Top 3 Games of 2011

Dave here. As the year draws to a close I felt it was time to speak candidly about my favourite games of the last twelve months, and make a few more of those great sweeping statements which I seem rather good at. So now, for your reading pleasure, is Dave’s Top Games of 2011.

3rd: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

I was very sceptical when I first saw Human Revolution. Early trailers, while technically impressive, failed to grab me. The orange aesthetic looked ugly and, having never played a Rainbow Six game, I was unsure just how enjoyable the first-to-third person cover mechanic would be. And Jenson’s voice actor sounded like he had watched Terminator Salvation once too often.

However, after the initial few hours, which dragged on a little too long for comfort, the choices opened up in front of me and I was allowed to meld my cyber-punk hero into the pacifist of my dreams.

As soon as you get in to the game the minor annoyances which I had from the trailers disappeared. The game is very pretty, holding the unique aesthetic throughout but with just enough variety to the environments to draw you in. The combat worked exceptionally well, and while the odd behaviour from the AI can break the immersion every now and then, the possibilities on offer outweigh the buggy qualities. From the tetris-block inventory screen, which I spent hours with organising my grenades and ammo, through to beating my boss in an argument, the game was a delight.

I shall forever resent it for not giving me the 100% no kills achievement (so help me I killed no one!), but unquestionably it is worth a look. I was wrong on every point (he is definitely channeling The Dark Knight rather than John Connor).

2nd: Batman: Arkham City

Elsewhere on the world wide web I have written a review of Batman: Arkham City for those of you who wish to learn more about my thoughts on the game. While I am critical of the open world elements – often having left me feeling like the environment is more of an obstacle to get past than a playground to explore – the game is by no means bad. Not even close.

Some may prefer the larger environments - I personally preferred the tighter, more narrative driven world presented in Arkham Asylum. As such I am less willing than some out there to herald Arkham City as the greatest game ever made but it is a true successor.

I enjoyed playing as Batman in 2009 and I have again in 2011. And one day I may even try to get those last few Riddler Trophies (fat chance!)

Dave’s Game of the Year

Portal 2

Depite what sweeping statements I may have made (and stand by) in previous articles, Portal 2 proves that compelling stories can be told down the barrel of a gun. It does help when it is a portal gun… and to be playing something other than the latest Activision romp through a field of racially and culturally diverse corpses. While this is hardly an original choice, it is genuinely the one game this year which I played, completed, and started playing again instantly. And once the second playthrough was complete I cracked on with the multiplayer.

It is not a flawless game by any means. The portal gun has transitioned from a device for solving puzzles to a means of quirky transversal of the environment. More often than you would like you are stuck searching for the one portal-able surface in a vast room so that you can continue progressing through the story.

Once found, and a portal fired up to it, the moment you then spend flying through the air feels scripted rather than as a consequence of some physics defying acrobatics on the part of the player.

The multiplayer lacks replayability, comprised of puzzles which provide a level of challenge which should have been in the single player, and because of the length and story-driven nature of the main game it does not lend itself to the speed runs which were popular with the original. But, for every fault which has slipped in during the transition from minimalist puzzle game to a denser story driven adventure title, there is also something truly special.

The exploration of GLaDOS as a character, Stephen Merchant as the hilarious intelligence core Wheatley, and the strange ramblings of J.K. Simmons make this the funniest game I have ever played. Portal was unquestionably a clever game, and many a wry smile crept across my face while playing it, but Portal 2 managed to both draw out the laughter and tug on the heartstrings. The game is filled with women, from the mute Chell to GLaDOS and the singing turrets, and yet none of them are overtly sexualised. The entire game is spent with a gun in hand, but no one dies.

This is the way games should be made. Grown up and good humoured.

Mobile Favourite:

Whale Trail

In terms of hours played Whale Trail technically falls behind the award-winning Tiny Wings, however, even with the similarities still tops my list.

Despite the rising/falling gameplay Whale Trail really has much more in common with Canabalt, one of my favourite iOS titles to date. There is no end to the game until your attention slips and you die – otherwise you could theoretically go on forever. However, opposed to that small monochromatic man running from building to building, Whale Trail is bright and colourful and full to bursting with charm.

The game is competent and familiar – a simple one button play style which is as good for an extended session of cloud navigation as it is for two minutes on the train. Whimsical characters with silly names round out the appeal.

The real reason to fork over the money for it though is the song – stop reading and listen to it – yes that song. Sitting on the front end listening to that play for the first time is perhaps more enjoyable than all the hours I poured into Angry Birds put together. Fact.

Absences:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Uncharted 3

Simply put I don’t like the fantasy genre of games. Looking forward to the next Fallout though. Robot dragons? I can dream.

My opinions on Uncharted are a little less randomly constructed. Thinking back to games like Halo and Gears Of War, and even the Call Of Duty games, we play a wide variety of different characters with one similarity: they are at war. Be it humanity fighting aliens, or subterranean menaces, or the Nazis, there is a thin veil of justification. I have little love for Master Chief or Marcus Fenix, but I am never left feeling like what they are doing is inherently wrong. The Call Of Duty games are a little more morally grey but for the most part you are still soldiers following orders.

Nathan Drake is not at war.

I am greatly troubled, and perhaps this is just my over-sensitivity talking, by the amount of time and effort which goes in to presenting Drake as charming and likeable only to have him murder hundreds of people throughout the course of the game. People said Ted Bundy was a charismatic bloke but this doesn’t mean I want to sit down with him for hours on end.

For every piece of whitty dialogue or heartfelt prose is a man being blown up with a grenade, shot to death, or horribly mutilated in one way or another. And this just does not sit well with me. The first game in the series convinced me that this is not a character I want to spent any more time with, and as such have had no interest in playing parts 2 or 3.

Conclusion

My favourite games of 2011 were ones where I didn’t have to kill anyone. Except for Deus Ex’s stupid boss fights. But I suppose that’s why it is third.