Commentary - Five games to play from 2011

So here we are.  We’ve opened our presents, drank our nog and rung in the New Year with earnest abandon. Welcome to 2012 my friends. I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful holiday because the end of the god damn world is just around the corner. Indeed, the Mayan calendar is set to end on December 21^st, 2012, a mere three hundred and fifty three days from now. Three hundred fifty three! Don’t you see what this means? The Mayan long count calendar is ending. Logically the world must be too! It’s not like the Mayan dude charged with making the calendar didn’t just figure that four thousand years’ worth was probably planning far enough into the future, right? It’s not like he was thinking, “Well guess I can call it a day. Someone will just add more years on if we still care four millennia from now. I mean it’s not like they’ll just assume it’s the end of all creation.”

How the hell do you even read this thing? Scheduling must have been a nightmare.

Wrong ancient dead guy! Dead wrong.  I did my own research and I have to say that the folks over at www.2012warning.com seem totally legit, look the twinkling star wallpaper and animated gif of Jupiter. I think these people know a bit more about space and stuff then those NASA hacks telling us all to chill. So what are you going to do with your remaining months on earth?  Perhaps ponder the meaning of life or do and say all those things you wanted to do before you die?   Well I have a better idea.  I’m going to help you invest your remaining days on this earth by telling you the five games from 2011 you must play before the world implodes.

Soon.

Perhaps you’d like to begin by playing a game that puts you in the role of the one man who could save the world from its impending doom? I don’t mean Superman, that guys a douche. All “Do you know who my father is?” and “I’m just naturally this awesome, it’s all because of my sweet tan.” Screw that guy, I’m talking Batman bitches.

Batman: Arkham City (PS3, Xbox 360, PC – Released October)

Batman is sick of your shit.

Arkham City, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. In the Christopher Nolan age of amazing Batman movies, it’s nice to get a video game series that so far seems to stack up to the quality of the films. Let’s be honest with ourselves, at some point in life we’ve all wanted to be the god damn Batman.  If you say you haven’t you have either A) never heard of Batman, or B) are a Liar. In Arkham City You get to live out all of your caped crusading fantasies by playing the Dark Knight as he opens a family value sized can of whoop ass on the Joker, Two-Face, Penguin and a horde of other supporting villains. Arkham City took everything that worked in Arkham Asylum and improved on it.  The fighting is visceral, the stealth sections are exciting and the game has enough side missions and collectable quests to keep a gamer happily soaring over the city, pouncing on unsuspecting crooks for hours on end. For more check my full review here.

If playing a millionaire playboy/high tech, ass-kicking ninja isn’t your thing then maybe you’re more of the ‘make your own name’ type.  Maybe you think bathing and personal hygiene should be optional? Maybe you secretly wish your name was Elfayis Silverbow and that you’re from the magical domain of the Summerset Isles?   If this is the case then may I suggest you put on your wizard cloak and hat for the Skyrim adventure?

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3, Xbox 360, PC – Released November)

Skyrim - The only game where you can pretend to be a cat and not get accused of being a furry.

For anyone who has been following the buzz on Twitter and other gaming sites since Skyrim’s release, its inclusion on this list probably isn’t a surprise. Since my initial review of Skyrim, in which I confessed that I had only been playing for ten or so hours, the Skyrim game hasn’t left my Xbox. I’ve logged almost a hundred hours on this game. A hundred hours and I’m still not sick of it, not even a little! There is just so much to do and see in this game.   You can join a warrior’s guild, become a werewolf and then run off to the Skyrim equivalent of Hogwarts to become a wizard. Then, while you’re waiting for your classes to start you come across an interesting shrine.  The shrine kicks off a story line that takes you to the other side of Skyrim where you meet a guy who turns out to be a demi-god that slips you roofies over a beer  and starts yet another story-line that is the Norse equivalent of the hangover.  Skyrim isn’t so much a game as a vacation from reality.  Skyrim is all about freedom and there are almost no decisions that can’t be reversed if you decide you don’t like them. The sheer open ended nature and vastness of the game can feel a bit overwhelming but if you give Skyrim a chance you’ll quickly find that the game rewards your perseverance.

Then again, maybe having near infinite freedom and zero consequences doesn’t appeal to you, maybe you want to agonize over every decision you’re faced with. Does the idea of deciding to have eggs with breakfast instead of pancakes, only to learn at lunch that the pancake maker was forced out of business due to your pro-egg/anti-cake policy and thus committed suicide excite you? Then boy-howdy is Assassin of Kings for you!

 The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings (PC – Released May)

Assassin of Kings is an adventure/RPG game that is all about consequences.  Throughout the game the hero, Geralt of Rivia, is forced to make morally grey choices and decisions. This approach to decision making was refreshing as most Role Playing Games make your decisions too black or white, good or evil.   More often than not I found myself deciding based on my own belief system and not on any real direction provided by the game. The decisions in the Witcher aren’t trivial decisions either, they can and do have profound repercussions on the games story hours of game play later. For example: Do you side with the Imperials who protect the civilized world but are slowly committing genocide against Elves and Dwarves? Or do you side with the rebels who are fighting for Elven and Dwarf kind but do so by slaughtering innocent civilians?

Geralt gets a lot of action... The ladies dig scars.

Beyond the consequence based plot line, Assassin of Kings also focuses on Geralt’s vocation in life, hunting down and slaughtering of monsters for monetary gain. The real enjoyment of this facet of game play comes from the monsters all being based on characters and creatures from folk lore and fairy tales. As the hunt unfolds you’ll find yourself remembering childhood tales that add another level of enjoyment to the game.  Although Assassin of Kings is not without its flaws - no real tutorial for how to play and combat that is punishingly difficult until you get the hang of it - the Witcher has excellent graphics and a thought provoking plot that will draw you in from the moment you pick it up.  

Speaking of killing monsters for a living, once you get the hang of combat, the Witcher, makes it look easy. If you’re the type that wants to slay horrors that should not be, but want the added danger of possibly craping yourself while you do it, then turn off all the lights, turn up the volume on your sound system and play Dead Space 2.

Dead Space 2 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC – Released January)

This is actually part of the game play, not a cut scene. Where you stick a needle... in your eye. Urk.

Survival Horror games have always been a pleasure of mine. There is something about being so into a game that I find myself on the edge of my seat. Dead Space 2 was exactly what I was looking for. From the moment this game starts, Dead Space 2 throws you waist deep into the shit. You begin the game running for dear life through utter chaos, bound in a straitjacket, plagued by the pursuing necromorphs (monsters that infect the dead) and your own psychological dementia. Everywhere you turn in Dead Space 2 something is going to come scuttling out of the dark or attack from a shadow. In the moments when you aren’t under attack it’s even worse because you worry about when the next thing is going to pop out and scream at you..  It is clear that the developers took time to develop the main character Isaac Clarke from an easily forgettable silent protagonist in the first game, into a broken man clutching to the shreds of his sanity and plagued by guilt that you can identify with. For anyone that enjoys sci-fi horror, or psychological stories, Dead Space 2 is the title to play.     

Part of his psychosis is seeing his dead girlfriend... I'm not sure what he saw in her in the first place.

Last but certainly not least, is a game that I was looking forward to for most of 2011. This is a game that will be enjoyed by Tom Clancy and Phillip K. Dick fans. I of course speak of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3, Xbox 360, PC – Released August)

At its heart, Deus Ex is a partnership that takes Square-Enix’s ability to tell a story and combines it with Eidos’ Montreal’s ability to make a game that isn’t a fucking hallway simulator. Honestly Square? What the hell was Final Fantasy 13 all about? Was it a test to see how long I could tolerate pressing the forward button on my controller? Thankfully Deus Ex is a far superior game and has a plot involving government and big business and is set in a future heavily influenced by Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell. Although the protagonist Adam Jensen, appears to have taken raspy voice acting lessons from Christian Bale, the game has a solid plot which I enjoyed all the way through.

"Bale gave me some real pro tips on sounding like a badass."

The world painted by Deus Ex is intriguing and the environments are detailed. The game has plenty of discoveries and places to explore. Deus Ex also gives you a fair amount of choice in how you play through the story line.  You can play the stealth game or you can do the run and gun. You can be a hero and avoid unnecessary death or you can be the maverick and murder everything that gets in your way. Deus Ex provides you with the tools and upgradeable skills to allow you to play a style that is enjoyable for you and doesn’t make you feel like you’re missing out on half the game.

So there it is, my friends, five games from 2011 that I feel are worthy of your hard earned money. If you want to share your thoughts on the best of the year gone by, toss me an email, or leave a comment. Maybe I’ll do a readers choice article down the road, who knows?  Happy New Year once again and here’s to an even better 2012.