In which I highlight some of my best articles from 2011. Shameless self-promotion with a chance to get some of my favorite pieces back on the front page. Huzzah.
Just to round out a solid trifecta, this time I'll be ranking ten of my best reviews. These won't be the ten best games I covered, because a lot of the games I covered sucked, quite frankly. These are the ten reviews that I had the most fun writing, and which I feel are some of the more descriptive and analytical ones. Exempt from this list are any reviews I wrote of free indie games, since I've got a separate list linking back to those articles. Click the full article for the full list.
"What is there to say about Dragon Age: Origins that hasn't already been said? There's a ton of content to experience,
lots of dialogue, lots of loot, lots of blood, lots of quality polish,
and not so many dragons. It's probably the most "old school" RPG we've
seen in the last few years (or at least the most successful one), and
that alone makes it a very compelling game. But despite its many great
features and the overall high quality experience, DAO still suffers from
typical BioWare shenanigans that leave me to say that it's merely
"pretty good."" Read the full review here.
"Rebellion's 2010 version of Aliens vs Predator feels like a less innovative version of their 1999 Aliens Versus Predator,
and like a lamer version of Monolith's Aliens Versus Predator 2.
There's almost nothing new or interesting going on here, it's just a
dumb modernized re-hash of everything we've already seen and done before.
There are only five missions for each species, most of the combat breaks
down to mindless click-fests, the missions themselves aren't varied,
and it's just not that interesting. It's a shame, really." Read the full review here.
"Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes bills itself as a "satirical RPG"
that "pokes fun at" the well-worn tropes and cliches of popular
strategy-RPGs and action-RPGs. But it turns out that Grotesque Tactics isn't that much of a satire or a
parody. Its jokes are worth a slight chuckle at first, but the
amusement quickly wears off once you realize that its only way of
satirizing the genre is to make you play obnoxiously exaggerated
renditions of all of the wearisome aspects of the genre. It references a
few games here and there, but only in oblique ways that don't relate to
anything at all." Read the full review here.
"Amnesia: The Dark Descent may be the scariest game ever. It's an intelligent game that has a firm grasp of what makes
horror scary. Making the player defenseless gives you reason to be
anxious about your environment; the less you see of a monster, the more
your imagination takes over; climactic moments work best with a slow and
steady build-up. On top of the well-crafted horror, Amnesia boasts
intelligent puzzles, interesting scenery, and a fairly intriguing
story." Read the full review here.
"F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
is pretty much a disgrace compared to the original F.E.A.R. Gone are
the intelligent, tactical fights, gone is the creepy horror atmosphere,
gone is my fun. Project Origin just feels like a lame, phoned-in sequel
that didn't even try to innovate like the first game did. I've got a
laundry list of problems with it, but the big issues are the combat and
the horror atmosphere, the two things that are supposed to be the most
important aspects of this series. Overall, it's still an enjoyable game,
but as a fan of the original, and as a fan of good, intelligent games,
I'm obliged to call it out for its failures." Read the full review here.
"Singularity
would be great if only it were better. I know that's asking a lot, in a
vague sort of way, but there's really not much else to say. There's
plenty to say, actually, but the case with Singularity is that it has
the framework to be excellent, but squanders its brilliance with
blemishes. What could have been a fun, creative shooter turned out to be
a rote, by-the-book FPS. It has a wonderful premise with promising
gameplay elements, but it just doesn't capitalize on its ideas, and
ultimately holds itself back with certain limitations. It's still an
enjoyable game; it's just disappointing to realize that it could've been
even better." Read the full review here.
"Grab your running shoes, because we're jumping straight into Mirror's Edge,
the 2008 running simulator from DICE. This first-person platformer was a
fresh face in a market saturated with serialized franchises and dark,
gritty shooters, but it wasn't without its problems. Disjointed flow,
unpolished combat, an underdeveloped story, short length, and sometimes
excessive trial-and-error hold it back from perfection, but the rest of
the game is so good that it's still worth playing." Read the full review here.
"I did not like the first Assassin's Creed. It was flawed in nearly every
way possible, but it had a rich, organic soul that still made it worth
playing, at least in a strange, masochistic sort of way. Assassin's Creed 2
fixes nearly every single aspect that sucked from the first game, while
introducing several new mechanics that make the gameplay far more
compelling. But despite all of these improvements on the gameplay and
the presentation, it eventually starts to feel even more artificial than the
first game. And that makes it really hard for me to appreciate this
game." Read the full review here.
"Bastion
is the first game from Supergiant Games, and it is a remarkably
enjoyable experience. An action-RPG, you go through levels fighting
enemies, acquiring new weapons and items, leveling-up, and upgrading
your character. It's not especially unique in this regard, but the
gameplay is masterfully crafted to feel highly rewarding and compelling.
Its most remarkable aspect is the atmosphere; the lush visuals, melodic
soundtrack, narrative storytelling, and general premise are uniquely
refreshing. Since Bastion only costs $15, you have no excuse not to play
it. In fact, you should be playing Bastion right now instead of reading
this review." Read the full review here.
"Portal 2 is a mighty fine game that, in some ways, lives up to its
expectations, but it ultimately doesn't deliver the same concentrated
experience as the first Portal. Overall, Portal 2 is a fine game, possibly the best of 2011. Valve put a
lot of deliberate, precise effort into crafting this game and it shows.
Most of the complaints I have really amount to nitpicking. In some
regards, it was inevitable that Portal 2 wouldn't quite outshine its
predecessor, but I'm pleased with the outcome." Read the full review here.
This monster of a review was technically posted in 2012, but I played the game in 2011 and the review would've been up in 2011 if I hadn't been traveling in the week before (and during) New Year's. This one's got a metric crap-ton of detail and analysis in it, and deserves a mention in the list, just because of how much fun it was to criticize and nitpick. Read the full review here.
Thanks very much for this great article;this is the stuff that keeps me going through out these day. Awesome Listings
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