2011: Year in Review
Release Schedule:
| 1st Half | 2nd Half |
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Personal Rankings:
| Consoles | Downloads | Portables |
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List items
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<b>Score: 9.5/10</b>
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American McGee can think up some really creative, imaginative, and seriously, SERIOUSLY twisted shit. And it's not just the vision either...whether it's platforming around floating cards in the sky or dicing up samurai wasps, it doesn't just look like a dream, but controls like one too.
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<b>Score: 9/10</b>
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So how does one improve on perfection? Light bridges. Gel. Wave tunnels. And a wickedly-told story that builds upon the original. I can't believe I was even worried going in...I should have more faith in Valve. They know what's up. And I didn't even get to try co-op yet either (thanks, PSN).
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<b>Score: 9/10</b>
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Caught me completely by surprise. I went in cold, barely knew anything about it, and came out grinning from ear to ear. Captivating story, fun dialogue, and clever (albeit fairly simple) puzzle gameplay. What a way to start the year.
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<b>Score: 8.5/10</b>
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A bit of a slow burn, but I was totally into by the end. Dragon Age 2 might have an edge in terms of story and characters, but to this game's credit, it's actually pretty strong here too. Combat's way more fun and addictive than DA2 though.
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<b>Score: 8/10</b>
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My first 3DS game and boy does it impress. The 3D effects really work well and the level design is worthy of the Mario moniker. It's not quite like the 2D or 3D Marios of past, but carves out its own distinct uniqueness.
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<b>Score: 8/10</b>
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There's nothing quite like gliding around Gotham City. The folks at Rocksteady have really outdone themselves, cramming yet again an insane amount of detail and love into their craft.
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<b>Score: 8/10</b>
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Uncharted 3 certainly has the "video" part of "video game" mastered, but unfortunately it's a bit lacking on the "game" side of things. The shooting and melee controls aren't very sharp and the difficulty can get downright cheap at times. The online multiplayer is still a blast to play though, especially co-op arena mode. EDIT: After the aiming patch, singleplayer controls like a dream now.
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<b>Score: 8/10</b>
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Holy crap, I haven't been this crazy about a Pokemon game since the Red/Blue days (which was well over a decade ago). Yeah, it follows the same conventions of all the million games before it, but it still somehow manages to feel fresh and stand out above the rest. It's got my favorite cast of new Pokemon to boot.
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<b>Score: 8/10</b>
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More Kirby adorableness with badass new powers and epic as all hell final boss battle.
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<b>Score: 7.5/10</b>
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The story mode actually turned out to be pretty damn <i>amazing</i>. I still think SSF4 is better technically, but MK easily outclasses it in personality and pure fun.
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<b>Score: 7.5/10</b>
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A weird, crass, and incredibly fun demon hunting romp from the crazy mind of Suda51 and the technical craft of Shinji Mikami.
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<b>Score: 7.5/10</b>
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The co-op is chaos...sweet, sweet chaos. I loved the hilariously cheesy dialogue, the 90's-brand of villainy, the over-the-top scenarios...and oh yes, the giant fucking explosions.
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<b>Score: 7/10</b>
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Giant god monsters kill you with colors. Good times.
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<b>Score: 7/10</b>
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Fun game all-in-all, but damn, the art and music are super fine.
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<b>Score: 7/10</b>
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Not as ambitious as Brotherhood, but it does feel a bit tidier in terms of gameplay. The additions are hit or miss (bombs good, hookblade good, tower defense awful), but the most notable change is the terribly drab and boring environment of Constantinople. I'm glad I don't care a bit about the story, otherwise the ending probably would've pissed me off.
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<b>Score: 6.5/10</b>
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A flawed game for sure, but I enjoyed the adventure, warts and all. The character interactions are the game's saving grace, and my smart-mouthed femHawke mage is as badass as they come.
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<b>Score: 6.5/10</b>
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At its core, it gets so much right...the lively, gorgeous visuals, brimming with character and personality, motion controls that actually work (except for the swimming part). They had all the ingredients to deliver an all-time great. <br><br>
...Then it's like they decided to dilute it with frustratingly repetitive back-tracking and filler. And for what? Just so they can say it's a 40-hour game on the box? They turned it into such a chore slogging through all that crap just to get a few fun moments in a dungeon. <br><br>
The sting's especially bad since you could feel it was right on the cusp of something special. And now it's just another in the long line of disappointments since Ocarina of Time.
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<b>Score: 6.5/10</b>
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Not as fun as the original, but the last level was pretty damn cool with the light/dark effects and I love all the boss battles.
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<b>Score: 6.5/10</b>
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Honestly, I was sorta expecting this to be the best thing ever. Maybe that's unfair expectations, but FFT is my absolute favorite game, and I was crossing my fingers that this would end up right alongside it. Still, I did sink 60+ hours into, so despite my mild disappointment, I did enjoy it plenty.
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<b>Score: 6.5/10</b>
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This game was so close to being something truly special, but a few frustrating issues made it fall short. Still, it offered plenty of intense platforming and hack 'n slash action.
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<b>Score: 6.5/10</b>
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Neat 2D platformer with kamikaze animals. Plus it's free!
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<b>Score: 6.5/10</b>
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Charming art, neat switch mechanic. Relies too much on trial and error though. Warp boxes got annoying.
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<b>Score: 6.5/10</b>
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Didn't leave as big an impact as DS1 did, but it pretty much improved on its predecessor in every way.
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<b>Score: 6/10</b>
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A pretty chill game of mass genocide and spreading your seed across the galaxy. There are some aggravating trial and error moments, which can sometimes ruin the calm mojo it's got going.
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<b>Score: 5/10</b>
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This game has its moments (namely, the post-apocalyptic prison level), but it's just so damn un-fun to play, especially the last New York act. Some terrible game design there. Plus, I encountered 3 gamebreaking bugs that forced me to restart the last save. And to top it off, that shitty online pass thing prevents me from testing out any of the multiplayer features. This'll be the first and last Resistance game I ever play.
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<b>Score: 5/10</b>
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Nearly 4 years later, I can finally play Crysis! Apparently, I wasn't missing out on much. Some neat concepts with the nanosuit, but overall it just wasn't really all that fun. It is pretty amazing that they somehow ported it to the consoles though.
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<b>Score: 5/10</b>
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It's sorta dumb, but the numerous fuck ups in co-op did provide some of the most laughs I had from a videogame before.
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<b>Score: 5/10</b>
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The narrative is REALLY long-winded, and after sifting through tomes of text for 8 hours, I decided that was enough for me. A shame though, since the battle system did some interesting things. Just didn't give a crap about the story or characters to continue on.
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<b>Score: 4/10</b>
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Entertaining for a bit, but it's not very challenging nor are the levels especially memorable. I did get a kick out of the Mega Man style boss intros though.
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<b>Score: 3/10</b>
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I get what it's going for, but it's just not really for me. Not a fan of the terrible AI, bland environments, crappy controls, hideous character models, and tedious hacking.
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