A somewhat tragic tale of three lists
By toowalrus 19 Comments
I'll start out by saying this has been a pretty rough year for me (from a gaming perspective anyway, the rest of my life has actually been going pretty smooth.) I began the year by proclaiming that I wasn't going to miss out on half of the great games that come out this time around, that I was going to play everything that interested me! Well, that didn't exactly happen- for a couple of reasons. First, some of you know that I've been working at a pizza joint for the past few years. Early this year, one of the managers there went to jail (yeah, I work with a bunch of scumbags). I wasn't exactly looking for a promotion, because I'm also a full-time business student, but my boss needed me, so I took the job and became a full-time manager. I went from working 20-25 hours a week, to working around 40. You can probably guess that it's been cutting into my free time, but I've also increased my class load (next semester, I'll be doing 16 hour school weeks, too). Anyway- I obviously failed at my gaming goal-, only being able to play maybe half of what I would've liked (not to mention the time I spent playing older PS3 games for the first time, like Uncharted 1 & 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance 1 & 2 etc) and the time I spent playing WoW (which I 'quit' playing again about 4 months ago). Anyway, everyone seems to be making up their top ten lists... I'm going to take it a step farther. Here's a list of my personal top ten for the year, VAGUELY structured in order from best to less-best. I've also put together a list of the games I sincerely wish I had the chance to play, and also the games I'm looking forward to in 2012 (which promises to be even better than this year!
Top Ten 2011 Games I've Played This Year:
- Portal 2:
I fucking loved Portal 2! My God, the voiceover from GlaDOS, Wheetley, Cave Johnson- all fantastic! I think I had more fun with the co-op than with any other game this year.
- Uncharted 3
I guess I'm one of the few people who enjoyed Uncharted 3 more than Uncharted 2. The desert, caravan, sinking ship, crashing plane and final sequences were just better than anything Uncharted 2 had to offer. I honestly liked the Sully/Drake relationship more than the double-cross happy love triangle they stuck you with in the first game- and they handled the supernatural elements MUCH better. LOVE IT!
- L.A.Noire
I guess I've got a high tolerance for repetition, because solving crime-after-crime didn't bother me one bit. It's a fairly simple game, all you're really doing is finding clues, interrogating suspects, and some very basic fighting and shooting, but something about it stuck with me... Maybe it was that outstanding facial animation?
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Here's a newsflash! Brutally assassinating anyone who gets in your way is still pretty damn fun! Sure, the story wasn't as good as it's predecessor, and I didn't feel drawn to the assassin recruiting or town restoring as I did in Brotherhood, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with the latest Assassin's Creed.
- Gears of War 3
I've been following the series since the beginning, but have still never played a round of it's multi-player. I know the story wasn't real deep or complex... but I've grown to love these guys, and they managed to end this story (which seemed so hopeless) in a way that didn't seem... completely stupid.
- Dead Space 2
Man, Dead Space 2 came out in January... didn't it. I don't remember much about it... But I remember liking it! Clark is insane... there are necromorphs, that girl gets her eye jabbed out with a screwdriver... I should probably play through this again.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
This should probably be higher on my list- but I haven't had a ton of time to play it yet. I'm maybe 10-15 hours in, and I can already tell that it's FANTASTIC... but I didn't finish the main story line, and haven't had much time to explore the extra content... who knows! Maybe this will turn out to be 2012's 2011 game of the year?!
- Mortal Kombat:
Everyone knows why Mortal Kombat is great- it's a fighting game, with a kick-ass story mode, and some awesome one-on-one fighting (locally, anyway). I played Sub-Zero, and the first time I landed a Babality on my cousin... man, I loved Mortal Kombat.
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters
I barely know what prompted me to play this game- I mean, the last golf game I really enjoyed was Mario Golf for Gamecube. I guess I watched my uncle play for a bit then had to buy it myself. I think the reason I liked it so much is because I was able to make my custom golfer look IDENTICAL to me, then I kicked Tigers ass and won the masters tournament. Yeah, that was cool.
- Resident Evil 4 HD
Just 'cause... you know.
Top Ten 2011 Games I Wish I Had Time For:
- Saints Row the Third
I really should play Saints Row.