Here's a list of what might be my favourite games of 2011; if I'm remembering correctly, written before I definitely forget.
Notable omissions:
Dirt 3: Didn't like it as much as Dirt 2, but it did feature what was probably my best multi-player moment of the year and Gymkhana was an incredibly fun addition. The moment in question was some kind of free-for-all car CTF; and weaving through other players hell-bent on stopping you is really fun, especially when you dodge two at once coming from opposite sides to clinch the victory.
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Oblivion might be my favourite game ever, so having a game on the same platform that is superior in so many ways is a no-brainer addition to my list.
I love horror games and Dead Space is definitely a favourite of mine. The game's really memorable and plays really well, not always a given in horror games.
HORDE!
Really funny, looks great and was a lot of fun to work through the puzzles. The story beats and Stephen Merchant's inclusion didn't hurt either.
L.A. Noire's approach of more advanced dialogue and interrogation is phenomenal. More mainstream games are starting to bore me a little, and out of nowhere comes a game that offers things never before seen in the medium; yet at it's surface it's a solid open-world game. I don't care for the setting (like with Red Dead); but the game and it's tech are so well made I can't help but be enamoured with it nonetheless.
Dumb and great. Forgoing sense they've made the game a lot more fun to play. Sprinting and drop-kicking the windscreen of a car to jack it seems so natural now; playing GTA V might take some adjustment.
I found Bulletstorm pretty funny and the gameplay concepts were fantastic. It gave you diverse options and didn't punish you for experimenting with them. Crude humour aside it left a good taste.
The name and general concept didn't do much for me but after playing a demo it just hit me. The gameplay works really well and it's easily my favourite Tower-defence game. It came out and did the things I was looking for at the time, it just happened to also be a fantastic game as well.
This game is crazy. My first experience of Suda51's magic. The action was fun and to the point and everything else was dripping with style. I hope Suda gets to make more games and games generally get less restrained, the results are pretty fucking cool.
Dark Souls. Love it, Hate it. Probably my most played game of the year (excluding Street Fighter). 134 hours played and despite getting immensely frustrated dozens of times I never gave up nor wanted to. I don't agree with the consensus that DS is hard but "always fair"; but despite not liking hard games or challenge I got past every hurdle and learnt an obscure, unfriendly and vague game world like the back of my hand. I'm still undecided on exactly how I feel about Dark Souls but I'm definitely glad I played it.