by berjiwhir
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
The last game I played this year was also, without question, my favorite. While modern games are trending into more serious, artistic territory, Saints Row makes the case that there is still something to be said for all-out craziness. It's easy to make a game where stupid, unlikely things happen, but what makes this game my game of the year is the skill and craftsmanship that went into ensuring that at no time during the 15 of so hours it takes to roll through the story is the player ever bored. It got to the point where my wife would walk in on me playing and I'd say, "I'm in a tank battle. In mid-air." She'd shake her head and say, "Of course you are." Pure fun.
Portal 2 was my biggest surprise of the year. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit (like, you know, everybody who played it). This one raised the stakes on everything. From the first appearance of Wheatley to the moon at the end, the story, writing, and characters are the unquestioned star of the show. I found myself going through levels more slowly than I needed to to make sure that I heard every scrap of dialogue from Wheatley, Cave Johnson, and GLaDOS. I had a huge smile of my face the entire time I was playing.
Modern Warfare 3 had every reason to be terrible. The departure of so much of the important staff from Infinity Ward made me certain that this game was going to be mediocre. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of what I loved in Modern Warfare 2 is still here. The campaign lacks a bit of the bombastic punch in the front half, but the end gives us a satisfying conclusion to the story that started in Call of Duty 4. On the multiplayer side, they didn't mess too much with it, which was the right decision. Balancing is better, the new leveling system is great, and, yea, it's more Duty. Which was just what I wanted.
I will never see everything that this game has to offer. But what I have seen I've totally loved. The scope of the world and the amount of things that you can do is staggering. The game's northern setting gives it much more of a clear identity than Oblivion had. It's just as much fun to set off in a random direction and deal with what you find as it is to complete the main quest. It's an amazing accomplishment.
I loved Arkham Asylum with a passion that cannot be accurately rendered in text, so I was extremely excited for this new go-around. And mostly I was satisfied. The open world added a lot to the gameplay by making traversal an important mechanic. The story was strong, stuffing in even more awesome Batman lore. Even if the game was only eight hours of Mr. Freeze, I would have loved it.
I didn't expect that I would like the campaign as much as I did. Like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Gears of War 3 actually gives a meaningful and satisfying conclusion to the franchise's narrative, which is something we don't often see in modern games. Awkward "Mad World" scene aside, this game delivered. Plus, that multiplayer is real good.
There aren't many games that make me want to sit through marathon sessions, but I spent eight hours at one time with L.A. Noire the first day I had it. The tech is the real star of this game, but I found myself getting really interested how the story's braided narratives all tie together by the end.
Uncharted 3 does everything its predecessor did, which is part of the problem. The overall experience was a little stale for me. Still, when I wasn't frustrated by some level design and the stiffness of the combat, I still loved following Nathan, Sully, and Elena through this adventure. I'm also happy that Naughty Dog will be moving on from this franchise.
Bulletstorm was a game that I initially had no interest in. When I actually gave it a chance, I found myself totally hooked by the inventive, constantly-evolving combat. The sci-fi story has a fair amount of camp in it, sure, but it actually does a good job of developing the relationship between the story's characters. I will totally play a sequel. Good, stupid fun. You haven't lived until you've thumped a room full of armored soldiers into spikes on the ceiling.
Technically, I know, this didn't debut in 2011. But since this year saw the official release of Minecraft, it makes this list. I've spent a stupid number of hours on servers with my friends building castles.