2011 has been a big year in gaming. How big? Well I went into my library and pulled out all the games I played this year, and these will be the pool from which i make my choice. I cant really speak to games I have not played.

Assassins Creed Brotherhood & Revelations, Batman Arkham City, Catherine, DC Universe Online, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Dead Island, Dragon Age II, inFAMOUS 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Skyrim, Saints Row The Third, Portal 2, Uncharted 3

 

And that is only full disc releases!

So how am i going to go about arbitrarily ranking them as best to worst? Well im not. I will declare one the game of this year in my opinon, and then give each a little award based on how i felt about them in retrospect, so lets get to it.

Game of The Year

I wasn’t going to give Skyrim GOTY but then I took an…..

Now if you didn’t see this coming you clearly don’t know me as a gamer. Skyrim was a love letter sent right to my taste from Bethesda, open world, fantasy, moral choices, dialogue trees, massive RPG elements, MOTHER FRIGGEN DRAGONS. These are all things I love. But when it came time to seriously call this one game of the year it was not as easy as I had thought. Skyrim has been and remains MASSIVELY buggy on the PS3, my platform of choice. As a result I struggled with awarding it GOTY based on the fact that I often had fits of rage because my FPS died in the middle of a huge fight, or that a quest broke and locked me out of a trophy. In truth Portal 2 almost took this title. But there is one redeeming fact of Skyrim that makes up for the bugs. I have put more then two hundred and fifty, YES 250 hours of life into that game. No other game held my focus for that long, no other game dropped my jaw as often, and no other game provided goosebumps like The Elder Scrolls V Skryim.

That is why this is the single best game of 2011.

 

 

The Runner Up, and Best Humor

Portal 2 was the front runner for Game of the year behind Skyrim, where one had bugs Portal had so much polish you could see your reflection in it. Where Skyrim was large and broad Portal was tight and focused, these games are complete opposites of each other and that’s why comparing them is impossible. Portal has bar none the best humor in any game, this year or any. The sharp dry and cynical whit of Glados combined with the silly bumbling Wheetley made for a fantastic mix, layer that on top of the best first person platforming puzzle solving game in existence, triple the length of the first, and through in a healthy mix of the best co-op i have ever played, and you get one hell of a game.

If I wasn’t such a sucker for an open world and RPGs, Portal would easily have been my favorite game this year.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Downloadable Game

 

I could gush about this game, but if I start I’ll never stop.

Just go read my review if you want to hear about how damn good it is.

Buy it.

Buy it now!

It’s also available on just about every platform that exists, so GET THIS DAMN GAME.

Best PS3 Exclusive

Uncharted 3 Drakes Deception

It is not even fair, if I was every other game company I would have just flipped a table and stormed out. Naughty Dog has systematically released 3 perfect games, added deep and fun multiplayer, established themselves as one of the best developers in the industry today, announced a NEW IP, and overall just kicked ass and taken numbers. All within a single console generation. Uncharted 3 shared Portals levels of polish, and told a story like no other, it remains the gold standard for story telling in an Action game, and at this point I care more about what happens to Drake and his buddies then I do many of my own. Naughty Dog kills it with every release and I cant wait to see what they dot next.

Most Immature, Stupidly Fun, Hilariously Offensive, And Best Use Of A Big Floppy Dildo

Saints Row The Third

You want to know what game had me laughing historically for the entire time I played it? Want to know what game featured transforming jets, military air strikes, farts in jars and zombies? Saints Row The Third. Never has a game understood its purpose and audience like this game, instead of trying to compete with GTA Saints Row decided to do what GTA has failed to do recently, and be over the top and hilarious. If you have any interest in the old school hilarious over the top style of Sand Box games, you owe it to yourself to give Saints Row a look.

Proving Licensed game don’t have to be crap

Batman Arkham City

Any game based on a licensed IP gives me cause for concern, as they are almost universally terrible. However for the second time in a row Rocksteady proved they know how to make the best damn Batman games around. Arkham city had amazing freeflow combat, sadistically fun stealth rooms, and some really inventive and fun boss fights. Combine that with the constant “I am friggen Batman” feeling that the game gives you, and the game is one of the best fan services to date.

It also bears saying that if you can get the combat down, nothing else and I mean NOTHING else makes you feel as badass as taking down 100 guys, in one combo, using every gadget, and every move in Batmans considerable repertoire.

The Game I Did Not Think I Would Like As Much As I Did

Catherine

It’s so Japanese it’s fantastic!

Biggest “Meh”

Deus Ex Human Revolution

I didn’t ask for this, but I got it and it was…alright=

So Broke Its Funny & Best Co-Op

Dead Island

Proof that time spent in development =/= quality

Game That I Loved, But Everyone Hated

Dragon Age II

I played this sucker 3 times, it was fun! Yes its been horribly tailored for consoles, but that’s what I play on! And I mean who needs plot….

 

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Well folks that is what I thought of those games, it has been one hell of a year and good god 2012 is shaping up to be a good one as well.

 

It’s a bit belated, but its still the season so Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year

Jim777's Games of The Year, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating