The show is over and so the PixlBit staff discusses the games that gave them the most thrills this year.

Julian’s Picks

Winner - The Last of Us

When it came time to show The Last of Us at the Sony press conference, there wasn’t an awkward lead in by Jack Tretton. A representative from Naughty Dog didn’t talk for five minutes about how awesome their new game is. No, when it came time to show The Last of Us it was enough to let the game do the talking. And it said far more in that presentation than any prepared speech by a media trained PR person.

The thing that keeps me playing games and has me excited for the future is the possibility that video games have to perfectly meld storytelling and immersive gameplay. We’re actually just getting to the point where that’s a reality, and The Last of Us proved to me that the future of gaming is very bright indeed. Look beyond the brutal action and that infamous shotgun blast to the face and you come away with a very subtle game. The main characters interact in such a way that you can tell they’ve been surviving like this for a long time. The young lady not only proves that she won’t be a liability in a fight, but also shows this dystopian future from a different lens. She’s obviously been raised around extreme violence, and her view of the world is drastically changed because of it. This type of depth—when coupled with sound game mechanics like the situational melee attacks and focus on survival—is exactly what I’m looking for in my gaming library.

But let me talk about that violence for a second. I didn’t find it to be sensational or in poor taste; rather it was a means to convey very terrifying emotion. I find the concept of someone that wants to murder you—not because they’re a bad person or because they hate you but because they simply want to live—a chilling and frightening notion. In The Last of Us you’re not dealing with pure evil or the supernatural (even if there are “zombies”), but instead you’re struggling against people who, at the end of the day are just like you. Naughty Dog didn’t say a word at the press conference to showcase The Last of Us, and yet they truly dropped the mic on the way out.

Runner-up - Star Wars 1313

I’m a graphics snob. There, I said it. This E3 was disappointing for me because I’m ready to see the new consoles (even if I’m not actually ready for them), and with Sony and Microsoft staying mum on the word and the Wii U following the Wii as being “last gen”, I was missing that shiny newness I crave.

Enter Star Wars 1313, a game I planned on completely ignoring until some very trusted industry people started talking it up. Friends, this game looks incredible—far and away the best looking game I’ve ever seen. The fact that the game starts with a cutsc

ene and transitions seamlessly into real-time gameplay (because the cutscene was real-time) was simply stunning for me. Oh, the game may end up being Uncharted with Star Wars, and by the time it finally comes out it may not be impressive anymore (I’m looking at you, Dark Sector), but for now, at E3 2012, Star Wars 1313 gave me something shiny and new to be excited about.

And yes, I still love Star Wars.