Top 5 Games of 2011

[GuitarHailz]

[GuitarHailz]

[MSH-Hitman]

I almost thought about Deus Ex for honorable mentions, but I didn't finish the game, so I didn't feel like I could put it up. I know some people loved the shit out of it, but I only thought it was okay. While it gave options to go either straight shooter or stealth, there were sections that kinda forced you into straight combat and I find that really lame, since the game is a weak straightforward shooter, but a great stealth game. Didn't help that they farmed out the bosses to a different company, which was ridiculously stupid.

[MSH-Hitman]

I almost thought about Deus Ex for honorable mentions, but I didn't finish the game, so I didn't feel like I could put it up. I know some people loved the shit out of it, but I only thought it was okay. While it gave options to go either straight shooter or stealth, there were sections that kinda forced you into straight combat and I find that really lame, since the game is a weak straightforward shooter, but a great stealth game. Didn't help that they farmed out the bosses to a different company, which was ridiculously stupid.

[psxfreak101]

Thought about this for a fair while last night, and realised just how few new games I played this year (ignoring XBLA titles, I love me some XBLA titles). I spent most of the last year just playing much older titles (whether I'd bought them this year or not), but there were some new titles that I've played this year. No real order to it, just a list of cool stuff I played this year. Heck, there'll probably be more than 5 games here!

Stuff that came out in 2011 that I liked!

Dynasty Warriors 7
Shocking to see this on my list, I'm sure. Can you say "Best Story Mode ever in DW history"? They seriously did an AMAZING job with the story mode, and it was also great finally hearing something about Jin's storyline (and the fact that Jin is even in this game). More of the delicious hack-slash shenanigans that I've come to know and love.

Mortal Kombat
He who was banned from Australia. Pretty sure customs (or whoever) gave a shit about that for all of 2 weeks or something. But anywho. More mindless blood spilling fun. I would've probably played it more online if not for the fact that it was almost impossible for me to even PLAY with anybody online. Oh, and the story mode was beautifully done. One of these days I'll get around to getting Your Kung Fu Is Stronger. One day...

Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
Okay, so I'm somewhat cheating with this entry given that the XBLA title is pretty much a re-release of the PSP title from years ago with a few modifications. But whatever, this is MY list :P The concept of "completing an RPG in 30 seconds" was quite intriguing to me so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it out. Immediately fell in love with the game. Loved the credits that rolled at the end of each stage. Loved how each stage had their own unique twists. Loved the Time Goddess. Loved Hero 300. Loved Hero 3. Loved the music. If more people actually played online I'd probably even love the multiplayer aspect more. The best part though: after getting all the achievements within the first couple days, Jed and I sat there for a good solid month just speedrunning the game. Yep, speedrunning an RPG. On paper that doesn't sound fun, but honestly, trying to get the best times on every single stage was probably the most addicting thing I've done all year. Figuring out optimal equipments, finding neat little tricks everywhere, even to the point of forcing specific "random encounters" for the sake of levelling up quicker/easier. Fun stuff.

Rock of Ages
This was quite the unique experience imo. Roll a boulder down a pathway and destroy your opponent's gate before he does the same to you. You can place shit in each other's path to hinder one's progress too. Simple, yet thoroughly addicting. The "boss fights" were quite entertaining given the premise of the game. The little storyboard things before each stage were all hilarious. Music's fantastic. The best part though was getting all the keys and all the gold medals. One of the more satisfying accomplishments of 2011 for me alongside getting Grand Pooh-Bah in Hexic. About 3 or 4 of the keys were a pain in the arse to pick up (the rest were just a simple case of looking around where you'd otherwise not roll), a couple of them required a little trick that you'd either accidentally come across or probably not at all. The REAL satisfaction came from getting gold on all the stages. A lot of them were real pains in the arse. Needed a fair few daredevilish moves to get the target times, alongside the obligatory "near perfect control/execution" expected of a time trial aspect of a game. Definitely worth it.

The Baconing
Just more DeathSpank goodness. I love DeathSpank, and I thoroughly enjoyed The Baconing. There was a LOT more dying in this game than in the previous two titles, and the shield was actually pretty bloody useful this time around! Same amazing sense of humour (its amazing to me, hush :P). Same simplistic gameplay. Just more of the same awesomeness I've come to expect from these guys.

Bastion
Let's face it. The narration really makes the game. Enjoyed the game play and all, but REALLY loved the narration.

Ultimate Marvel v Capcom 3
I'll be honest, I picked this game up purely because of Phoenix Wright's inclusion. True story. Now, I'm not even close to the level of gameplay as the kiddies that sit in the MvC3 thread here. I'm not even sure how I have 26 wins online with my awesome team of Ryu/Akuma/Haggar. Regardless of how terribad I am at the game though, I love it.

Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection gets a mention too even though its just a collection of 3 titles from 15+ years ago. It was fun reliving ye very olde school MK. Not necessarily as fun reliving the cheap very old school MK though haha.

Stuff that came out in 2011 that I didn't like!

All Blacks Rugby Challenge
I'm gonna cheat and copy/paste the rant I had on this game posted from a TA blog back in September:

[psxfreak101]

Thought about this for a fair while last night, and realised just how few new games I played this year (ignoring XBLA titles, I love me some XBLA titles). I spent most of the last year just playing much older titles (whether I'd bought them this year or not), but there were some new titles that I've played this year. No real order to it, just a list of cool stuff I played this year. Heck, there'll probably be more than 5 games here!

Stuff that came out in 2011 that I liked!

Dynasty Warriors 7
Shocking to see this on my list, I'm sure. Can you say "Best Story Mode ever in DW history"? They seriously did an AMAZING job with the story mode, and it was also great finally hearing something about Jin's storyline (and the fact that Jin is even in this game). More of the delicious hack-slash shenanigans that I've come to know and love.

Mortal Kombat
He who was banned from Australia. Pretty sure customs (or whoever) gave a shit about that for all of 2 weeks or something. But anywho. More mindless blood spilling fun. I would've probably played it more online if not for the fact that it was almost impossible for me to even PLAY with anybody online. Oh, and the story mode was beautifully done. One of these days I'll get around to getting Your Kung Fu Is Stronger. One day...

Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
Okay, so I'm somewhat cheating with this entry given that the XBLA title is pretty much a re-release of the PSP title from years ago with a few modifications. But whatever, this is MY list :P The concept of "completing an RPG in 30 seconds" was quite intriguing to me so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it out. Immediately fell in love with the game. Loved the credits that rolled at the end of each stage. Loved how each stage had their own unique twists. Loved the Time Goddess. Loved Hero 300. Loved Hero 3. Loved the music. If more people actually played online I'd probably even love the multiplayer aspect more. The best part though: after getting all the achievements within the first couple days, Jed and I sat there for a good solid month just speedrunning the game. Yep, speedrunning an RPG. On paper that doesn't sound fun, but honestly, trying to get the best times on every single stage was probably the most addicting thing I've done all year. Figuring out optimal equipments, finding neat little tricks everywhere, even to the point of forcing specific "random encounters" for the sake of levelling up quicker/easier. Fun stuff.

Rock of Ages
This was quite the unique experience imo. Roll a boulder down a pathway and destroy your opponent's gate before he does the same to you. You can place shit in each other's path to hinder one's progress too. Simple, yet thoroughly addicting. The "boss fights" were quite entertaining given the premise of the game. The little storyboard things before each stage were all hilarious. Music's fantastic. The best part though was getting all the keys and all the gold medals. One of the more satisfying accomplishments of 2011 for me alongside getting Grand Pooh-Bah in Hexic. About 3 or 4 of the keys were a pain in the arse to pick up (the rest were just a simple case of looking around where you'd otherwise not roll), a couple of them required a little trick that you'd either accidentally come across or probably not at all. The REAL satisfaction came from getting gold on all the stages. A lot of them were real pains in the arse. Needed a fair few daredevilish moves to get the target times, alongside the obligatory "near perfect control/execution" expected of a time trial aspect of a game. Definitely worth it.

The Baconing
Just more DeathSpank goodness. I love DeathSpank, and I thoroughly enjoyed The Baconing. There was a LOT more dying in this game than in the previous two titles, and the shield was actually pretty bloody useful this time around! Same amazing sense of humour (its amazing to me, hush :P). Same simplistic gameplay. Just more of the same awesomeness I've come to expect from these guys.

Bastion
Let's face it. The narration really makes the game. Enjoyed the game play and all, but REALLY loved the narration.

Ultimate Marvel v Capcom 3
I'll be honest, I picked this game up purely because of Phoenix Wright's inclusion. True story. Now, I'm not even close to the level of gameplay as the kiddies that sit in the MvC3 thread here. I'm not even sure how I have 26 wins online with my awesome team of Ryu/Akuma/Haggar. Regardless of how terribad I am at the game though, I love it.

Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection gets a mention too even though its just a collection of 3 titles from 15+ years ago. It was fun reliving ye very olde school MK. Not necessarily as fun reliving the cheap very old school MK though haha.

Stuff that came out in 2011 that I didn't like!

All Blacks Rugby Challenge
I'm gonna cheat and copy/paste the rant I had on this game posted from a TA blog back in September:

[CloudFuel]

Late notice, much?

Anyways, if you go to the below link there is a contest for you to write a review of your favorites games from 2012 and the winners will receive a game of their choosing... enjoy!

http://raptr.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18003?utm_source=email&utm_medium=emailnewsletter&utm_campaign=dec16
_________________

[CloudFuel]

Late notice, much?

Anyways, if you go to the below link there is a contest for you to write a review of your favorites games from 2012 and the winners will receive a game of their choosing... enjoy!

http://raptr.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18003?utm_source=email&utm_medium=emailnewsletter&utm_campaign=dec16
_________________

[CorpusCollosum]

Depressed not to see any mention of my GOTY, Rayman Origins, the best side-scrolling platformer since Super Mario World. Honorable mentions would go to Skyward Sword and Bastion.
_________________

footballtom3685, locking a thread about VH1's 100 Most Metal Moments wrote:

These threads don't have much potential to begin with, and unfortunately even the ones that do have potential burst into flames. I guess that's pretty metal though, so thanks for staying on topic!

Currently playing: Gears, Batman

[CorpusCollosum]

Depressed not to see any mention of my GOTY, Rayman Origins, the best side-scrolling platformer since Super Mario World. Honorable mentions would go to Skyward Sword and Bastion.
_________________

footballtom3685, locking a thread about VH1's 100 Most Metal Moments wrote:

These threads don't have much potential to begin with, and unfortunately even the ones that do have potential burst into flames. I guess that's pretty metal though, so thanks for staying on topic!

Currently playing: Gears, Batman

[Squirrel]

[Squirrel]

[Klaww]

I dunno, Skyrim was reeeeeeaaally disappointing to me. :P Its a great game, but overhyped to shit. Not as good as Fallout 3, imo.

1. Portal 2. Hands down. I've played the single player game 3-4 times and played multiplayer 4, working on the 5th.

2. Sonic Generations. I love this game. its pretty great, but veeeery short.

3. Super Mario 3D land. great mario game. brought me back to super mario 64 memories, but improved like crazy.

4. Rayman Origins. Pretty great game overall, best rayman game by far.


I haven't played any other games from '11 that deserve GOTY
I spent most of the year getting introduced to the FF series, so i was a little preoccupied.
_________________

[Klaww]

I dunno, Skyrim was reeeeeeaaally disappointing to me. :P Its a great game, but overhyped to shit. Not as good as Fallout 3, imo.

1. Portal 2. Hands down. I've played the single player game 3-4 times and played multiplayer 4, working on the 5th.

2. Sonic Generations. I love this game. its pretty great, but veeeery short.

3. Super Mario 3D land. great mario game. brought me back to super mario 64 memories, but improved like crazy.

4. Rayman Origins. Pretty great game overall, best rayman game by far.


I haven't played any other games from '11 that deserve GOTY
I spent most of the year getting introduced to the FF series, so i was a little preoccupied.
_________________

[TRiiG3RS]

Speaking of late discoveries, I bought Final Fantasy XIII last week because it was on offer. Holy shit, this game is amazing. I actually gave up Skyrim because I was hooked. So, forget this list, because the best game I've played this year is three years old.

..I'll make one anyway.

1. Skyrim
My first Elder Scrolls experience, I went into it not really expecting much, but I was immediately proved completely wrong. From the first 20 minutes I was hooked, and I started my third character yesterday. The immersion is just unmatched.

2. Shogun 2: Total War
It takes everything addictive about Rome Total War, combines it with everything that made Shogun so much of a power trip, and adds the little touches perfected in Empire and Napoleon to produce the best RTS I've ever played.

3. Portal 2
It's a Valve game. Everything else has been said already by other, more eloquent people.

4. Bulletstorm
Say what you like about it, but I really enjoyed this game's campaign. There's just something satisfying on a primal level about kicking the shit out of a guy, pulling him back for more, then kicking his arse through his skull again, then pulling him back yet again. The story might not have been Oscar-level, but if you go into a game like Bulletstorm expecting the story to be world-class, you've bought the wrong game.
Remote controlled dinosaurs. 'Nuff said.

Honourable Mention:
Mortal Kombat for letting me finally prove to my friend that being good at Street Fighter III doesn't make you good at every fighting game. FINISH HIM.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year:
Red Faction: Armageddon. That game was just horrible. All of it's attempts at atmosphere fell flat, any difficulty was crowbarred in by wave after wave of berserks, and the removal of free roam pretty much took away all of the pleasure of using the GeoMod. A real shame, because Guerilla was actually pretty good.
_________________

...is what I would say if I gave a shit.

[TRiiG3RS]

Speaking of late discoveries, I bought Final Fantasy XIII last week because it was on offer. Holy shit, this game is amazing. I actually gave up Skyrim because I was hooked. So, forget this list, because the best game I've played this year is three years old.

..I'll make one anyway.

1. Skyrim
My first Elder Scrolls experience, I went into it not really expecting much, but I was immediately proved completely wrong. From the first 20 minutes I was hooked, and I started my third character yesterday. The immersion is just unmatched.

2. Shogun 2: Total War
It takes everything addictive about Rome Total War, combines it with everything that made Shogun so much of a power trip, and adds the little touches perfected in Empire and Napoleon to produce the best RTS I've ever played.

3. Portal 2
It's a Valve game. Everything else has been said already by other, more eloquent people.

4. Bulletstorm
Say what you like about it, but I really enjoyed this game's campaign. There's just something satisfying on a primal level about kicking the shit out of a guy, pulling him back for more, then kicking his arse through his skull again, then pulling him back yet again. The story might not have been Oscar-level, but if you go into a game like Bulletstorm expecting the story to be world-class, you've bought the wrong game.
Remote controlled dinosaurs. 'Nuff said.

Honourable Mention:
Mortal Kombat for letting me finally prove to my friend that being good at Street Fighter III doesn't make you good at every fighting game. FINISH HIM.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year:
Red Faction: Armageddon. That game was just horrible. All of it's attempts at atmosphere fell flat, any difficulty was crowbarred in by wave after wave of berserks, and the removal of free roam pretty much took away all of the pleasure of using the GeoMod. A real shame, because Guerilla was actually pretty good.
_________________

...is what I would say if I gave a shit.

[Nubnut]

Alright, after reading the thread I have one thing to say.

I've not come up with my complete top 5 yet, but I know that I'm not the only PC gamer on here. And yet not once do I see Witcher 2 mentioned (which would hands down be my #1 of the year). There's a reason why amongst the hardcore PC RPG crowd CDProjekt is thought to be replacing Bioware as the best story based RPG developer. Which is also largely due to the overwhelmingly horrific disappointment that was Dragon Age 2

For shame Scorehero, for shame.
_________________

1st place on 8 GH:WoR songs on Expert+ drums! (well, at least for a couple days).
XBL Gamertag: Gavesit
Add me if you wanna play RB 3, GH:WoR, GTA IV, Halo Reach, Left 4 Dead etc. etc.
"THERE IS A DREAM I AM LIVING
THERE IS A LIFE I AM DREAMING OF"

[Nubnut]

Alright, after reading the thread I have one thing to say.

I've not come up with my complete top 5 yet, but I know that I'm not the only PC gamer on here. And yet not once do I see Witcher 2 mentioned (which would hands down be my #1 of the year). There's a reason why amongst the hardcore PC RPG crowd CDProjekt is thought to be replacing Bioware as the best story based RPG developer. Which is also largely due to the overwhelmingly horrific disappointment that was Dragon Age 2

For shame Scorehero, for shame.
_________________

1st place on 8 GH:WoR songs on Expert+ drums! (well, at least for a couple days).
XBL Gamertag: Gavesit
Add me if you wanna play RB 3, GH:WoR, GTA IV, Halo Reach, Left 4 Dead etc. etc.
"THERE IS A DREAM I AM LIVING
THERE IS A LIFE I AM DREAMING OF"

[Squirrel]

[Squirrel]

[MSH-Hitman]

[MSH-Hitman]

[Nubnut]

Ya if you're not an avid RPG fanatic you probably won't enjoy it for a few reasons.

1. Extremely long story that isn't clear how you're actions immediately affect it. Unlike Mass Effect which clearly labels certain options as evil/good, there is no such thing as good and evil in this game. And sometimes making a "good" decision will end up screwing everyone over and do far worse things the "evil" option. Not to mention there's god knows how many endings to the game, and some choices will completely change the 2nd and 3rd Acts.

2. The combat is equal to about Demon's Souls in terms of difficulty on the higher levels (especially Dark difficulty dear god it hurts).

3. If you don't know the novels that these are based off of (which are based off Polish folklore) you might be rather lost on alot of the minor points in the story, but will still get the main idea.

4. Lots of swearing, nudity, sex, violence, racism, sexism etc. etc. It's not exactly a game to play with the kids around.

All in all, it's taking the Bioware formula. With the combat/difficulty of Demon's Souls. And it's own twisted take on morals and good and evil (and characters that are actually realistic AKA. Everyone's an asshole). And for those that are interested the graphics are hands down the most amazing in any RPG, ever, while still being well optimized.

In otherwords, it's definitely in my top 3 games of all time. But if you didn't like Dragon Age: Origins or games along those lines you're REALLY going to dislike this.
_________________

1st place on 8 GH:WoR songs on Expert+ drums! (well, at least for a couple days).
XBL Gamertag: Gavesit
Add me if you wanna play RB 3, GH:WoR, GTA IV, Halo Reach, Left 4 Dead etc. etc.
"THERE IS A DREAM I AM LIVING
THERE IS A LIFE I AM DREAMING OF"

[Nubnut]

Ya if you're not an avid RPG fanatic you probably won't enjoy it for a few reasons.

1. Extremely long story that isn't clear how you're actions immediately affect it. Unlike Mass Effect which clearly labels certain options as evil/good, there is no such thing as good and evil in this game. And sometimes making a "good" decision will end up screwing everyone over and do far worse things the "evil" option. Not to mention there's god knows how many endings to the game, and some choices will completely change the 2nd and 3rd Acts.

2. The combat is equal to about Demon's Souls in terms of difficulty on the higher levels (especially Dark difficulty dear god it hurts).

3. If you don't know the novels that these are based off of (which are based off Polish folklore) you might be rather lost on alot of the minor points in the story, but will still get the main idea.

4. Lots of swearing, nudity, sex, violence, racism, sexism etc. etc. It's not exactly a game to play with the kids around.

All in all, it's taking the Bioware formula. With the combat/difficulty of Demon's Souls. And it's own twisted take on morals and good and evil (and characters that are actually realistic AKA. Everyone's an asshole). And for those that are interested the graphics are hands down the most amazing in any RPG, ever, while still being well optimized.

In otherwords, it's definitely in my top 3 games of all time. But if you didn't like Dragon Age: Origins or games along those lines you're REALLY going to dislike this.
_________________

1st place on 8 GH:WoR songs on Expert+ drums! (well, at least for a couple days).
XBL Gamertag: Gavesit
Add me if you wanna play RB 3, GH:WoR, GTA IV, Halo Reach, Left 4 Dead etc. etc.
"THERE IS A DREAM I AM LIVING
THERE IS A LIFE I AM DREAMING OF"

[MSH-Hitman]

I'm not against a good story and certainly don't require something to hold my hand through the story, so I could probably get into it and is the combat hard just for the higher difficulties? If it's reasonable on the lower difficulties, I'd much rather enjoy that, as Demons Souls difficulties is the opposite of fun for me in a video game lol I'd probably miss out with the novel stuff, but everything of four, I'm more than willing to have in a game.

I did think of grabbing it on the holiday Steam sale, but I was simply to broke to get it. Perhaps I still will on the next sale for it when I have the chance.

[MSH-Hitman]

I'm not against a good story and certainly don't require something to hold my hand through the story, so I could probably get into it and is the combat hard just for the higher difficulties? If it's reasonable on the lower difficulties, I'd much rather enjoy that, as Demons Souls difficulties is the opposite of fun for me in a video game lol I'd probably miss out with the novel stuff, but everything of four, I'm more than willing to have in a game.

I did think of grabbing it on the holiday Steam sale, but I was simply to broke to get it. Perhaps I still will on the next sale for it when I have the chance.

[Nubnut]

Yes, on easy it's quite easy, and on normal it's not bad.

Hard, insane (which not only is ball breakingly hard, but if you die it deletes all your saves) and dark though. Ya those hurt.
_________________

1st place on 8 GH:WoR songs on Expert+ drums! (well, at least for a couple days).
XBL Gamertag: Gavesit
Add me if you wanna play RB 3, GH:WoR, GTA IV, Halo Reach, Left 4 Dead etc. etc.
"THERE IS A DREAM I AM LIVING
THERE IS A LIFE I AM DREAMING OF"

[Nubnut]

Yes, on easy it's quite easy, and on normal it's not bad.

Hard, insane (which not only is ball breakingly hard, but if you die it deletes all your saves) and dark though. Ya those hurt.
_________________

1st place on 8 GH:WoR songs on Expert+ drums! (well, at least for a couple days).
XBL Gamertag: Gavesit
Add me if you wanna play RB 3, GH:WoR, GTA IV, Halo Reach, Left 4 Dead etc. etc.
"THERE IS A DREAM I AM LIVING
THERE IS A LIFE I AM DREAMING OF"

[EmoArbiter]

Not really going to go into descriptions since most things have been said and I'm terrible at writing things like that but

1. Skyrim
2. Sonic Generations (Yes, I liked it that much)
3. Gears of War 3
4. Pokemon Black/White
5. Portal 2

Honorable Mention goes to Minecraft since I've had it since Alpha so it's not really registered as a 2011 release for me

I haven't played AC:R, Skyward Sword, or Arkham City yet, but have all 3 and will get around to them once the semester starts back up and I settle down
_________________

My accomplishments|Season 11 GHM Division 2 Winner

[EmoArbiter]

Not really going to go into descriptions since most things have been said and I'm terrible at writing things like that but

1. Skyrim
2. Sonic Generations (Yes, I liked it that much)
3. Gears of War 3
4. Pokemon Black/White
5. Portal 2

Honorable Mention goes to Minecraft since I've had it since Alpha so it's not really registered as a 2011 release for me

I haven't played AC:R, Skyward Sword, or Arkham City yet, but have all 3 and will get around to them once the semester starts back up and I settle down
_________________

My accomplishments|Season 11 GHM Division 2 Winner