additions to this genre of game are simple, yet make the game a whole lot better. You say my pet can now buy me potions as it sells my items? You magnificent bastards.Also, loot. Loot. Loot. Loot!

I debated whether or not to add this game to this list. 'Cause you know, it's hard to really consider it a game. But like the Walking Dead, this game resonated with me throughout the year. I went into Dear Esther knowing literally nothing about it and walked away with an understanding for why people consider games to be art. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing and the game's narration and script is a beautiful lament. Check this game out. It might not be for everyone, but it's a great interactive experience.

FTL is super awesome. It has a great soundtrack, a cool art style which makes the game's 'fuck you' attitude bearable, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to play. I picked up FTL not knowing a whole bunch about it, but goddamn it quickly had me wanting more and more. Also, fuck you, space spiders. Fuck. You.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown was something of a surprise to me. I didn't really have any initial interest in the game, but goddamn this game is great. Playing this game as I was wrapping up a Dark Souls playthrough probably wasn't the best combination, but apparently I love punishing myself. I spent probably 7 or 8 hours on my first run through of Enemy Unknown and you know what? It failed miserably. I just totally fucked myself over. It takes an extremely awesome game to make me want to immediately jump back in and start a new game after something like that happens. Also putting your friends in the game adds an almost meta-game like appeal to creating your alien hunting crew. Some scenarios have come down to only being able to save one friend, which makes me feel like a horrible HORRIBLE human being.

You know what? Mass Effect 3 is a great game. My adventure in the last of Shepard's trilogy was a great ride. The character dynamic between Shepard and his crew members is probably some of the best character interaction in any game, in years. Hanging out with my main dude Garrus made moving on from this universe a bit sad. Sure the ending was somewhat of a bummer (I personally think the uproar was absolutely unwarranted), but the journey itself was a lot of fun.

Oh man. This game is awesome. If anything, 2012 has become the year that made me realize I am, more or less, done with competitive online multi-player games. That was until I played Chivalry. This game makes losing almost enjoyable. Getting stuck in an intense one-on-one duel with some dude, only to get my head caved in, is oddly amusing. The mechanics of the first person melee combat is nearly perfect. Giving you a sense of weighted control over your weaponry. If you're starting to find the influx of generic first person shooters to be unbearable, check this game out. You won't be disappointed.

The Max Payne games have been some of my personal favorites since their release. I've always loved their dark and gritty tone. Max Payne 3 continues in this fashion and oh man. This game is dark. I can see why some people got turned off by the game's overall mood. Max ain't in a good place. Max's journey to semi-redemption is a great tale in Max Payne 3.

Best Soundtrack.

2012's Game for Crazy People.

2012's 2011 Game for Crazy People.

2012's 2011 Game that Made Me Sob like a Bitch

Game series that I WANT picked up by EA in 2013.

2012's Game That Was Impossible to Live Up to the Hype.

2012's *Click Click* Game of the Year

2012's Best Alien to Party With.

2012's Worst Person to Party With.

2012's Unsung Hero.

2012's 'Well, That Went Wrong Fast' Game of the Year.

2012's Best Kinect Trolling Game.

2012's Best Use of First Person Disembodied Head Camera Angles.

2012's Best Use of Open World Jank.

2012's Game I Feel Bad About Not Playing.

If you told me that my favorite game of 2011 would be the debut game from a developer I probably would have had some reservations. However, that was not the case. Bastion is a fantastic game; Great story, presentation, game play, and most of all, an amazing original soundtrack. Bastion offers this sense of immersion that is hard to describe to anyone who has not played it. The game shares bits and pieces of the universe of Bastion, mostly through some of the greatest video game narration ever seen in a game, while also leaving some things to be inferred by the player. Even with all of the great "AAA" games that game out this year Bastion stayed with me throughout 2011.

My first Elder Scrolls experience was Oblivion. A great game in its own right, but it never latched onto me as it did for many other people. I loved setting out and just exploring the world, but I found most of its content pretty repetitive. This is definitely not the case with Syrim. Syrim was everything that I wanted for a sequel to Oblivion. A vivid world full of character, in depth character customization, and a sense of endless potential. By simply setting out with some objective in mind, whether it be to do a quest, discover a new location, or just wander about the world, you would stumble upon something crazy. I once came across a necromancer dude shooting electricity at a bunny, it was totally awesome.

I never played Demon's Souls because I don't own a Playstation 3, but when I heard that Dark Souls would be released on the Xbox 360 I was ready for some self-punishment. I went into the game with almost no information, except for the fact that I was going to die...a lot. I'll admit that Dark Souls made me want to toss my Xbox out a window at times, but it only made the completion of a difficult task a rewarding moment. At least until you come across another moment of punishment. The addition of only cooperative play also added a great element of success. The first time some dude joined my game and we defeated a boss was a very cool moment. Say what you will about Dark Souls and its sinister game play, but it is one great game.

I never got into the whole Minecraft madness so it was kind of surprising that I loved Terraria so much. What made Terraria so awesome was that, similar to Minecraft, it offered some great ways to create stuff while also feeling more like a video game. Whether it be building crazy fortresses with endless tunnels to "Terraria hell", fighting a crazy boss battle, or having goblins invade your world, Terraria had a great amount of content to be played. Plus the whole 2D presentation was pretty awesome as it added this sense of nostalgia.

Knights of the Old Republic is probably one of my favorite RPGs of all time. So when Bioware announced that they were making a Star Wars MMO based on this universe, I was sold. There was a lot of doubt and speculation leading up to the release of The Old Republic, but it seems to have all payed off. The Old Republic doesn't do much to revolutionize the MMO formula, but it does make some welcomed innovations, mostly in the form of its use of story. I dabbled in World of Warcraft on and off, but I always ended up hitting this point where the game play and constant level grinding and loot lust just got old. I'm aware that it is far too early to say that this will not happen with The Old Republic, but there is this sense of purpose that other MMOs lack. There is an interesting overarching story that actually gets you involved in the universe through the use of signature Bioware dialogue options in an MMO system.

The Battlefield series has always been one of my favorite multiplayer experiences. Jumping into a game with a group of friends and crashing helicopter full of people into a tank is fucking awesome. Now, I'll admit, Battlefield 3 does little to change the Battlefield mechanics. You still hop in vehicles and blow stuff up, crazy stuff happens, explosions, etc, but if it's not broken, don't fix it.

Dead Space 2 didn't change much from Dead Space, but more Dead Space is always welcomed. The game offered some of the same great, creepy atmosphere that the original Dead Space had and more. Some of the larger environments were a little hit and miss, but it had a different feel than Dead Space. The story was interesting and offered a deeper look into the horrified space future that is the world of Dead Space. Also, dude. That scene with the eye thing...probably one of the most tense moments of 2011. I didn't get into the multiplayer that much it was cool to try out, but nothing special. I'm looking forward to more Dead Space, but I think it will take a more drastic change to keep me engaged.

A Mortal Kombat game in 2011? Yeah, right. What? It has a crazy alternate dimension plot? I'm listening. Oh, and it's actually fucking awesome? Sold. I was kind of skeptic about Mortal Kombat after playing MK vs DCU. I enjoyed that game, but I was getting pretty tired of the 3D fighting environments creeping into Mortal Kombat. Avoiding Sub-Zero's ice beams by sidestepping? No thanks. Mortal Kombat took things back to the series' roots, literally. It basically resets the entire MK universe in a pretty insane way. Aside from having a surprisingly robust and interesting single player section, which is crazy considering this is a fighting game, the game play is fantastic. It's a perfect blend of old school MK mixed with some of the new mechanics that were implemented throughout the PS2 era games. The only thing that really soured my experience was the broken online play. I literally could not play this game online for the first few weeks of its release. In fact I ended up giving up entirely, which is a shame because I was looking to get crazy into fighting other dudes online.

L.A. Noire was an odd choice for my game of the year list. I got roughly halfway through the game's story and I just got pretty tired of it. The modernized adventure game mechanics were very cool up until I realized that I can literally get every question wrong in an interrogation and still complete the mission in most cases. There just didn't seem like there was any sort of responsibility for my actions during these sequences. Particularly when Phelps questions a small girl about the death of her mother and I selected the lie option. Well, Phelps screams at this girl and then seconds later everything is back to being polite and normal. Don't get me wrong, it's difficult to develop aspects of game play mechanics that stay grounded in reality, especially with a game so robust with dialogue like L.A. Noire, but it really stood out. That along with the pretty strung together ending really left me wanting more from the game's plot, but it was a great take on what a modern adventure game could be in 2011.

Again, another odd choice for my game of the year list. I loved the hell out of Call of Duty 4. It is definitely up there with one of my most played games of all time, but after that I was pretty burned out on the Call of Duty craze. Sure, I played Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, but hardly anything more than getting my feet wet with the online multiplayer. That seems to have changed with Modern Warfare 3. Maybe it was because I took a few years to really get back into the series, but it seems to have been better that way. The campaign was as expected, a bombastic trek jumping from one area of conflict to another, but I enjoyed it. I had this odd investment in the Call of Duty story. Yeah, I know. Crazy. Aside from that the online multiplayer is still the shining star. We've all played Call of Duty so I am not going to spend too much time explaining why it is so great, but some of the class change stuff is really cool and though I will NEVER be as good as most other Call of Duty players, I'll definitely be having a lot of fun with this game in the future.