PixlBit

I recently wrote that 2011 was possibly the greatest year in gaming in shear quantity of quality games coming out and PixlBit's GOTY Awards do a good job highlighting how many great games were released this year. It was non-stop goodness throughout 2011 with amazing games to suit everyone’s tastes. Creating this top 10 list was extremely tough. In the end I chose the games in the order in which they demanded my attention. It’s impossible for me to say FIFA 12 is a better game than Resistance 3 or Arkham City because all the games offer vastly different experiences. Therefore, this list is strictly in the order in which I found myself wanting to play these games.

2011 was full of amazing games, so there are some I simply never got to play that probably would have made the list, such as Uncharted 3, Portal 2, or Bastion (I don’t have an Xbox for this game). Some honorable mentions that I did play and was debating having on the list are Mortal Kombat, LA Noire, Infamous 2, Killzone 3, and Gears of War 3. I also didn’t include any remakes (ex: Shadow of the Colossus) on this list.

Anyways, on to my top 10:

10. Super Mario 3D Land
 

When I played through Super Mario 3D Land it was safe to say I liked it. It was enjoyable, easy to play in short bursts (which is great for a handheld title), but it was a bit too easy. I rarely felt challenged throughout the game, which was fine because I was still having fun. Then I beat the game and unlocked the tough challenge mode; that’s when I realized I loved Super Mario 3D Land. The first playthrough let me relax, but the second playthrough demanded all of my skill and attention. If you own a 3DS this is a must own game.

9. Dungeon Defenders
 

I love online multiplayer, I love local multiplayer even more, I love simplified menus with basic RPG elements, and I love defending my base. All of these things made me love Dungeon Defenders. A few friends and I are playing this game together any time we feel fatigued from Battlefield 3. It’s awesome being able to get together in a room with 3 friends and carefully plan out your strategy to defend your crystals, then work together as a unit to pull it off. This game is all about teamwork and I absolutely love it. I didn’t even mention it’s quirky cartoon art style that makes the whole experience visually appealing.

8. FIFA 12
 

If you like soccer (or Football as everyone actually calls it), then FIFA 12 is the game you need. EA Sports made drastic changes to the game, improving it’s online leagues and making online play easily accessible, or extremely deep and involved – you can choose how you want to interact in it’s online world. Furthermore, the game introduces a new contact physics engine that makes the game feel more fluid and realistic than ever. Topped off with a revamped defensive play system, FIFA makes a lot of positive improvements to make it the best game of footy available to date. I’ve lost many hours playing the online leagues in this game.

7. El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron
 

This game is an underdog that definitely would have fallen under the radar for many gamers. It’s also a unique experience that I don’t think most gamers would fully appreciate. The creator of Okami directed the game, so you know it’s a visual and art centered experience. The game takes you through many different worlds with extremely different scenery – from a Tron-like city to the depths of hell, from a foggy angelic view to overly bright and cartoony balloons. The games visuals are beautiful and its art style is unique and memorable.

The game is a brawler reminiscent of God of War or Devil May Cry, but it relies on simplified and minimal use of buttons while focusing on rhythm based combos and a rock-paper-scissors weapon system. The problem with El Shaddai is that it’s easy to play as a button masher, but doing so makes the game difficult to defeat and also makes the combat tedious and boring. If you master the art of its rhythmic combos then the combat becomes something very rich that’s tough to master.

6. Resistance 3
 

This one actually surprised me, as I’ve always been a Resistance fan but have never truly loved a Resistance title before this one. I bought the first one because it was one of the few games available on PS3, I enjoyed the co-op multiplayer of Resistance 2 while I don’t remember much of it’s single player campaign. I remember every inch of Resistance 3. The characters are more relatable than ever (I love the fact that the protagonist is a father, constantly reminded of his family) and the story is simple, but easily enjoyable. Most importantly, the pacing of the single player campaign is perfect. You relax moving through eerily empty towns on a boat while listening to missing reports on the radio, but not before long you are ambushed by aliens taking over your boat, then you watch in fear as a massive alien mech passes near you – the game constantly grabs your attention and makes sure you’re paying full attention. I have played through the campaign once alone and twice in co-op with friends while still wanting to play it again.

The other part that shines is Resistance 3’s online multiplayer. They don’t try to hide the fact that they are trying to emulate Call of Duty’s online play. Though it doesn’t quite reach the heights of COD’s massive amounts of game modes and customizable loadouts, the maps, weapons, and perks that Resistance 3 offers are exceptional. Some perks include a hologram of yourself to distract shooters, the Auger (a gun that can shoot through all surfaces), a protective shield, etc. The weapons of Resistance are always wildly creative – being able to use them in a COD style multiplayer death match is endless amounts of fun.

I also have to quickly touch on Resistance 3's visuals. The game is maybe not the most technically impressive game, but the high contrast, huge amounts of colors, and brilliant lighting effects make the game extremely pleasing to the eyes. I love the way Resistance's world looks.

5. Batman: Arkham City
 

I’m actually about half way through this game and I am loving every moment of it. I’m a moderate Batman fan (never read a comic, but loved the cartoons as a kid and the movies), so I love all the fan service that the games do. Furthermore, I absolutely love the tweaked combat system, the stealth mechanics, and the integration of an open sandbox world – reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed. The game’s production values are top notch with amazing voice acting and brooding visuals that breathe life into the world of Arkham City. Also, I love the added Catwoman chapters of the game – It’s cool to see the different ways you fight enemies, the different ways to travel through the city, and the way other characters interact with Catwoman opposed to Batman (They fear Batman but show no respect to Catwoman). The liveliness and attention to detail of the world is what makes the game so special.

4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
 

Oh Skyrim, this is a beast of a game. I never liked an Elder Scrolls game before this one, but Skyrim finally did it for me. I love the Nordic world, the graphics are breathtaking, the freedom to what you want whenever you want is awesome. The dragons are extremely impressive (when they aren’t flying backwards). The size of the world and how lively it is makes it worth putting in countless hours (assuming your version isn’t lagging). Bethesda is infamous for game bugs and normally that’s a deal breaker for me. Luckily, Skyrim is fun enough that even with it’s ridiculous PS3 lag and backwards flying dragons it still warrants a very high spot on my list. I’m currently waiting for Bethesda to fix their lag – it’s starting to kick in on my PS3 version so I’m waiting to play it until they finish the untested game that they released (I understand that it’s tough to test a game, but when nearly everyone on PS3 experiences the same lag issues, it’s clear the PS3 version was rushed out to get shipped for it’s deadline). The only downfall to the game is it’s combat. It’s decently fun, but isn’t much more than randomly swinging and winning if your stats are superior to the enemy’s – though using magic and dragon shouts is specifically enjoyable. If the game had more focused combat and more creative dungeons, this game would be nearly impossible to put down.

3. Battlefield 3
 

Battlefield 3 as a whole has a lot of issues - mainly being it’s extremely boring and lackluster single player campaign. Also, EA apparently has no idea how to make accessible menus. Trying to pick a map, join up in a squad with friends, and figuring out how to change and upgrade your guns is way more of a task than it should be. COD has the menu systems perfect, you know exactly what you’re looking for at all times and it’s extremely easy to join a party with friends and get right into the action. Battlefield takes far too much effort to do your matchmaking, but once you get your friends together and you’re playing in a squad, you’ll never want to stop playing. My friends and I have been constantly playing this game since it’s release and the online multiplayer is absolutely amazing. It only has 5 modes and 9 maps built in, but it’s all killer no filler. There isn’t a map or mode of this game that I don’t love. I love that each map requires a unique approach to succeeding. Whether it be taking advantage of vehicles, learning how to destroy those vehicles, quickly capturing flags in your jeep, controlling the skies from your helicopter, or being a master of the infantry game – there’s a lot of depth to Battlefield’s gameplay. The one thing I noticed with BF3 is that there is never a moment where I’m not enjoying online play – even if I’m losing a match I’m still loving it. I nearly forgot to mention the other awesome thing – the destructibility. Everything blows to pieces in this game and a battlefield can look like shear rubble when the match is done. Even 3 months after the game’s release, I’m still finding those WOW moments happening in matches where you can’t believe how amazing it is.

2. Dark Souls
 

Dark Souls is the sequel to my favorite game of this console generation, Demon’s Souls. Dark Souls is an improvement on Demon’s Souls in nearly every way. The game is way bigger than its predecessor and the world is cleverly connected through multiple paths and unlockable shortcuts. The combat and weapons are tweaked to make the absolutely impressive combat system even better. The graphics and art direction had an overhaul, creating an extremely varied world ranging from gloomy forests, dark caves, an ancient fortress, the depths of hell, a beautiful castle, and many more areas. The enemies and bosses are also very creative and memorable. The game is a beauty to look at and extremely fun to play.

When people think of Dark Souls they immediately think of its masochistic slogan “Prepare To Die”. Many people may be turned off by the game’s claimed difficulty, but to be honest I thought it was easier than Demon’s Souls. There are many shortcuts to unlock and checkpoints are fairly close together, so it’s not too big of a task to work your way through an area. Don’t get me wrong, the game is very tough and will fatigue you as you need to be on alert at all times, but the sort of attention that Dark Souls demands is what makes it such a fun and memorable experience. I was dead set that this was going to be my game of the year until I played my number one choice.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
 

Skyward Sword came out of left field for me. When I played Twilight Princess I realized I was more than fatigued from the Zelda formula. When Twilight Princess was released I never beat it before getting rid of it – I found it kind of boring and wasn’t a fan of many of the temples. I decided to replay it before the release of Skyward Sword and my opinion didn’t change too much (I liked the temples, but the only one I thought was awesome was the Sky Temple. I also wasn’t a fan of any of the content between temples). That made me a bit less excited for Skyward Sword until I started to realize all of the tweaks and changes that Skyward Sword was implementing.

You start the game in a nightmare until you wake to a huge bird delivering mail to your room. The serious tone mixed with the world’s lively and bright characters was immediately set and the game was ready to roll. The game doesn’t take long before you make your way to the surface world and the game does a great job implementing tutorials and side quests seamlessly into the adventure. I loved absolutely every inch of this game. I loved soaring around Skyloft doing sidequests and finding goodies. I loved that every inch of the surface world was littered with enemies and puzzles, making the entire surface feel like dungeons before you get to the real dungeons.

Speaking of dungeons, the dungeons in Skyward Sword are my favorite of any game.  The dungeons are very creative, the game makes sure you are constantly using all of the items you collect, and the last couple dungeons have you solving dungeons with everything at your disposal. Some of the dungeons use very creative time-bending puzzles and constantly having you use your mind to solve puzzles without ever leaving you too stumped. The final dungeon of the game is absolutely amazing and is definitely my favorite of the Zelda series. Also, the bosses are just the icing on the cake of every dungeon.

The game’s bosses have you using careful and precise swordplay as you fight giant scorpions, a 6-armed oriental statue, a gigantic squid monster, or the game’s main antagonist, Ghirahim. The swordplay in the game is absolutely amazing, making this game the most fun motion game and one of the most fun games I have ever played. You are constantly involved and are constantly having fun as a result.

Lastly, the characters and world are done extremely well. Zelda’s character is well developed in the game, so you get a real sense of how precious she is and you want to do everything in your power to save her. Ghirahim isa well developed enemy; Link comes face to face with Ghirahim multiple times being subject to Ghirahim’s theatrical and cocky personality. The game’s world may be scarce with NPCs, but the one’s that are there are extremely lively and likeable. The game’s characters, even without voice acting, come to life with flying colors.

Skyward Sword was extremely tough for me to put down from beginning to end and I immediately wanted to play it again when I beat it. You unlock “Hero Mode” when you beat the game, giving you even more reason to go back and do the grand adventure all over again. I expected to like Skyward Sword, but I was so surprised at how much I loved it. Every inch of this game was given deep thought and care from Nintendo and its highly positive critic reception is a true testament to Nintendo’s efforts. For me to like this game more than Dark Souls is a huge accomplishment to Skyward Sword, as it is hands down my favorite game of 2011.