My Top 5 Games For 2011 (and more!)

The year 2011 has come and gone, and was a great year for video games. We saw a lot of great releases throughout the year and, as usual, especially around the holiday season. Unfortunately my free time was tragically cut short around halfway through the year, so I don't have nearly as much time to play video games as I once did. Because of this I've had to limit my selection based on free time (and money) to certain games (pick and choose my battles, if you will). So instead of a top 10, this year I present you with my Top 5 Games of 2011. Out of all the games I played this year, these five are my favorites. Keep in mind that I only include a game in lists like these if I feel I've played it enough to adequately review and judge it (which usually means "beating" it). The below are ranked in order, with #1 being my "Game of the Year". After the top 5 list I'll also give a few honorable mentions, some games that may have made the list if I had had time to play them, and a few of the letdowns from this year (there were unfortunately several).

We'll start with my Top 5 Games of the Year:

*drumroll*

5. Dead Space 2 - Xbox 360, PS3, PC - January 25

I'm not usually a fan of the horror genre, but I've come to realize that that may be the reason I'm so drawn to the Dead Space franchise. Besides the fact that they're great games with good stories, great atmosphere and setting, and very fun gameplay, a game like Dead Space 2 wouldn't normally be something I'd enjoy. It's outside of my comfort zone, and while I naturally like my comfort zone, it's nice to try something different once in a while. It's almost like a personal mark of pride for myself that I can say I've beaten every Dead Space game that's come out so far (yes, even the on-rails one for Wii). And while they're great games and I thoroughly enjoy pretty much everything about them, I do have to admit that I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I beat Dead Space 2. Playing games where you don't always have to worry about aliens popping out of dark at you is much easier and much less stressful. Dead Space 2 is not one of those games.



4. Batman: Arkham City - Xbox 360, PS3, PC - October 18

"Gimme yo' heads!"

Following up on the hit game Batman: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City puts you in a larger, open world, adds more classic characters, and improves on the (very) few flaws from Arkham Asylum. My one complaint about Arkham Asylum was the combat, and I felt that it flowed more smoothly and was easier to master in Arkham City. The setting, story, side missions, characters, voice acting, and gameplay are all great... and I mean, come on, it's Batman. What more could you ask for?



3. Portal 2 - Xbox 360, PS3, PC - April 19

"SPAAAAAAAAAACE!!!"

Portal 2 has the distinction of being the funniest game I've ever played. As someone who loves humor and comedy, that's a big deal for me. And when you add that and the great characters in the game (most of them new) to the awesome gameplay mechanics and puzzle design you get something really special. The new co-op mode is a lot of fun and works really well too. I played through this game almost three times this year, and while it admittedly isn't as long as most of the other games on this list (especially after you beat it the first time), that really says something about the kind of experience you get when you play this game.



2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Xbox 360, PS3, PC - November 11

One of the most epic games I've ever played. The world is beautiful and perfectly constructed. The stories and quests are very good, and the combat, while still a little rough in spots, is definitely a step up from Oblivion. And while that stuff is all great, the main reason I play the Elder Scrolls games (and Fallout for that matter) is for the expertly crafted huge open world. Most RPGs are all about going from quest to quest, advancing both the story and the side missions, and leveling up in the process. And while that is a big part of Skyrim, the beauty of this game is the ability to just explore the world and see what secrets you can find hidden away in the mountains of Skyrim (the name of the game is also the area in which it takes place). The game has a quick travel option to go from place to place, but I often find myself not wanting to use it. I'd much rather spend the extra time walking to my next destination and seeing what kind of awesome stuff happens along the way (like defending myself from a dragon attack), or what I can discover (like another hidden dungeon). This game is truly a masterpiece in an already fabled franchise.



*another, more dramatic drumroll*


1. Star Wars: The Old Republic - PC - December 20

Deciding between this and Skyrim for my #1 game was a tough decision that took me several weeks to come to. Both games earned the right to hold that title, and in fact when I first drafted this list I had Skyrim number one and Old Republic number two. But as I continued to play Old Republic I gradually changed my mind. Because it's an MMO, Old Republic has a built-in advantage of being able to play with your friends, which is always a good thing. All MMOs have that going for them, but what really sets Old Republic apart is that I find myself wanting to play it even when none of my friends are online (even over Skyrim, which is made to be only a single player game). I messed around with WoW back in the day, and more recently played Rift and a few other free-to-play MMOs, and while they're all fun in their own way I never experienced this with any of them.

Old Republic mixes all that's great about MMOs with a story that works a lot like Mass Effect does (another game by Bioware). There are still your usual MMO fetch quests (i.e. go here and kill 15 of these, or collect 6 of these and return to me), but where the game really stands out are its "class quests". These quests advance a story and introduce supporting characters that stay with you the rest of the game. And your choices in these quests matter: like Mass Effect you usually have a choice to be good or evil, and whatever you pick affects what happens in your story down the road. There are 8 different classes (4 for each faction) all with original and unique stories that span from level 1 all the way to level 50 (the max level right now). I haven't beaten any of them yet, but I'm a good chunk into 2 of them (out of 8) and they're both really good so far. And from what I hear from other players and online, all 8 are very well made (in the Bioware tradition). You basically get 8 Mass Effect-type stories in one game, and best of all it's set in the Star Wars universe (which I'm also a big fan of). All that mixed with the space combat (which is a fun diversion) and the ability to play with several friends makes this my choice as my favorite game of 2011.



Honorable Mentions:

Rift - Wasn't as captivating as Old Republic, but was fun and had a lot of good ideas I wish other MMOs (including Old Republic) would steal.

L.A. Noire - A very interesting game; it tried a lot of new things and they worked out. Some parts were repetitive, but the interrogations, the story, and most of the action was great.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - This game had some problems, but overall I really liked it and found most of it to be a lot of fun. Here's hoping for a sequel where they keep all the good stuff and iron out all the problems.



Games that may have made my top 5 list if I had had time to play them:

This is my way of giving props to games that probably deserve a spot on the list but that I unfortunately haven't gotten a chance to play yet.

-Bastion
-Dark Souls
-Gears of War 3
-Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
-The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings



The Letdowns

And, last but definitely least, the letdowns. Every year there are a few games that I (and many others) look forward to but unfortunately fail to meet most expectations. These aren't necessarily bad games (although many times they are). They're just... well, letdowns.

Brink - Bought this game for like $10 on sale about two months after it came out. That should tell you something.

Duke Nukem Forever - This game has been $10 for months now, and I still haven't bought it. That should really tell you something.

Dragon Age II - Not a terrible game, but for the most part it was overwhelmingly average. The characters (Bioware's specialty) were still good, but that was probably the only real bright spot in the game. The story was only okay and the environments and combat were damn near terrible. Definitely did not live up to expectations or the standard set by the first game.

Rage - Another one that wasn't all bad; in fact it started out really well. The graphics and gameplay were great, but the story started out decent and only got worse and worse until the ending, which is one of the worst endings for any game ever. The game just ends. Like stops. All of a sudden, you just win. And for a game that was in development for like five years, it's insultingly short. The "open world" is a lie and the multiplayer is not worth playing. The racing is an okay diversion but is pretty shallow and gets old pretty quick. Rage had a lot of potential but ultimately failed to reach it, or really even come close.



And there you have it: my list(s) for 2011. As always I value and appreciate any feedback, so feel free to post any comments or opinions you might have.

Review: Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening

"Not Enough of a Good Thing"




I was obviously a big fan of Dragon Age: Origins (seeing as it was my favorite game from the year 2009), so I was very excited when they announced there would be an expansion pack not too far into the year. Unfortunately, this was not nearly the expansion pack I had hoped for, especially given the untypical high price.

Quick Facts:

Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: RPG
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date (NA): March 16, 2010
Rating: M


To be blunt, this expansion is only mediocre, which would be okay for some games, but I had much higher hopes for a game I loved as much as Dragon Age. Also, I feel the $39.99 price tag (which is unusually high for an expansion pack) is not justified by the content (both in quantity and quality) found in the expansion. The expansion is not terrible, but it is definitely lacking many of qualities that made the original title such a great game. While short and underwhelming, Awakening also is not nearly as engrossing or enticing as the original game, and yet costs 2/3 of the original title's price.

*Minor spoilers are ahead if you haven't finished the original game (by which I mean Dragon Age: Origins; there are no spoilers for the expansion I'm currently reviewing), read on at your own risk*


The main plot of Awakening is that even though you ending the blight by killing the archdemon, the darkspawn have not all retreated back underground. Something is keeping them here attacking the surface, even though the blight should be over. Also, they seem to be gaining an intelligence that they had never possessed before, which makes them even more dangerous. While this story has potential, the execution which the game carries it out is not great. You can either create a new character or import your character from the original game. You start at the same spot for both options, there is no new origin story for a new Grey Warden character. Also, if you import your character from the original, regardless of what happened at the end of that game, you come in alone. It doesn't matter if you had a dog imprinted on you, or if you told your love interest you would stay by their side, the only thing that carries over from the original is (most of) your inventory and stats. A few decisions from your game may carry over, but these are usually insignificant, and the game is mainly streamlined so that every player will have almost the same experience.

The story's execution is only okay, and besides the new story, there's not much else that comes with this expansion pack. The level cap does rise a little, and there are a few new specialization classes/skills which can at least be interesting. There is a new cast of party members, and while they all have their moments, because the expansion is so short there really isn't enough time to get to know them like you could with the characters in Origins. And, without spoiling anything, I found the ending to be very abrupt and unfulfilling, which (come to think of it) is a great way to summarize the game as a whole.

While this review has had a mostly negative tone, there are some good things. Like I said, the story has potential to be great, it's just not fleshed out enough. There are also a few things, like running the justice system of your land, that were interesting and really took me back to Baldur's Gate II. And, even though the gameplay hasn't changed much, that's okay with me because I loved the original so much. My main complaint with Awakening is that it feels rushed: there isn't enough content in it, and the content that is there is decent but would have benefitted from having more time and more content to go with it. The lack of quantity itself affects the quality of the stuff that is there, if that makes sense.

My recommendation would be to wait on this. It's not a bad expansion pack, but (especially when the price is considered) it's not great either. If the price tag had been lower, say $25-$30 (instead of $40), then I think this would have been a more positive review. Chances are if you loved Dragon Age as much as me and some of my friends did then you already have it; but if you did enjoy Dragon Age and you haven't bought this yet then I would say to wait a while until it drops by at least $10.

In Summary:

Pros: The story and characters have a lot of potential, the gameplay is slightly tweaked and improved and great as ever (assuming you liked Dragon Age: Origins), you can import your character from the original and keep most of your stuff, some interesting side quests.

Cons: The story and characters (as mentioned above) aren't given enough time to develop and be fleshed out, other side quests are short or just plain uninteresting, lack of content for such a high price point, visually many of the areas look the same - it looks like they're recycling scenery, abrupt and unfulfilling ending, overall feels rushed.


FINAL SCORE: 3 out of 5





Note: All reviews on this site are solely the subjective opinion of the author. If you disagree with my review please feel free to post in a polite manner and state your opinion. I welcome respectful discussion on my blog and would love to get feedback on my review and also read yours. Thanks!

The Greatest Games of the Decade: The Year 2009

Finally! Here is the last entry in my Greatest Games of the Decade series (though some people do it differently, for the purpose of this I counted the decade as 2000-2009). It's been a fun ride (at least for me) looking back at some of my favorite games of the last ten years, and I hope you enjoyed it too and maybe even got something out of it.

2009 ended only two months ago, so many of the games from that year are ones I still play or even still have yet to play. My favorite game from 2009 is a game that I put a lot of time into, and have even started new playthroughs with different characters after I beat it.





Dragon Age: Origins

Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: RPG
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date (NA): November 3, 2009
Rating: M


Another amazing RPG by Bioware (almost all of whose games made my lists), this is a long but incredibly worthwhile journey in a fantasy, Lord of the Rings-esque setting. Like Bioware's other games, the story and characters are all great, and the world they created for the game is very good as well. I dont want to post any spoilers here (especially because this game hasn't even been out that long), but let's just say that the way you interact with other characters (especially the ones in your group) and how your actions affect what they do is incredible. Bioware has said that this game is a "spiritual successor" to the Baldur's Gate series (Baldur's Gate II being my favorite game of all time), and they are correct in saying that. Playing this game took me back to when I was playing Baldur's Gate II and I remembered what it was like to control a character whose actions really matter and affect the other people and world around him (Mass Effect 2 does an even better job of this, but that game will have to wait for the Greatest Games of 2010).

As for the other aspects of the game, the graphics are good, though many of the facial models aren't anything special (especially on the console versions). I really enjoyed the soundtrack, and the dialog and voice acting is all top notch. The combat is more turn-based and slow paced (like the Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and KotoR series), which I dont mind, but some people who aren't used to it may not like it. They do a good job of adding in lots of special moves you can perform during battle to give it more of an action-game type of feel. Character creation is great, and each race and class has their own "origin story," which means they start the game in a completely different area of the world with a different story of what's happening around them. This adds a lot of replayability to the game and actually made me want to make every different type of character just so I could play through their origin story. As always, leveling your guy is fun, and each class (Mage, Warrior, and Thief) has 4 different speciality classes you unlock once you reach a certain level, which adds a lot of customization to what kind of character you want to play.

There has also already been a good amount of DLC for this game, and an expansion pack is on the way next month. I would definitely recommend this game to any RPG fan who has enjoyed any of Bioware's previous titles. The PC version is slightly superior to the console version (mostly in that you can control the camera angle of the game), so if you have a computer that can run it you I suggest you get it for that. If not though, the console versions are still excellent (I have the game for my 360, and I still loved it).


Honorable Mentions:

Madworld (Wii)- One of the most mature games I've played, and it's on the Wii! What are the odds? Anyway, this is a third-person brawler that is a lot of fun. It also uses the motion controls very well, which is rare for games on the Wii. The graphics and art style are also very unique and cool too. This game did well critically but unfortunately sold very poorly.

Red Faction: Guerrilla (360, PS3, PC)- A good third-person action/sandbox style game, but what really made this game special was the physics engine it ran on. You could destroy pretty much anything in the game. Seriously. Buildings could be taken down piece by piece, floor by floor, however you wanted. Not just some buildings. Any building. This really makes the game a blast to play; even if you're not doing missions it's fun to just run around blowing stuff up.

Wii Sports Resort (Wii)- Basically Wii Sports 2 (but with a lot more games), this game comes with a lot of fun mini-games that take advantage of the Wii's motion controls. This game was also the first to use Wii-Motion Plus, which is an attachment that adds additional sensors to the remote that lets it pick up your movements much better. If you enjoyed Wii Sports, you'll like this game too.

Batman: Arkham Asylum (360, PS3, PC)- Not only the best Batman game I've ever played, but also the best superhero game. If you want to know more about why I liked this game, check out my review here.

The Beatles: Rock Band (360, PS3, Wii)- I will admit my bias right away: the Beatles are my favorite band of all-time, and have been since I was a kid. So I obviously loved all the songs in the game. What makes this game so great though is not just the music, but the way they really captured the spirit of the Beatles in a game. The art direction and graphics are great. Often times I've done poorly playing because I stopped looking at what color notes to play in order to watch the "dreamscapes" (background images) that go on while the song is playing. Also, the addition of three part harmonies for singing really added an extra element to the game that allows more people to play (especially at parties). If your friends can sing well, it actually works very well too. I hope to see Rock Band 3 and any following Rock Band games add that in too.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)- So much has been said about this game that there's really nothing left for me to say here. It won almost every Game of the Year award for 2009. Everything about it is great. If you have a PS3 and haven't at least checked this game out yet, then you dont deserve to have said PS3 (I'm looking at you, David Slaght).

Demon's Souls (PS3)- Another great PS3 exclusive, you really have to play this game to understand what makes it so great. It's a third-person action game in a very dark fantasy setting that is incredibly challenging but still a lot of fun. There are some really cool multiplayer elements that make this game stand out as well. If you have a PS3 and are looking for a challenge, definitely check this game out.

Borderlands (360, PS3, PC)- A great mix of first-person shooter and RPG. The people who design the game refer to it as a RPS (role-playing shooter), which is a pretty accurate description. The shooting/combat feels great (it's very similar to Call of Duty), and the role-playing elements are fun and helpful while not being overly complicated. The art direction and graphics are really cool and unique too. This game is really meant to play co-op with friends, but even by yourself it's still fun to play.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360, PS3, PC)- Another game that there is nothing left to say about. If somehow you haven't heard much about this game (which is doubtful), you can check out my review here.


Biggest Disappointment:

The Conduit (Wii)- For most of my other "Biggest Disappointment" sections, I usually start off by saying that this game wasn't terrible, it just didn't live up to my expectations. That is not the case here. The Conduit is a pretty terrible game. In retrospect I'm not sure why my expectations were so high, as most games on the Wii not made by Nintendo usually suck. But still, The Conduit holds a special place in my heart as a game that failed me miserably. Live and learn, I guess. Also, if you want more detail on why The Conduit sucks so bad, check out my review here.


Well, that's all of them. The last ten years of my gaming experience in a nutshell. From looking at the lists, it seems to me that as time goes on developers start to more clearly see what makes a good game and what doesn't, which is why we see more and more good games every year, and less really terrible ones. To anyone reading this- I hope you enjoyed these posts and maybe even took something from them. As always, feel free to comment and post your own opinions. Now that I'm done this series, I'm not sure what I'm going to do next, if anything. I'll probably still do reviews and the like once in a while, but if you have any ideas for anything else you'd like to see feel free to let me know. Thanks!