Despite the ratio of posts on this blog not skewing in that direction, I fancy myself a game player of some kind. In 2011, I didn’t play nearly as many as I would have liked, yet still have strong feelings about the ones that I did. Typically, I’ll just make a Top 10 list over at GiantBomb.com (OBSERVE! OBSERVE HERE, AS WELL!), but for some reason there’s no officially sanctioned user participation this year.
So, I figgered I’d take the bull by the proverbial horns here and just make my own awards list. It’s pretty much a stripped down riff of Giant Bomb’s own awards (noticing a pattern?), but fuck it. I just want to feel involved.
PS: If you don’t know what GiantBomb.com is, then I suggest you either kill yourself or, better, just educate yourself right now. Heck, if you’re reading this now, their own awards series is going on so you’ll have a better idea what the heck I’m going on about.
The STILL PLAYING Award (AKA the 2010 game that I played a lot of in 2011)
Super Street Fighter IV
Yep, instead of playing the new version of SSFIV (the supremely busted and insulting Arcade Edition), I soldiered on with even more hours dug into Super Street Fighter IV. The perfected version of the game that got me back into fighting games, it still stands as a time capsule to the pinnacle of my fighting game interest.
Honorable Mentions: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Mass Effect 2
Best Original Soundtrack (OST)
Bastion
Goddammit, Bastion. Why are you such a great game? Of course, there’s no telling how much this game would have suffered had it not been for Darren Korb’s remarkable music. I don’t buy many CDs, let alone soundtracks, yet the fact that I’m going to buy the hell out of the Bastion soundtrack should be the biggest testament to its quality.
Honorable Mentions: Catherine, Stacking
Best Debut
Bastion
Bastion. You’re super good! Too good! Where is there to go from here? I’m not sure, but whatever Bastion-related nonsense comes out, even if it’s a Bastion slot-machine, you bet your ass that I’ll be playing and supporting it.
Honorable Mentions: Trenched (Iron Brigade), WWE All-Stars
Best Surprise
Mortal Kombat
SUPRISE, BITCHES
I’m not ashamed to say that my experience with the MK franchise first began well into the series’ twilight years. After playing the supremely disappointed MK vs. DC a couple years back, I had absolutely zero confidence that I’d like the reboot of Mortal Kombat half as much as I actually did. I’d almost recommend it above Street Fighter IV for just the sheer, brutal enjoyment the game offers.
Honorable Mentions: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Stacking
Best Presentation (AKA the best combined use of art style, graphical muscle, soundtrack and voice acting)
Catherine
I have a feeling I’m one of the few people who really really really really dug all parts of Catherine (no pun intended, you perverts). One thing I’m sure most will agree upon is that Catherine is a pretty sharp-looking game. It executes and commits on its art style so well, and doesn’t ask it to expose its weaknesses more often than it needs to. It has got style for miles and is just absolutely absorbing and cohesive at all points that I can’t help but smile for every minute the game was spinning in my Xbox.
Honorable Mentions: L.A. Noire, Bastion
Best XBLA Game
Bastion
If you download one game in your entire life, it should probably be Bastion.
Yep, Bastion again. It runs away with this award handily.
Honorable Mentions: Trenched (Iron Brigade), Stacking
The SON I AM DISAPPOINT “Award” (AKA Most Disappointing Game)
L.A. Noire
I’m not quite sure if I expected far too much from L.A. Noire, but I feel like it was truly one of those games that promised the world and delivered a pile of dirt. That sounds very insulting, and it’s true that I enjoyed L.A. Noire, but I can’t help but feel like the game was just a huge disappointment. Whether it was its strangling linearity or its continuously jarring gameplay decisions which easily pulled me out of the the game’s supposed “immersion” or OR the fact that the game’s first set of cases is the most varied and entertaining set, I think all are solid justifications for me to name L.A. Noire the game I was most disappointed with in 2011.
DIShonorable Mentions: Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Dark Souls
And last, but most certainly not least, my Top 5 games of the year.
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I may not be giving the devil his proper due here, but the fact of the matter is Skyrim is such a dichotomy to me. It’s both beautifully and horribly crafted at the same time. It has an immersive world, but a rather unengaging main story. There still is no denying just how magnetic the pull of this game is, and even if I point out more flaws in both its design and my own enjoyment with it than I’d like for something that I consider to be the “best” of 2011, I still can’t wait to play more of this huge action RPG.
4. Mortal Kombat
2011 will probably be the last time I play Ed Boon’s baby for some time, but what a ride I had with it in the scope of this year. This game took everything I really loved about my newfound fighting game prowess and added things I didn’t even know I wanted. I love it, and it’ll always be looked upon fondly in my eyes.
3. Batman: Arkham City
Again, another conflict enters my mind when I say that Arkham City was one of my favorite games this year. This mainly comes from the fact that I honestly don’t think Arkham City comes close to trumping its predecessor. Still, Arkham Asylum was my top game of 2009, and this game is fundamentally the same (plus I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the game, particularly that amazing combat system). Leaving it anywhere outside my top 3 for 2011 would just seem… wrong.
2. Catherine
I love puzzle games! I love weirdness! Catherine just scratched so many itches for me (again, no pun intended you miscreant) that I feel genuinely put-off by how many people who just did not like this game. Besides the addictive and frantic block puzzling, the out of control story that manically hopped between emotional introspection, sitcom-stye wackiness and just plain weird story decisions had me roped into its every last twist and turn. I love this game and I’m not apologizing for it. It was easily the singular most memorable gaming experience I had in 2011… save for one game.
1. Bastion
It has already been praised enough in this post (and this post has already gotten long enough), that I think I just need to say one last thing. Bastion is a game you need to play. The story of The Kid is one that is satisfying on another level than anything else I’ve written about here. That it does so in such a humble-seeming fashion makes it just that much more appealing, and it is easily my favorite game of the year.
IT CAME FROM A RED COUCH! 