This list excludes many of the games that are likely to represent the Giant Bomb community in 2012, most notably Walking Dead, Spec Ops: The Line and Dust: An Elysian Tail, which I am 99.9% positive will make my "2013 2012 GOTY" list that I'll never make.
Also, I primarily play games on the 360 as that's the only console that I own and I don't own a competent PC to play some of the 2012 GOTY contenders.
I didn't spend the majority of my video-game playing time with this game, but the time I did spend with the game were some of my favorite moments from 2012. To take note of here is the writing. While, at times, coming off a bit forced or just flat-out not funny, there were more than enough moments where I audibly laughed playing this alone on the couch. The multiplayer improvements were a welcome addition, even if I spent most of my time playing solo. Also, the badass rank challenges added a new level of addictiveness and a new series of numbers to try and increase. As Gearbox continues to produce DLC for this title, it's likely to be my most played 2012 game in 2013, especially as I dip into the other character classes and perhaps try my hand at True Vault Hunter Mode. Yes, it's MORE-derlands, but this late in the console cycle, I'm not looking for something to knock me off my feet as I try to save money for a next-gen platform. Borderlands 2, simply put, leads the pack in a year where I played few games.
Rock Band Blitz was the game I spent the most time with in 2012, and was almost a gift from a higher power when I heard the announcement of its impending release. As someone who has spent well over $1,000 dollars on downloadable content for the Rock Band platform, I needed a reason to play "Heroes" by David Bowie or "Bang a Gong" by T. Rex again. Old songs became new again with the simple, yet complex "two-note" gameplay mechanic. I'm still chasing high scores on the leaderboards into the winter months, and as long as they keep supporting the game with the flawed-but-functional Rock Band World on Facebook, you can bet that I'll continue to fire this one up from my 360 dashboard.
Honestly, I probably would have never played this game if it wasn't for the Giant Bombcast. And I'm glad that the gang got me hip to it. Fez was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale year where my desire to play video games dropped precipitously. Phil Fish, whose best work may have actually been in Indie Game: The Movie, has nonetheless created a fantastic world with, like Rock Band Blitz, a deceptively fundamental gameplay mechanic that provided me with hours of entertainment. Combined with the ideas of plopping QR codes in the game, creating an entire alphabet out of Tetris pieces and a subtle tech-hipster humor, Fez fostered the strongest images out of my mind when writing these summaries. Its presence legitimizes the role of Xbox Live Arcade/Playstation Network games moving forward into the next generation, all while providing an aesthetic that is more reminiscent of gaming's past.
I'm not sure if quick-time events will ever be as fun as they are in Asura's Wrath. They certainly won't be as numerous, I'd assume. Asura's Wrath packed in a lot of enjoyment for me in a small amount of time, and though I would have never paid full price for this game, anybody who even USED to have some kind of affinity for the days of Dragon Ball Z or similar anime will likely get a kick out of this title. The game is easily digestible--for a college student that was about to move to a transfer university, the ability to put down the game after these short, bite-sized chapters was a welcome relief from some of the longer missions in Mass Effect 3 or The Darkness II. There's a good sense of humor here, too, even if the story is asinine-in-a-good-way. And nothing can beat Asura's Wrath TV-style presentation, especially when paired with the unique ways that the game displayed button prompts towards the end of the journey. Locking away the true ending is a despicable act that will never be accepted by the gaming community at large ever again without vicious backlash and Internet petitions, but it was perhaps the best value I got out of a rental that wasn't The Last Airbender's easy 1K gamerscore.
The ending wasn't great, and perhaps not what the first two games in the series deserved. However, Mass Effect 3 was still one of the best big-budget games in 2012, even if it was a step back from its predecessor. The addition of co-op multiplayer is probably the shining point of this title, adding a new wrinkle to the Mass Effect combat style which is one of the few things that was improved from ME2. In a game that promised that your decisions in previous games would matter, it seemed as though ME3 didn't provide enough chances to have the first two games make a difference, in a story that was just good enough to propel me towards its conclusion. The upgrade workbench was a nice touch, if feeling a little bit unnecessary, and the galactic readiness provided that number-chasing aspect that several 2012 games employed to great addictive effect, at least from where I sat. The overall presentation of the world and the connection that I still had with the story overcame all of its shortcomings to be a solid middle-of-the-pack candidate in 2012.
Final Fantasy XIII understandably burned a lot of people, and Final Fantasy X-2 definitely wasn't for everybody, so I could understand some of the misgivings about this title. But XIII-2 is so much better than XIII, and provided hope for the future of single player Final Fantasies, even if the development cycle appears to be a joke. The battle system is still great and is probably the best battle system outside of the old-fashioned "wait" turn-based JRPG style, the amount of player choice in deciding where to go is dramatically expanded from XIII, and there's even several endings to try and exploit once the main game is complete and the level grinding begins. The story is the only aspect that maintains a mediocre quality from XIII. Once again, 2012 was not a great year for endings, and XIII-2 is no different. However, it gives ME3 a run for its money as the best role-playing game this year and, if the narrative was a bit more engaging and the voice actors a little less annoying, would have provided a better package overall than Bioware's effort.
I loved The Darkness. I am also in the camp of those who enjoyed Mike Patton's performance as The Darkness, and I felt that the original is one of the more underrated titles on the 360 in this generation. While the sequel doesn't cash in on the potential left on the table by the first game, it does more than enough to remain an entertaining game. All of the weird control mechanics with the demon arms were a wacky way to mix things up with killing enemies, and the leveling system was wisely done and a good way to push players to the game's conclusion, which, unlike the first game, was instantly forgettable and, like the second game, was not great. Once again, the journey pushed me through and was good first-person fun.
Speaking of good first-person fun, I was surprised that Black Ops II delivered such an experience in the single-player campaign. This is probably the best that Call of Duty has done in the campaign since the original Modern Warfare, and though nothing may top MW1 in this category, BLOPS2 does some really interesting things with the branching of the story. Although things aren't spelled out for you as well as they probably should be--a little more indication on whether or not a moment can have an impact on the future storyline, especially when it comes down to killing dudes or not killing dudes would be helpful--the idea of a Call of Duty story with branching paths is certainly something a bit different for the series. The game was severely hampered by Strike Force missions which were "optional" but had an effect on the overall ending of the game if you decided to ignore them. These Strike Force missions only served to pad the gameplay time to a level just slightly longer than what I was used to out of a 360 Call of Duty game. They were never fun and are a major mark against one of the best campaigns under the Call of Duty moniker.
Okay, let's be real--Double Dragon Neon isn't reinventing the wheel with beat-'em-ups. At the core of this game is still the same "waves of cannon fodder" gameplay trope that you've come to expect. However, DDN does manage to do some really fun stuff. The idea of grinding out tapes to increase your stats and make you a more effective brawler provides the idea of "loot lust" to a genre that is not commonly associated with such farming/grinding mechanics. DDN also circumvents the issue of XBLA releases from this genre--blocking out the option for unlimited continues in favor of allowing a player to keep the tapes that they have gained up to the point that they died while restarting the level. The combat also has certain aspects that make it more than just a button masher. DDN's "Gleam" mechanic encourages you to learn the fighting patterns of enemies to dispatch of them quicker, something that is essential when fighting through the later levels. Oh, and it's also got that "ironic 80s" feel that almost makes it feel like the Saints Row of beat-'em-ups at times. Jeff and Ryan were rather harsh on this game, but I urge you to give it a chance for yourself, or perhaps go into the game's QL with an open mind.
There's something very nerve-wracking about Hotline Miami. Maybe it's the oft-praised soundtrack. Perhaps it's the top-down, retro graphics portraying horrifying acts of violence. Or maybe it's the rush of the hunt, moving through buildings and getting the attention of thugs only to run away and ambush them when they come around the corner. Either way, there's no game quite like Hotline Miami this year in terms of punishing, but surmountable difficulty and an overall feel that can quickly immerse yourself in this drug-addled, mask-filled dystopia.
