Journal RogueyWon's Journal: My games of the year - 2011 3
All of this year's interesting releases are now out (indeed, the industry now pretty much in hibernation until Mass Effect 3 and the Vita early next year), so it's time for my usual end-of-year round up of what I've liked and what I haven't.
This has been a strong year, with a number of really good games - in fact, I'd say it's unusual to have so many strong contenders in a single year. That said, it's also been the year in which it became apparent that current console hardware is exhausted. With the Wii-U unlikely to improve the situation and the "proper" next gen consoles a couple of years away, it'll be interesting to see how things go over the next year or so. Anyway, on with the list. I'll start with my "top 10" for the last year. As ever, the eligibility criterion is "must have been released in the West (and if region locked, in the UK) on or after 1 January". So some games that came out in Japan before that point will be eligible.
10) Aliens: Infestation (DS) - Now this was a surprise. Before this hit the shelves, it looked like a low-budget cash-in for a technologically obsolete platform, designed to drum up interest ahead of next year's Aliens: Colonial Marines. Instead, we got an intelligently designed and deeply atmospheric Metroid-style exploration game. This won't be everybody's cup of tea - the rock-hard difficulty and occasionally sadistic checkpointing make sure of that. However, to my mind, it is the best Aliens game since 2001's PC-exclusive AvP2.
9) Portal 2 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - This was a triumph... well... almost, but not quite. There's a lot to love about this game. It's amazingly funny on occasions, the test chambers are incredibly well designed and it has a singular (but effectively unreplayable) co-op experience. That said, I did have a few reservations; it feels as though it's been padded a bit too much in places, to stretch it out to "full game" length, and some of the sections that have the player navigating between test chambers, particularly in the "old facility", are frankly miserable. Still excellent overall, though.
8) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, also 360 and PS3) - In some areas, a stunning game. Fantastic area design and great stealth mechanics hark back to an earlier era of gaming when players were trusted to actually display a modicum of intelligence. Let down slightly by combat which feels distinctly unpolished (and very much like a punishment for failing at stealth) and by those awful boss fights.
7) Ar Tonelico 3 (PS3) - The final installment in a series which has, for quite a few years, been a bit of a guilty pleasure. While all the dodginess of the previous installments is still on display, this is actually a remarkably good game once you get past that. The plot is a bit of a triumph, bringing an awesome conclusion to an ambitious multi-game plot arc. The soundtrack is also probably the best we've heard in a game this year (yes, EXEC_COSMOFLIPS, I'm looking at you).
6) Forza Motorsport 4 (360) - Latest installment in what is now undeniably the best career-based motorsports game around (sorry, but Gran Turismo just isn't competitive any more and the Shift games just make me laugh with their hilarious input lag). It's a more subtle package of upgrades than Forzas 2 and 3, but still very much worth playing for the revised handling physics, graphics engine and career structure. That said, I bumped it down the list a couple of places on the basis of rampant over-commercialisation - it's utterly desperate to sell the player DLC - or even credits for in-game purchases - at every possible opportunity.
5) The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Yes, as with any newly-released Bethesda game, it's buggy as hell. It also has some deeply underwhelming melee combat mechanics. However, ranged combat and exploration are fantastic. With a richer, more interesting game-world than Oblivion, this feels like a true successor to the earlier games in the series. The new engine is a big upgrade to what we've seen in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
4) Bulletstorm (PC, also 360 and PS3) - The game that is what Duke Nukem Forever should have been. Crass, crude, occasionally very funny. It's also a staggeringly good fps, with some really amazing level design and weapon mechanics. The "skillshot" system makes the game feel completely unlike anything else on the market. The limit on the number of weapons you can carry is a little jarring and sits uncomfortably with the overall feel of the game, but in every other respect, this is a superlative shooter.
3) Resistance 3 (PS3) - I don't know what the reviewers were smoking; this was the best fps of the year bar none (and there was some tough competition - such as Bulletstorm). It takes all of the hateful conventions of most modern shooters (weapon limits, regenerating health, cover-based shooting, boring "real world" weapons) and discards them with gleeful disdain. This is a fantastic reminder of what shooters could have been like if Halo and Call of Duty hadn't hijacked the genre - and hopefully points to the shape of things to come. The only way this game could have been improved would be for it to be on the PC (though the PS Move controls are pretty decent for precise aiming).
2) Total War: Shogun 2 (PC) - I've tried before to "get into" the Total War series, but had never quite managed it. Efforts at coming to grips with Empire and Napoleon just left me bruised and bewildered. Shogun 2 has a brutal learning curve, but is nevertheless more accessible than its immediate predecessors. And once you've got over that learning curve, you'll find one of the best strategy games around. I pumped countless hours into this game over the summer and was still discovering new facets of gameplay when the rush of Autumn releases finally clawed me away from it. It's also one of the few games around to really make the most of top-end modern PC hardware - a fortunate side-effect of the lack of a need to also develop console versions.
1) Dark Souls (360, also PS3) - Yes, it really is as hard as the publicity and reviews make out - we're talking "Battletoads hard" here. Once or twice, it strays briefly across the line into "outright unfair", but these are rare exceptions. Under the difficulty lurks a truly breathtaking game. Spectacular world design offers a mix of carefully crafted dungeon crawling with more open-world exploration. This is a game that is both huge and yet surprisingly lean - it may be big, but there is no wasted space, no filler. The melee combat system is the best we have ever seen in a game (of any genre) and needs to be considered the standard-setter. This is a game that refuses to conform to other games' cliches and conventions and it is all the better for it. It gets under your skin. I spent 79 hours beating this game on my first playthrough, then breathed a sigh of relief and went off to play some less challenging fare. Within a week, I'd returned to start a second playthrough, on the even-more-challenging New Game+ mode. There have been many excellent games this year, but Dark Souls must surely be - by a clear margin - the best.
And now - in alphabetical order - the games which were good or great, but which I couldn't fit into the top 10.
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PS3) - cute, relaxed Japanese RPG, which is much lower-stress than its immediate predecessor (Atelier Rorona). It's a bit too grindy to justify a top-10 spot, but still worth playing for the neat crafting system and laid-back atmosphere.
Batman: Arkham City (360, also PS3 and PC) - Sequel to the genre-redefining Arkham Asylum, this maintains some of its predecessor's strengths. The combat and stealth sections are as joyous as ever. I do worry, however, that the shift to an open-world environment hasn't helped the game as much as it should have. The constant distrctions that go with such a setting sometimes undermine the game's pace and atmosphere a bit too much, which keeps it out of the top 10.
Catherine (PS3, also 360) - A bold experiment in game design, that spins off the Persona series into something truly unexpected. It doesn't always work - both the game's social mechanics and its action-puzzler elements have some significant flaws, but it's still a brave and worthy idea and the industry is better off for its existence.
Child of Eden (360/Kinect, also PS3) - Interesting and visually pleasing rail-shooter - a spiritual successor to Rez. It's very short and the need to repeat stages is irritating, but it's still worth experiencing. The Kinect controls work tolerably well, though I suspect most players will go back to playing with the controller before too long.
Crysis 2 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - It's undeniable and unfortunate that the concept has been dilluted a little since the original Crysis. However, this is still an exceptionally well-desgined fps, which eschews Call of Duty style set-piece spectaculars in favour of (slightly) more player-freedom and (substantially) more intelligent gameplay. The graphics engine is also seriously impressive.
Dirt 3 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - This wisely loses most of the "OMG XTREME" trappings of its immediate predecessor, in favour of a pared back racing experience that puts the focus back where it belongs - on the series's rally roots. It may not quite have the "sim" factor of Forza, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.
Dead Space 2 (360, also PC, PS3) - Decent action-horror sequel. More polished than the previous game in the series but also possibly less distinctive.
Disgaea 4 (PS3) - Something of a return to form for the series after what was (for me at least) a weak third installment. There's nothing particularly new here, but the old Disgaea mechanics have been tweaked and polished quite effectively. The game also has the strongest cast and storyline since the first installment.
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 (360, also PS3) - I'll be honest, in an objective sense, this is not a very good game. That said, if you're a Gundam nerd like me, then this game is as good as it gets with an English language translation. Besides, the hack and slash gameplay is fun, in a slightly hypnotic sense.
Gears of War 3 (360) - There's absolutely nothing in here that will be fresh or unexpected if you played the first two installments, but this is a hugely polished game. In some ways, this feels like the (much imitated) evolutionary niche that the original Gears of War created taken to its final stage. It's difficult to see what more could be done with the franchise now, barring substantial changes to play mechanics.
Ico/Shadow of the Colossus collection (PS3) - Decent re-master of two classic games. Interestingly, while I always remember Ico as the more striking of the two games (possibly because it came first, and hence had the originality factor), it is certainly Colossus that has fared better over time.
The Idolmaster 2 (PS3, also 360 and really, really creepy arcade machines) - Ok, ok, this one shouldn't technically be eligible. It hasn't had a Western release and isn't likely to get one either. However, I've been curious as to what the hell this series is actually about and why it seems to get so much attention in Japan. With a region free version finally available, I snagged an import copy. It's actually pretty fun - even though my Japanese is only good enough to understand about 10% of it (fortunately, translation guides exist). The graphics and overall presentation are excellent, and the minigames are quite a lot of fun. I'm not sure I'd want to get as scary-hardcore about it as some of the Japanese crowd seem to, but I'm glad I took a look.
Killzone 3 (PS3) - In many ways, this is a hateful game. It's another joyless trudge through possibly the least-likeable sci-fi setting around, with the usual cast of obnoxious characters. However, it was the first game to allow PS Move controls to be used for a console fps and the increase in precision that this gives over a twin-stick controller is spectacular (though large, rapid turns remain a problem). The controls were impressive enough that I decided I did like the game after all.
L.A. Noire (360, also PS3 and PC) - A bold and impressive concept, but somewhat let down by the fact that it is still, at heart, underpinned by the same mechanics as GTA4. As with many Rockstar games, it's rather easier to admire than it is to like. The interrogation scenes are great, though.
Littlebigplanet 2 (PS3) - It's a fun game. It doesn't do much that its own predecessor didn't, but it's still fun.
Motorstorm: Apocalypse (PS3) - I understand that this died a painful commercial death, at least in part due to natural disasters around the world that gave it a very difficult launch environment. That's a bit of a pity, because this is the best installment in the series by some way, which makes some real gameplay advances over its predecessors.
Operation Flashpoint: Red River (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Yes, this series gets more restrictive with every installment. That said, this is also more accessible than previous installments. It also helps that it has a better plot and dialogue, and some interesting mission design. Obviously, while more restrictive than its predecessors, it's still about 1,000 times more open than any other mainstream fps around.
Red Faction: Armageddon (360, also PC and PS3) - Another game which is more restrictive than other installments in its franchise. Clever weapon design and some interesting enemies to fight save it from mediocrity, however. Also has the largest and most blatant plot-hole of the year.
Serious Sam 3 (PC, console ports forthcoming) - I didn't like the second installment in this series (cringe-inducing cutscenes, "bitty" levels), but this is much better. It recaptures the madcap run-and-gunning spirit of the original pretty well. The engine looks ugly compared to other recent games, but it does allow the game to keep a huge number of objects moving around. Another game that shows what Duke Nukem Forever could have been.
Shadows of the Damned (360, also PS3) - A wonderfully stylish game (and yet another which feels like the game that Duke Nukem Forever should have been). It's loud, potty-mouthed and not in the slightest bit ashamed of it. The gameplay struggles to hold up its end of the deal at times - the light/dark mechanic in particular gets tedious in places - and it's all over far too quickly (with no real replay value). Still worth a look, though.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) - Finally, a Westernrelease for the "lost" installment in the Persona series. It's a bit dated, of course, but still worth a look.
The Witcher 2 (PC, 360 version forthcoming) - A clever, well-designed RPG that puts Dragon Age 2 to shame. That said, I confess to having found it just a little bit too hardcore in places. And that's coming from a guy who just listed Dark Souls as his game of the year. The difference, I think, is that Dark Souls always tries to be scrupulously fair to the player, even as it kills him for the 300th time (it doesn't succeed 100%, but it does try). I'm not sure that The Witcher 2, despite being a bit easier overall, always makes a similar effort.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3) - I sympathise with those who, like Eurogamer and Penny Arcade, find it hard to look past just how scripted this game is. That said, it's a lot of fun for the most part, and it has fantastic production values.
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2: Retribution (PC) - Dawn of War 2 took a long time to grow on me - but this final expansion pack produced a polished, well-balanced version of the game. It would have been nice if the campaign structures could have varied more between the races, though.
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine (360) - If ever there was a game that needed a bit more polish, it was Space Marine. In terms of visuals and level design, this is just a bit too far behind its competition (particularly Gears of War 3). However, it has some great innovations (including brilliant mechanics for switching between ranged and melee combat on the fly) and I'd love to see it get a sequel that was able to take the time to smooth some of those rough edges. It's hard to put a finger on precisely why, but this is an extremely likeable game. Playing as articulate, intelligent characters rather than grunting troglodytes is a good start.
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) - Well-executed and sometimes-innovative JRPG. Somewhat restrained from reaching its full potential by the fact that it's presented on such obsolete hardware, when you can feel that it would love to burst out into real visual spectacle.
Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) - Mixed feelings here. There's a fun game in there - at least some of the time - with some good dungeon design and interesting combat mechanics. However, it's surrounded by dismal graphics, tired and borderline-hateful characters, poor production values (still no voice acting) and gameplay flow which emphasises repetition a bit too much. I'm genuinely torn over whether this game is a "good, but..." or a "bad, but...". I think the Zelda franchise has been over-milked by Nintendo over the last few years. This game's ok as a swan-song for the Wii, but they need to revisit some of the fundamentals and bring the series into the 21st century before sticking out another game in the series.
And now the disappointments - the games which either didn't live up to expectations, or which were just generally a bit poor. Again, in alphabetical order.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (360, also PS3) - The Ace Combat series is generally about silly plots, air battles with surprisingly deep tactics and flying real-world aircraft into battle against ludicrous sci-fi bosses. And you know what? That's a good thing. So it was a huge disappointment to see the series get lumbered with a dull, Modern Warfare inspired real-world storyline and to have all of the tactics stripped out and replaced with laughably bad rail-shooter sections. Oh, and the helicopter missions should just crawl away and die.
Alice: Madness Returns (360, also PC and PS3) - This one just doesn't work. I don't mean that it's broken, buggy or unplayable. Rather, I mean that it has a lot of gameplay and artistic elements that should come together to make an interesting game, but instead end up as a flat, boring mess. Repetitive level design, unsatisfying weapons and poor controls (on the 360, at least) all help to drag the game down. Sad, because there are a few moments where the game's potential manages to shine through - which are quite impressive.
Battlefield 3 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Yes, the engine is pretty. Yes, it's nice that people are doing stuff with the PC that pushes it beyond what the consoles are capable of. But oh my word the campaign is miserable. Short, derivative and boring - so a lot like the Modern Warfare sequels which it is so consciously imitating. Multiplayer is a bit better, but there are still glaring flaws that have been there since the days of Battlefield 1942.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PC, also 360, PS3, Wii, pocket calculators and, quite frankly, probably electronic musical toilet-roll holders) - Basically, it's the same as Battlefield 3, but with worse graphics, a slightly better written campaign and much worse multiplayer. Can this series PLEASE just go away and die in a ditch.
Darkspore (PC) - A sad attempt to extract some value from the Spore franchise, which generates a bland, boring dungeon crawler.
Dead Island (PC, also 360 and PS3) - There's a decent concept in there, but buried under horrible, horrible execution (dreadful quest design, poor melee combat, bugs galore). Why does this happen so often with zombie apocalypse games? The same broad problem - albeit for different reasons - applies with a vengeance to the Dead Rising series.
Dragon Age 2 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Not a bad game as such - even verges on good in places. But it fails as a sequel to the superb original. Feels more like an expansion pack than a true sequel. This makes it very clear that the annual development cycle just doesn't work for franchises like Dragon Age.
Dungeon Siege 3 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - A serious amount of dumbing down ruins the latest installment in what used to be the thinking man's action RPG franchise. No ability to control a full party and a complete lack of interesting character customisation leaves this game feeling utterly lacklustre.
Mario Kart 7 (3DS) - So, the new "innovation" this time is that we have flying and underwater sections. The former basically amounts to "imprecise controls" and the latter to "really slow and boring". The weapon-spam problems that turned Mario Kart Wii into such a steaming pile of poo are somewhat diminished, but not entirely absent.
Shift 2: Unleased (360, also PC and PS3) - I feel a bit sorry for this. A lot of effort was clearly put into making a real Forza and Gran Turismo competitor. At first glance it looks like it might succeed. Unfortunately, the whole thing is utterly ruined, on the 360 at least, by the most appalling input lag imaginable. The game is rendered near unplayable once you get past the beginner-level races.
Star Fox 64 3d (3DS) - Oh come on, it's 2011 and this is the best you can do. Provides sporadic moments of almost-fun for small chunks of its sub-1-hour play-time. If they'd charged £5 for it as a download, I'd have been fine with that. As a £40 flagship release? Don't make me laugh.
The Binding of Isaac (PC) - It might feel a bit harsh to beat up on a low-budget indie game, but this is such a huge step backwards from Super Meat Boy that it's just silly. It doesn't even have native joypad support. Seriously.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3d (3DS) - A decent enough game from more than a decade ago becomes a badly dated and over-priced handheld release. With unnecessary headache-inducing 3d tagged on to boot.
And finally - the genuinely awful games. These are, in the world of modern QA systems and high budgets, few and far between. You don't even get one such game every year. This year, however, we had not one but two.
Duke Nukem Forever (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I wish this game had never seen release. Then I would still be able to believe that there was a good Duke Nukem Forever - albeit an incomplete one - out there somewhere. Combines the worst elements of old shooters - dire graphics, inconsistent difficulty, lack of emotional clout - with the worst elements of new shooters - two-weapon limits, regenerating health, corridor levels. And it's Just Not Funny (TM). Utterly awful. Special dishonourable mention to the Aliens-inspired section under the stadium, which is outright sick (and not in a good way).
Hyperdimension Neptunia (PS3) - In a year where Japanese developers have finally shown some indications of getting to grip with current console hardware (and indeed produced my game of the year), it's good that we have Hyperdimension Neptunia to remind us that mostof them still don't know what they're doing. A game that takes PS1 level graphics and gets them to grind the PS3 down to single figure framerates, combining this with godawful combat mechanics, boring grind-based gameplay and an utterly hateful cast of characters. Also, the games-industry jokes are really, really, really unfunny. There's potentially a nice idea here somewhere - buried under several tons of manure.
This has been a strong year, with a number of really good games - in fact, I'd say it's unusual to have so many strong contenders in a single year. That said, it's also been the year in which it became apparent that current console hardware is exhausted. With the Wii-U unlikely to improve the situation and the "proper" next gen consoles a couple of years away, it'll be interesting to see how things go over the next year or so. Anyway, on with the list. I'll start with my "top 10" for the last year. As ever, the eligibility criterion is "must have been released in the West (and if region locked, in the UK) on or after 1 January". So some games that came out in Japan before that point will be eligible.
10) Aliens: Infestation (DS) - Now this was a surprise. Before this hit the shelves, it looked like a low-budget cash-in for a technologically obsolete platform, designed to drum up interest ahead of next year's Aliens: Colonial Marines. Instead, we got an intelligently designed and deeply atmospheric Metroid-style exploration game. This won't be everybody's cup of tea - the rock-hard difficulty and occasionally sadistic checkpointing make sure of that. However, to my mind, it is the best Aliens game since 2001's PC-exclusive AvP2.
9) Portal 2 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - This was a triumph... well... almost, but not quite. There's a lot to love about this game. It's amazingly funny on occasions, the test chambers are incredibly well designed and it has a singular (but effectively unreplayable) co-op experience. That said, I did have a few reservations; it feels as though it's been padded a bit too much in places, to stretch it out to "full game" length, and some of the sections that have the player navigating between test chambers, particularly in the "old facility", are frankly miserable. Still excellent overall, though.
8) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, also 360 and PS3) - In some areas, a stunning game. Fantastic area design and great stealth mechanics hark back to an earlier era of gaming when players were trusted to actually display a modicum of intelligence. Let down slightly by combat which feels distinctly unpolished (and very much like a punishment for failing at stealth) and by those awful boss fights.
7) Ar Tonelico 3 (PS3) - The final installment in a series which has, for quite a few years, been a bit of a guilty pleasure. While all the dodginess of the previous installments is still on display, this is actually a remarkably good game once you get past that. The plot is a bit of a triumph, bringing an awesome conclusion to an ambitious multi-game plot arc. The soundtrack is also probably the best we've heard in a game this year (yes, EXEC_COSMOFLIPS, I'm looking at you).
6) Forza Motorsport 4 (360) - Latest installment in what is now undeniably the best career-based motorsports game around (sorry, but Gran Turismo just isn't competitive any more and the Shift games just make me laugh with their hilarious input lag). It's a more subtle package of upgrades than Forzas 2 and 3, but still very much worth playing for the revised handling physics, graphics engine and career structure. That said, I bumped it down the list a couple of places on the basis of rampant over-commercialisation - it's utterly desperate to sell the player DLC - or even credits for in-game purchases - at every possible opportunity.
5) The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Yes, as with any newly-released Bethesda game, it's buggy as hell. It also has some deeply underwhelming melee combat mechanics. However, ranged combat and exploration are fantastic. With a richer, more interesting game-world than Oblivion, this feels like a true successor to the earlier games in the series. The new engine is a big upgrade to what we've seen in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
4) Bulletstorm (PC, also 360 and PS3) - The game that is what Duke Nukem Forever should have been. Crass, crude, occasionally very funny. It's also a staggeringly good fps, with some really amazing level design and weapon mechanics. The "skillshot" system makes the game feel completely unlike anything else on the market. The limit on the number of weapons you can carry is a little jarring and sits uncomfortably with the overall feel of the game, but in every other respect, this is a superlative shooter.
3) Resistance 3 (PS3) - I don't know what the reviewers were smoking; this was the best fps of the year bar none (and there was some tough competition - such as Bulletstorm). It takes all of the hateful conventions of most modern shooters (weapon limits, regenerating health, cover-based shooting, boring "real world" weapons) and discards them with gleeful disdain. This is a fantastic reminder of what shooters could have been like if Halo and Call of Duty hadn't hijacked the genre - and hopefully points to the shape of things to come. The only way this game could have been improved would be for it to be on the PC (though the PS Move controls are pretty decent for precise aiming).
2) Total War: Shogun 2 (PC) - I've tried before to "get into" the Total War series, but had never quite managed it. Efforts at coming to grips with Empire and Napoleon just left me bruised and bewildered. Shogun 2 has a brutal learning curve, but is nevertheless more accessible than its immediate predecessors. And once you've got over that learning curve, you'll find one of the best strategy games around. I pumped countless hours into this game over the summer and was still discovering new facets of gameplay when the rush of Autumn releases finally clawed me away from it. It's also one of the few games around to really make the most of top-end modern PC hardware - a fortunate side-effect of the lack of a need to also develop console versions.
1) Dark Souls (360, also PS3) - Yes, it really is as hard as the publicity and reviews make out - we're talking "Battletoads hard" here. Once or twice, it strays briefly across the line into "outright unfair", but these are rare exceptions. Under the difficulty lurks a truly breathtaking game. Spectacular world design offers a mix of carefully crafted dungeon crawling with more open-world exploration. This is a game that is both huge and yet surprisingly lean - it may be big, but there is no wasted space, no filler. The melee combat system is the best we have ever seen in a game (of any genre) and needs to be considered the standard-setter. This is a game that refuses to conform to other games' cliches and conventions and it is all the better for it. It gets under your skin. I spent 79 hours beating this game on my first playthrough, then breathed a sigh of relief and went off to play some less challenging fare. Within a week, I'd returned to start a second playthrough, on the even-more-challenging New Game+ mode. There have been many excellent games this year, but Dark Souls must surely be - by a clear margin - the best.
And now - in alphabetical order - the games which were good or great, but which I couldn't fit into the top 10.
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PS3) - cute, relaxed Japanese RPG, which is much lower-stress than its immediate predecessor (Atelier Rorona). It's a bit too grindy to justify a top-10 spot, but still worth playing for the neat crafting system and laid-back atmosphere.
Batman: Arkham City (360, also PS3 and PC) - Sequel to the genre-redefining Arkham Asylum, this maintains some of its predecessor's strengths. The combat and stealth sections are as joyous as ever. I do worry, however, that the shift to an open-world environment hasn't helped the game as much as it should have. The constant distrctions that go with such a setting sometimes undermine the game's pace and atmosphere a bit too much, which keeps it out of the top 10.
Catherine (PS3, also 360) - A bold experiment in game design, that spins off the Persona series into something truly unexpected. It doesn't always work - both the game's social mechanics and its action-puzzler elements have some significant flaws, but it's still a brave and worthy idea and the industry is better off for its existence.
Child of Eden (360/Kinect, also PS3) - Interesting and visually pleasing rail-shooter - a spiritual successor to Rez. It's very short and the need to repeat stages is irritating, but it's still worth experiencing. The Kinect controls work tolerably well, though I suspect most players will go back to playing with the controller before too long.
Crysis 2 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - It's undeniable and unfortunate that the concept has been dilluted a little since the original Crysis. However, this is still an exceptionally well-desgined fps, which eschews Call of Duty style set-piece spectaculars in favour of (slightly) more player-freedom and (substantially) more intelligent gameplay. The graphics engine is also seriously impressive.
Dirt 3 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - This wisely loses most of the "OMG XTREME" trappings of its immediate predecessor, in favour of a pared back racing experience that puts the focus back where it belongs - on the series's rally roots. It may not quite have the "sim" factor of Forza, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.
Dead Space 2 (360, also PC, PS3) - Decent action-horror sequel. More polished than the previous game in the series but also possibly less distinctive.
Disgaea 4 (PS3) - Something of a return to form for the series after what was (for me at least) a weak third installment. There's nothing particularly new here, but the old Disgaea mechanics have been tweaked and polished quite effectively. The game also has the strongest cast and storyline since the first installment.
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 (360, also PS3) - I'll be honest, in an objective sense, this is not a very good game. That said, if you're a Gundam nerd like me, then this game is as good as it gets with an English language translation. Besides, the hack and slash gameplay is fun, in a slightly hypnotic sense.
Gears of War 3 (360) - There's absolutely nothing in here that will be fresh or unexpected if you played the first two installments, but this is a hugely polished game. In some ways, this feels like the (much imitated) evolutionary niche that the original Gears of War created taken to its final stage. It's difficult to see what more could be done with the franchise now, barring substantial changes to play mechanics.
Ico/Shadow of the Colossus collection (PS3) - Decent re-master of two classic games. Interestingly, while I always remember Ico as the more striking of the two games (possibly because it came first, and hence had the originality factor), it is certainly Colossus that has fared better over time.
The Idolmaster 2 (PS3, also 360 and really, really creepy arcade machines) - Ok, ok, this one shouldn't technically be eligible. It hasn't had a Western release and isn't likely to get one either. However, I've been curious as to what the hell this series is actually about and why it seems to get so much attention in Japan. With a region free version finally available, I snagged an import copy. It's actually pretty fun - even though my Japanese is only good enough to understand about 10% of it (fortunately, translation guides exist). The graphics and overall presentation are excellent, and the minigames are quite a lot of fun. I'm not sure I'd want to get as scary-hardcore about it as some of the Japanese crowd seem to, but I'm glad I took a look.
Killzone 3 (PS3) - In many ways, this is a hateful game. It's another joyless trudge through possibly the least-likeable sci-fi setting around, with the usual cast of obnoxious characters. However, it was the first game to allow PS Move controls to be used for a console fps and the increase in precision that this gives over a twin-stick controller is spectacular (though large, rapid turns remain a problem). The controls were impressive enough that I decided I did like the game after all.
L.A. Noire (360, also PS3 and PC) - A bold and impressive concept, but somewhat let down by the fact that it is still, at heart, underpinned by the same mechanics as GTA4. As with many Rockstar games, it's rather easier to admire than it is to like. The interrogation scenes are great, though.
Littlebigplanet 2 (PS3) - It's a fun game. It doesn't do much that its own predecessor didn't, but it's still fun.
Motorstorm: Apocalypse (PS3) - I understand that this died a painful commercial death, at least in part due to natural disasters around the world that gave it a very difficult launch environment. That's a bit of a pity, because this is the best installment in the series by some way, which makes some real gameplay advances over its predecessors.
Operation Flashpoint: Red River (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Yes, this series gets more restrictive with every installment. That said, this is also more accessible than previous installments. It also helps that it has a better plot and dialogue, and some interesting mission design. Obviously, while more restrictive than its predecessors, it's still about 1,000 times more open than any other mainstream fps around.
Red Faction: Armageddon (360, also PC and PS3) - Another game which is more restrictive than other installments in its franchise. Clever weapon design and some interesting enemies to fight save it from mediocrity, however. Also has the largest and most blatant plot-hole of the year.
Serious Sam 3 (PC, console ports forthcoming) - I didn't like the second installment in this series (cringe-inducing cutscenes, "bitty" levels), but this is much better. It recaptures the madcap run-and-gunning spirit of the original pretty well. The engine looks ugly compared to other recent games, but it does allow the game to keep a huge number of objects moving around. Another game that shows what Duke Nukem Forever could have been.
Shadows of the Damned (360, also PS3) - A wonderfully stylish game (and yet another which feels like the game that Duke Nukem Forever should have been). It's loud, potty-mouthed and not in the slightest bit ashamed of it. The gameplay struggles to hold up its end of the deal at times - the light/dark mechanic in particular gets tedious in places - and it's all over far too quickly (with no real replay value). Still worth a look, though.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) - Finally, a Westernrelease for the "lost" installment in the Persona series. It's a bit dated, of course, but still worth a look.
The Witcher 2 (PC, 360 version forthcoming) - A clever, well-designed RPG that puts Dragon Age 2 to shame. That said, I confess to having found it just a little bit too hardcore in places. And that's coming from a guy who just listed Dark Souls as his game of the year. The difference, I think, is that Dark Souls always tries to be scrupulously fair to the player, even as it kills him for the 300th time (it doesn't succeed 100%, but it does try). I'm not sure that The Witcher 2, despite being a bit easier overall, always makes a similar effort.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3) - I sympathise with those who, like Eurogamer and Penny Arcade, find it hard to look past just how scripted this game is. That said, it's a lot of fun for the most part, and it has fantastic production values.
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2: Retribution (PC) - Dawn of War 2 took a long time to grow on me - but this final expansion pack produced a polished, well-balanced version of the game. It would have been nice if the campaign structures could have varied more between the races, though.
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine (360) - If ever there was a game that needed a bit more polish, it was Space Marine. In terms of visuals and level design, this is just a bit too far behind its competition (particularly Gears of War 3). However, it has some great innovations (including brilliant mechanics for switching between ranged and melee combat on the fly) and I'd love to see it get a sequel that was able to take the time to smooth some of those rough edges. It's hard to put a finger on precisely why, but this is an extremely likeable game. Playing as articulate, intelligent characters rather than grunting troglodytes is a good start.
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) - Well-executed and sometimes-innovative JRPG. Somewhat restrained from reaching its full potential by the fact that it's presented on such obsolete hardware, when you can feel that it would love to burst out into real visual spectacle.
Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) - Mixed feelings here. There's a fun game in there - at least some of the time - with some good dungeon design and interesting combat mechanics. However, it's surrounded by dismal graphics, tired and borderline-hateful characters, poor production values (still no voice acting) and gameplay flow which emphasises repetition a bit too much. I'm genuinely torn over whether this game is a "good, but..." or a "bad, but...". I think the Zelda franchise has been over-milked by Nintendo over the last few years. This game's ok as a swan-song for the Wii, but they need to revisit some of the fundamentals and bring the series into the 21st century before sticking out another game in the series.
And now the disappointments - the games which either didn't live up to expectations, or which were just generally a bit poor. Again, in alphabetical order.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (360, also PS3) - The Ace Combat series is generally about silly plots, air battles with surprisingly deep tactics and flying real-world aircraft into battle against ludicrous sci-fi bosses. And you know what? That's a good thing. So it was a huge disappointment to see the series get lumbered with a dull, Modern Warfare inspired real-world storyline and to have all of the tactics stripped out and replaced with laughably bad rail-shooter sections. Oh, and the helicopter missions should just crawl away and die.
Alice: Madness Returns (360, also PC and PS3) - This one just doesn't work. I don't mean that it's broken, buggy or unplayable. Rather, I mean that it has a lot of gameplay and artistic elements that should come together to make an interesting game, but instead end up as a flat, boring mess. Repetitive level design, unsatisfying weapons and poor controls (on the 360, at least) all help to drag the game down. Sad, because there are a few moments where the game's potential manages to shine through - which are quite impressive.
Battlefield 3 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Yes, the engine is pretty. Yes, it's nice that people are doing stuff with the PC that pushes it beyond what the consoles are capable of. But oh my word the campaign is miserable. Short, derivative and boring - so a lot like the Modern Warfare sequels which it is so consciously imitating. Multiplayer is a bit better, but there are still glaring flaws that have been there since the days of Battlefield 1942.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PC, also 360, PS3, Wii, pocket calculators and, quite frankly, probably electronic musical toilet-roll holders) - Basically, it's the same as Battlefield 3, but with worse graphics, a slightly better written campaign and much worse multiplayer. Can this series PLEASE just go away and die in a ditch.
Darkspore (PC) - A sad attempt to extract some value from the Spore franchise, which generates a bland, boring dungeon crawler.
Dead Island (PC, also 360 and PS3) - There's a decent concept in there, but buried under horrible, horrible execution (dreadful quest design, poor melee combat, bugs galore). Why does this happen so often with zombie apocalypse games? The same broad problem - albeit for different reasons - applies with a vengeance to the Dead Rising series.
Dragon Age 2 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Not a bad game as such - even verges on good in places. But it fails as a sequel to the superb original. Feels more like an expansion pack than a true sequel. This makes it very clear that the annual development cycle just doesn't work for franchises like Dragon Age.
Dungeon Siege 3 (PC, also 360 and PS3) - A serious amount of dumbing down ruins the latest installment in what used to be the thinking man's action RPG franchise. No ability to control a full party and a complete lack of interesting character customisation leaves this game feeling utterly lacklustre.
Mario Kart 7 (3DS) - So, the new "innovation" this time is that we have flying and underwater sections. The former basically amounts to "imprecise controls" and the latter to "really slow and boring". The weapon-spam problems that turned Mario Kart Wii into such a steaming pile of poo are somewhat diminished, but not entirely absent.
Shift 2: Unleased (360, also PC and PS3) - I feel a bit sorry for this. A lot of effort was clearly put into making a real Forza and Gran Turismo competitor. At first glance it looks like it might succeed. Unfortunately, the whole thing is utterly ruined, on the 360 at least, by the most appalling input lag imaginable. The game is rendered near unplayable once you get past the beginner-level races.
Star Fox 64 3d (3DS) - Oh come on, it's 2011 and this is the best you can do. Provides sporadic moments of almost-fun for small chunks of its sub-1-hour play-time. If they'd charged £5 for it as a download, I'd have been fine with that. As a £40 flagship release? Don't make me laugh.
The Binding of Isaac (PC) - It might feel a bit harsh to beat up on a low-budget indie game, but this is such a huge step backwards from Super Meat Boy that it's just silly. It doesn't even have native joypad support. Seriously.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3d (3DS) - A decent enough game from more than a decade ago becomes a badly dated and over-priced handheld release. With unnecessary headache-inducing 3d tagged on to boot.
And finally - the genuinely awful games. These are, in the world of modern QA systems and high budgets, few and far between. You don't even get one such game every year. This year, however, we had not one but two.
Duke Nukem Forever (PC, also 360 and PS3) - Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I wish this game had never seen release. Then I would still be able to believe that there was a good Duke Nukem Forever - albeit an incomplete one - out there somewhere. Combines the worst elements of old shooters - dire graphics, inconsistent difficulty, lack of emotional clout - with the worst elements of new shooters - two-weapon limits, regenerating health, corridor levels. And it's Just Not Funny (TM). Utterly awful. Special dishonourable mention to the Aliens-inspired section under the stadium, which is outright sick (and not in a good way).
Hyperdimension Neptunia (PS3) - In a year where Japanese developers have finally shown some indications of getting to grip with current console hardware (and indeed produced my game of the year), it's good that we have Hyperdimension Neptunia to remind us that mostof them still don't know what they're doing. A game that takes PS1 level graphics and gets them to grind the PS3 down to single figure framerates, combining this with godawful combat mechanics, boring grind-based gameplay and an utterly hateful cast of characters. Also, the games-industry jokes are really, really, really unfunny. There's potentially a nice idea here somewhere - buried under several tons of manure.
well done (Score:2)
As always, an interesting and illuminating list. I can count on your annual roundup to clue me in to three or four games that I might not have played otherwise. It's been my most reliable buying guide the last few years.
Dark Souls for sure, but damn it makes me feel inadequate sometimes. So does The Witcher 2. I slipped into Skyrim like a comfortable pair of sweatpants, though.
I found Space Marine a big disappointment due to the problems with mechanics (PC version). Thought Arkham City was a hoot, with
Re: (Score:2)
I can see that Space Marine might not transition well to the PC. While there's half of a 3rd person shooter in there (for which kb+mouse is good), there's also half of a melee brawler (for which you need a control pad). I can see that the higher resolutions you can get out of a PC would also expose the lack of visual detail unforgivingly.
Bulletstorm? After so many identikit Modern Warfare clones, it just felt interesting and different. It also did the "over the top macho" stuff way better than most other ga
Re: (Score:2)
You could have fooled me. Just Dark Souls alone practically demands unlimited time.
And yes, I enjoyed Bulletstorm.
And you're absolutely right about Battlefield 3. Atrocious campaign. I'm just desperate to encourage AAA developers to focus on the PC. The multiplayer was awesome, though I seldom play multiplayer because the younger players are so much better than me I don't tend to last very long.