This is “Literary Musing’s Year In Review”, a retrospective look at 2011 with my recommendations for what I consumed as a consumer in 2011. For the introductory post, see here. To reemphasize the disclaimer: these aren’t “best-of” lists, as I haven’t played, read, or seen everything that came out this year. If I had, I wouldn’t have bothered to say this. These are recommendation posts, posts that, if anything, are designed to give readers a healthy mix of recommended entertainment of this year, while keeping respect to all the other works that I haven’t tried yet and the positives and negatives of those I have.
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Games. My combated second love, in comparison to books, with comics, film, and music a few notches below that. I played a lot of games this year, but I didn’t play everything. Note the absence of Saint’s Row 3, Dead Space 2, Skyward Sword, or Bastion- though I have been listening to the game’s soundtrack a lot- which, if the circulating word of mouth is anything to go by, are great game experiences in their own right.
Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP dev. Capybara Games
A psychosocial experience from Toronto-based Capybara Games that blends audio and retro visuals to achieve pixel equilibrium, and one of the paragon examples of what the IOS platform can do. Review forthcoming.
Portal 2 dev. Valve
(REVIEW)
I never would have thought Valve could ever come to surpass the experience I had with 2007′s Portal, but they, being the dastardly smart people that they are, did exactly that. This game is one of the funnest games I’ve ever played, by being perfectly executed in how it rolls out the mechanics of puzzle-solving and the different coloured gels, and how it brings a new dimension to the universe of Aperture Science synthetically, contextually, and interactively. Even in environments that are designed to be sterile (such as lab rooms and testing chambers), everything about the game has character and verve. It also might have one of the funniest, most cleverly written stories ever pulled off in a video game.
Outland dev. Housmarque
It took repetition to really get in to this game, because of its inconsistent sporadic difficulty level but it did a lot of things so well as a downloadable product that it would be wrong to skip this. An appreciative Ikaruga-style of switching between light and dark, red and blue, as you side-scroll and traverse through a plateau of generally challenging scenarios that force you to use a combination of reflexes, thinking, and button timing. Housemarque, who dearly disappointed me with the rather lazy Dead Nation, rectifies things with this visually arresting title. Review forthcoming.
Batman: Arkham City dev. Rocksteady
The sequel to a game that blew my mind as a dark horse in 2009, Arkham City tries to do what Arkham Asylum did, but on a bigger, better, wider scale: running with the somewhat ludicrous concept that all the criminals have been moved to a cordoned-off slum section of the city, and are now wreaking havoc within its walls. And it does all that nonetheless, but not perfectly. Review forthcoming.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim dev. Bethesda Softworks
A soul-sucking beast of a game that goes to the freezing north of Tamriel in the Elder Scrolls world, a place called Skyrim. About as inviting as a pack of saber-toothed snow cats pacing an ice floe. Luckily, this is their richest game to date, giving gamers hours of detailed content that isn’t all filler in a captivating Viking fantasy vein, with dragons no less. I think all of the things that Bethesda have been striving to achieve throughout all these years of work has finally been realized. To even try to wrap your mind around the size of this game is enough to make your head explode. Extended thoughts forthcoming.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings dev. CD Projekt RED
Second only to Skyrim, this compelling RPG (based on the cult fantasy series by Andrzej Sapkowski) from Polish studio CD Projekt RED is my sleeper hit of the year. Having never played the original Witcher or yet read any of the source material, I was astonished at the quality and wealth of substance present in this title.
Plants vs. Zombies HD dev. Popcap Games
An addictive strategy game where you defend a house from hordes of ever increasing zombies. Popcap clearly knows how to hook players in small doses of pure orchestration that makes it always feel addictive and welcoming, as a product that’s very easy to pick up and play. Extended thoughts forthcoming.
LittleBigPlanet 2 dev. Media Molecule
A sequel that is essentially LittleBigPlanet in a new skin at first glance, but is expanded to new horizons with a bigger toolkit to create things, more variety in campaign levels, a soundtrack that bursts with charm and likability, and a tighter knit interface that begs you to dip your toe into the community that makes the game larger than life. Media Molecule, now moving on to new projects, have given LittleBigPlanet a superlative swan song. Review forthcoming.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception dev. Naughty Dog
The third game in a series that is starting to feel stale, Uncharted 3 nevertheless is a worthy game to add to your library. It lacks the polish and clear-headed direction that steered Uncharted 2, but it is still a remarkable visual achievement. Review forthcoming.
Jetpack Joyride dev. Halfbrick
A fun-filled, mindless game of altitude and tempting high scores that pressed me to try just one more time, and then realize I’d spent at least an hour playing it after that. I don’t know a lot of simple games that can burn time away better than Jetpack Joyride, and another is on this list.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution dev. Eidos Montreal
Though questionable design decisions and an inability to thoroughly tackle the issues that the game narrative coughs up scars what could have been an excellent title, Deus Ex: Human Revolution fixes everything wrong with Deus Ex: Invisible War in an appealing golden-coloured cyberpunk world. This is what the acclaimed original deserved, and though it didn’t do everything I had hoped for, trying to give fans an appropriate degree of atonement reserves this game a special place in this list. Review forthcoming.
ICO/Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection dev. Team ICO
Two of the greatest PS2 games, classics in their own right, collected for the first time in glorious HD (alongside some bonus content). These, my friends, are two of the finest single-player games ever made, and if you’ve been living under a rock and somehow have never heard of them, do yourself a favor and play this. Review forthcoming.
Humble Indie Bundle 4 dev. Gaijin Games, Team Meat, et al
I might be cheating here, as these games all came out different times- and not all in 2011- but I would be remiss not to mention the time this bundle sucked out of my life this year; in fact, I played some of these games more, and even enjoyed some more, than some of this year’s bigger budget disc releases. A great sampling of indie created games in support of their wanting independent developers, the community that organized it, and charity. What more could you want? Extended thoughts on the Humble Bundle initiative forthcoming.
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So, one more category to go, the ambiguous Miscellaneous category, which I will follow up with a conclusion post and everything that I’m looking forward to in 2012. I now hand off the torch, to ask you: what were your favourite gaming experiences of the year?
