Unfortunately I didn't have as much time (or money) for gaming this year, and I spent the first three months of it tooling around in India, so I definitely missed out on some things. There are a few notable titles I wasn't able to play this year, including Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Dark Souls, Dead Space 2, and Saint's Row: The Third. Here's what I've got instead!
This is the clear winner this year. It almost feels unfair to the other games here...almost. There has never been a game that has so consistently enraptured me for so long. Nearly every moment of Skyrim, across three characters and about 160 hours has been completely excellent. Aside from a bug here and there, Skyrim is 100% gaming excellence.
My only complaint about Bastion was that I wish there was more Bastion to play after I beat Bastion (twice). One of the best parts of this generation of gaming has been the proliferation of download-only titles. It shows that you can take a relatively small crew of developers and still produce gold. Bastion's art and music together are totally rad as it is, but add in the dynamic narration and neat folksy feel and you have a completely unique aesthetic experience. This is to say nothing of the excellent, tight isometric combat gameplay, which is tough but fair in the best way. I still occasionally find myself humming the tune to Zia's Song. Get 'em, Supergiant Games.
Valve can do no wrong, it seems. On a pure gameplay basis, Portal 2 is patently excellent. The new puzzle mechanics are clever and well-integrated into the original mechanics, and the solutions to the test chambers are still elegant and simple once you figure things out. The co-op mode is also great fun, but much easier with a friend in the room than online. The story and characters are much goofier this time around, with less of a sinister, mysterious air that was found in the original. I'm not certain which I prefer at this point, but I absolutely loved the inclusion of Wheatley and Cave Johnson. Hopefully Valve keeps the DLC train a-rollin' with this, because at this point every Portal experience is an awesome experience.
For a moment I told myself that re-releases didn't count, but then I realized fuck that, Shadow of the Colossus is by far my favorite game of the PS2 era. Ico's no slouch, either. Getting to play these games with a cleaned up visual presentation and a solid frame rate is only icing on the delicious, delicious cake that is SOTC and Ico together on one disc. I felt like these two games were somewhat overlooked in the previous generation, so it makes me immensely happy to have them easily accessible to a new generation of gamers.
I love that L.A. Noire is essentially an adventure game wrapped up in a next-gen candy coating. The facial animation technology was absolutely incredible, and I loved the noir flavor and serious tone, given Rockstar's track record. I'm not certain I agreed with the direction the writers took with Cole Phelps as a character, but it doesn't detract from the game as a whole.
You know what? The story and characters of Gears 3 are real, real dumb. Most of the emotional highs this game hit just kind of made me laugh. But that's besides the point - Gears 3 is just an excellent, tight gaming experience. This is the apex of cover-based shooting, and my favorite multiplayer experience of the year. Arcade mode was a brilliant way to make playing through the campaign fresh, and I don't even need to tell you how good Horde mode was.
After 30 years, I don't know how Nintendo continues to make goomba-bopping, shell-stomping, flippity-jumping continuously fun. You would think that after Galaxy and Galaxy 2 they would have just run out of the liquid fun which they pump into Mario platformers, but Super Mario 3D Land is still great fun. The 3D effect is also excellently done - it's the one use of 3D in a game that I consistently leave on instead of just turning the slider down to zero. This should have been a launch title, but if anything it's the game that makes owning a 3DS worth it.
While it didn't reach the heights of excellence that the original Deus Ex did, Deus Ex: HR still goes above and beyond other games of this generation in giving you options to deal with obstacles. I love that every time you complete a level, you can look back and realize there were about six other ways you could have gotten the same result. I played through this game twice and had a completely different experience - my first playthrough was all stealth, computer hacking, and non-lethal takedowns. The second time through, I was Adam Jensen, Vending Machine Thrower. Very few games can give you such a satisfying array of gameplay options.
I don't even care that this game originally came out 12 years ago. It's still pretty much the best-balanced, most pure fighting game experience I've ever had. The restoration was lovingly done, but it's a shame that the online matchmaking options weren't better - Super Street Fighter 4 is the clear winner in that department.
Okay, at this point this series is kind of spinning its wheels, plot-wise. Sequel fatigue aside, Assassin's Creed is still a blast to play. I still can't get over how awesome it is to snap your fingers and watch your assassin disciples just fly in out of fucking nowhere for some good old fashioned face-stabbing. The new weapons and items make combat a continually novel experience as well, which I love.
