List items
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A landmark in storytelling in games. Despite being basically a linear story told via quick time events and the odd adventure game puzzle, The Walking Dead is so masterfully crafted that it was the most emotionally engaging game of the year. Characters so much deeper and stories so much realer (despite the Zombies) than almost anything else available in games. Playing The Walking Dead is harrowing and gruelling and amazing.
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Journey is possibly the most beautiful game ever made. From the amazing sand and snow technology to the extremely strong art design to the haunting story and rich, atmospheric music. On top of this, its masterful approach to multiplayer creates an almost tangible emotional bond between you and another random human somewhere in the world.
I don't remember the name of the person I first went on this Journey with, but I do I remember fleeing together from terrifying snake monsters, huddling together for warmth as we trudged up a frozen mountain and the joy I felt when I found them at the summit, having thought them lost somewhere on the slopes.
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It is a tragedy that Bioware's fumble in the last 10 minutes of Mass Effect 3 has eclipsed the many fantastic hours that preceeded it. Yes the ending was poor (though at the time I was less bothered than I am in retrospect) and it sucks that some of the best content was locked away in the From Ashes and Leviathan DLC, but, Mass Effect 3 is still fantastic. It did not match the brilliance of 2, but it did tie up many of the loose ends of the series expertly and there was plenty of the character interaction that made the series great. The reunion between Shepherd and Jack and the fate of Mordin Solus are some of the greatest moments in games, let alone in this year.
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Dishonored is dissapointing because it came so close to perfection and missed. The world building and atmosphere are so good and the movement and magic so empowering that it is crushing when the story fails to live up and the world fails to respond to you believably at the most key points.
But that Heart! Realising that I could look into the very souls of the goons I was sneaking past and then render judgement was brilliant. Oh and blink is the best thing. The best thing!
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I did not think I would like XCOM. Firaxis does not make the kind of games I want to play these days. But everyone said it was fantastic anyway, and they were right. The story and world are trite and clichéd but it doesn't matter because the mechanics are so strong. The gameplay is balanced expertly so that you truly feel like you are fighting for survival. When a Colonel you have been training to greatness for hours is cut down it is heart breaking and when you finally break through the difficulty barrier and are able to lay so ass-whupping down on the alien scum it is so gratifying.
I can't even imagine not playing on Iron Man. That's like the entire game...
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Asura's Wrath takes everything that is great (and some of the bad unfortuantely) about super-dumb anime and, with a smattering of interaction, drags you into an insane future of demi gods cyborgs battles. It's just fantastically dumb!
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I don't like rogue-likes, but I love Tokyo Jungle. Between the solid combat, awesome premise, the local co-op and enough persistence and progression to negate the sadness dying in a rogue-like usually engenders, I had a great time with Tokyo Jungle. The story campaign has some bad parts, though is ultimately entertaining, but the main survival game is really good.
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Tight gameplay, a soundtrack that buries itself deep in your spine, brutal violence and an unnerving story line. So good and frustrating and awful and fantastic.
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Rectangles brought to life by clever writing and clever voice acting and clever puzzles. Who new two-dimensional rectangles could be so deep.
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I've largely eschewed MMOs since quitting EVE beause nothing compares, and GW2 doesn't. But it is really well made comfort food. It's not game-changing in any significant way but the quest system is slick, the combat is fun and I play an 8 foot tall women who can turn into a bear. Fun times.
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Everyone seems to have forgotten about the Darkness 2, but its a really good First Person Shooter/Demon Tentacle Eviscerator, with an interesting story to boot. Worth playing.
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Spec Ops tries to do some very interesting things. It doesn't entirely succeed, but it does work as a pretty insightful commentary of the medium. A lot cleverer than it may seem on the surface.
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Christina Love makes games that tackle issues and contain characters than now other game designer will go near. Analogue is an examination of women's status in feudal Korea by way of reading the logs of a socially regressed future Korean failed colony ship. Fascinating.
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2D stealth honed to near perfection. I didn't find the world or story particularly interesting, but it is mechanically excellent.
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A really thoughtful game with pleasantly nice and unbombastic characters. Unfortunately the ecosystem mechanics never quite worked as naturally as I was hoping.
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Mad, completely mad.
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I really enjoyed Far Cry 3 for the first few hours. The combat is good, the driving feels great and driving things off cliffs is great. Unfortunately between the confused plot, unlikable characters and uninteresting world I was left feeling that the whole thing was sort of hollow.
Alec Meer explained it better than I can: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/12/24/magnificent-and-important-advent-calendar-day-24/
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Its really good, but the lightning didn't quite hit like it did for Burnout: Paradise. Possibly because it was best at multiplayer and I'm too bad at driving to really get into it. Love the BAC Mono though.
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Diablo 3 is really good for about 10 hours. Unfortunately the 10-15 before that is ridiculously easy and all the game after that is way too hard. Plus the auction house trivially destroys the game's entire ramp up. I love the many ways in which they've streamlined the Diablo formula.
Plus... teleport punch!
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Eclipsed by other better examples of the ARPG, loot driven, WOWesque RPG, but I had a really good time with Reckoning. Some of the most fun combat in an RPG.
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I'm not really convinced that they added enough to justify this expansion, but the stuff they did add is really cool and Sins is still awesome.
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Didn't think Dear Esther could get me again having already played the original mod, but it was still atmospheric and haunting. And now its really beautiful as well!
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I respect the storytelling skill on display here but I don't like the style very much and its doesn't feel like a finished thing.
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I was able to enjoy Awesomenauts more than most MOBAs but it eventually proved to be too competitive for my limited video games skillz.
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I wish I was better at this game enough to really appreciate it. Maybe I'll come back to it in a couple of years and be able to enjoy it more, like I did with Super Meat Boy this year. Love the art style though.
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I kickstarted this game. I personally funded the entire thing! But I didn't really like it very much. It was just too roguelikey for my tastes, with to much progression within each run and too little outside. No regrets though.
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You can't grind through the metal detector to the left of the start of Airport. You can't grind through the metal detector! YOU CAN'T GRIND THROUGH THE METAL DETECTOR!!!!
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Jeff is so wrong. This is a crappy FPS with a bland cyberpunk setting, unfun difficulty and bad checkpoints.
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