Best games of 2011?

[Daryn]

I think it's about time to start talking about what the best games you've played this year were. Once we build up a good list, I'll put up a poll and we can vote on what we thought was the best of the best. Here are the first four titles to consider:

Portal 2
Skyrim
Rochard
Hard Reset

Any others you'd like to add to this list?

Adding some more to the list.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
L.A. Noire
Rage

[Dusty]

Portal 2 and Skyrim really stand out to me. LA Noire is another maybe.

I can't believe it forgot Dues Ex!

[Daryn]

Should probably add Rage in there too.

[Brome Teks]

This year was seriously awesome.

Skyrim currently holds my top spot, followed by Portal 2 and Deus Ex tied for second.

I'd say Battlefield 3 might deserve a spot on there. Yeah, it's a fairly generic shooter, but the game-play and graphics are probably at the top for this years shooting game selection.

Never played it, but maybe Witcher 2 could be on there? It received generally favorable reviews and I recall there being a lot of hype.

[Rick Canaan]

Should probably add Rage in there too.

Rage, definitely. Great game, great graphics, gave me quite a few hours of serious fun.

As for all of the rest that has been mentioned, though, I can say little about. Haven't played them.

I would like to vouch for Cities XL 2011, though.

And Defense Grid.

Cities XL 2011 was a very nicely put together game. Great graphics, smooth and elegant game play, and a level of challenge enough to keep you interested, but not overwhelm one with brain-twisting difficulty.

As for Defense Grid, I know that it was released previous to this year. However, with their continual updating of the game, I think it can qualify as a game that has kept itself up to speed with the demands of gamers, year after year. It holds a solid footing too, of being a game that gamers will enjoy this year, and years to follow, despite it being an already nearly three-year-old game.

Good stuff, bird. It is going to be interesting to see which games get the most votes.

[WolfyWetFurr]

Skyrim hands down. Though I have not, though I would like to, played rage yet.

[Daryn]

I've gone ahead and created the poll for this topic. There were just too many good games that came out this year, and there's a limit of 10 poll options, so I had to be choosy. If something that should be there isn't, vote for it in the thread itself. Now, let's see how things shake out!

Oh! I almost forgot, you can pick more than one item!

[Nelle Kozera]

Skyrim, because wizards can not only go pew pew, but also wear heavy armor and go. "I'm A WIZARD!" and brake your face with a hammer.

[WolfyWetFurr]

Nelle has a great point about skyrim, but left out that they can not only wear heavy armor, but they can effectively sneak and break your face just as well with their FISTS at the same time.

I voted Skyrim and minecraft. Minecraft gives me my legos with out the clean up...

But yeah Skyrim was my most anticipated game of this year and has not let me down. Instead it surpassed my expectations in all areas. And that's when I am not looking at the scenery! I play the game on minimal settings. Wish I could play on max. Mainly though I just enjoy the combat and character interaction systems along with the additional crafting. That and none of it feeling like a grind.

[SliceOfDog]

I'm going to hold off voting until after Christmas, after which time I should have sampled RAGE. Currently though my vote definitely goes with Batman: Arkham City. Sorry to disappoint all of the Skyrim lovers (although from the discussion here it seems that that's a clear winner) but I didn't much care for it. Admittedly I haven't played the missions myself, but watching a friend run through them looked dull, and when I played around with combat and went on rampages every now and again it was pretty repetitive and unsatisfactory. Maybe that's just me though...

Also, bloomin eck! Was Minecraft a 2011 game?! It feels like it's been out years!

[Brome Teks]

Technically, Minecraft came out of beta and went full release just last month.

[Rick Canaan]

I voted for Rage - the only game on the list with which I have had experience.

I noticed though, that one of my suggestions didn't make it to the list. CitiesXL 2011? You forgot to add it, bird!

Hehe.

But Rage for me. Good game.

[Daryn]

I didn't add CitiesXL 2011 because it came out last year. I tried to restrict it to games that came out this year. There seems to be a 2012 Edition of that game that came out not long ago though.

[Rick Canaan]

I didn't add CitiesXL 2011 because it came out last year. I tried to restrict it to games that came out this year. There seems to be a 2012 Edition of that game that came out not long ago though.

It says "CitiesXL 2011" boid! Get it? 2011?

Oy. Silly uber-gamer-birds and their pedantic definitions on when games came out.

You know too much about games, Daryn.

[SliceOfDog]

Hah, yeah, it annoys me when things do that. Magic the Gathering does, for one. "Magic 2012 is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set that was released on July 15, 2011."
It's not even as though they're released close to the next year! Peh, ah well.

I'm tempted to view the poll results, but I know that if I do I'll be tempted to vote for Batman right here and now, before I've even had a chance to play RAGE...

[Dusty]

Hah, yeah, it annoys me when things do that. Magic the Gathering does, for one. "Magic 2012 is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set that was released on July 15, 2011."
It's not even as though they're released close to the next year! Peh, ah well.

I'm tempted to view the poll results, but I know that if I do I'll be tempted to vote for Batman right here and now, before I've even had a chance to play RAGE...

I think its like that because its a going to carry standard through the full 2012 standard season. (All 3 blocks of Innistrad). Then the next core set comes out right before the next expansion block.

[SliceOfDog]

Finally got around to playing RAGE (got it for Christmas) and I can safely say that I am not disappointed! There's one or two little things about it that annoy me, such as the self-referencing-title-inducing car camera, with looking from side to side being a snap to several key points as opposed to a pan like normal (that is to say 'look left' makes your camera snap to a 45 degree angle left) and you can't engage people in dialogue when they're already saying something, which means that shop owners who have a long casual comment (one particular mechanic says something like "You want vehicle parts then come to me, I have the best in the wasteland") make you wait every time you want to use the shop, and you can't buy/sell anything till they're done talking.

Other than those minor details, I'm a complete fan. It's fun, it's impressive, the landscapes are beautiful in that strange post-apoc way and the characters' facial expressions look almost like something out of LA Noire; admittedly a bit less subtle but somehow more natural looking.

There's not much choice other than what order you do the missions in, which can be a bit jarring if you're expecting something like Fallout, but I realised after a while that it's not actually a problem. Multiple endings and the ability to side with various factions shouldn't be the expected norm of a game. All they're doing is letting you choose whatever type of mission you'd like to do when you'd like to do it. You might not be able to complete the game without doing some racing missions, but if you don't feel like it you can go off and do some shooter side-missions first. Then if you feel in a racing mood you can get every race out of the way in one go, and never have to worry about them again if you don't want to. That's more than you get in most games.

Oh, and speaking of that, they do it well, which is nice: multiple styles of game. Their racing mini-games could be sold as a separate game. Not at full price, admittedly, but add in a few more maps and split-screen and I'd be happy to pay about £10/15 for it. And the mini-mini-games (Card games, gambling, 5-finger fillet etc) are quite well done. The 5-finger fillet knife game was better done (I thought) than when it was in Red Dead, and the fictional card game is infinitely superior to the one in New Vegas. It plays in a way similar to Magic or other card games where creatures fight one another.

Anyhow, I'd thoroughly recommend it, and not just to post-apoc lovers. The gameplay is nice once you get used to it, and the whole game is just enjoyable.