With the end of 2011 behind us and everybody giving out their games of the year award - I decided to give out mines: at least my opinion. SO HERE WE GO!
Best Fighting Game of the Year:
We had the return of legends in 2011. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was visually amazing and fun to get into - especially if you are a beginner and you didn’t know all the combos so well - they develop ‘Simple’ mode. New characters made the frame with Dante and Trish from Devil May Cry, Taskmaster, Chris Redfield (Resident Evil 5), X-23, She-Hulk, and Phoenix(Jean Grey). Later on, we have the additions of Virgil, Dante’s brother from Devil May Cry, Frank West - the first protagonist from Dead Rising, and the spirit of vengeance - Ghost Rider. The only strong disappointment of this game was there was no Mega Man. A lot people wanted Mega Man a part of this game, but we did get Zero and he was amazing to play. If there is another installment of this franchise, we better see Mega Man or at least his X counterpart.
Another obvious thing to say was that there was nothing from Tekken nor Soul Calibur this year except anticipation for Street Fighter X (Cross) Tekken and Soul Calibur V - all set for next year and look amazing. Also, one has the pressure of being a launch title for the upcoming PS Vita. They don’t make my anticipated game list for 2012, but they are a nice foot note.
The winner: Mortal Kombat!
Seriously, we really don’t have to get into this, but we must. It was good to see MK make it way back on to the big stage. When we last left it with Armageddon, it was still a big pile of blood and confusion and a fighting system that wasn’t exactly Tekken, but was just as annoying.
Ed Boon and the rest of NetherRealm Studios brought it back to its basics and make it easy for anyone to get into - they just made it look awesome. From character, stage, and costume designs to an awesome story with an even better challenge tower (farthest I got was 45...I got frustrated.). The cover was even in 3-D! You knew there were serious! Mortal Kombat simply wins with a flawless victory. Thank for actually fixing your game as we played. One other thing - Can a brother get a Sonya Blade and Liu Kang costume pack, and a Tanya or Kira DLC?!
Best Platform Game of the Year:
I am obviously going to give this to Portal 2. I haven’t played this game, but it is on my 2012 play list (as soon as I finally finish Darksiders and Dragon Age 1 and 2. That will take a while.). Seeing the gameplay and hearing the smart-ass computer torturer known as GlaDos makes your want to play this game. She’s probably what’s next after Suri for the Iphone 4S. Oh God…
There are plenty others to give it too, but they might be higher than you may think right now.
Best Shooter Game of the Year:
With Mass Effect 2 finally being released on the Playstation 3, you think it would easily win this category because of last year’s awards and just the amazing time I had playing it. I still enjoy playing it. Right now, I am trying to get a full Renegade female Shepard. I want this more than a piece of hot apple pie with some Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream.
I am actually going to give this one to Gears of War 3. The entire Gears of War series along with the Fable games are the only reason I would look into getting a Xbox 360 - one that doesn’t melt down. Oh, snap! The story, the gameplay, the guns. Oh my - the guns. The enemies are worth playing against alone. This game is almost a game changer as far as creativity in game play goes, plus in science-fiction based action, this is the new standard.
It would make sense to do a RPG of the year, but since every game out there now is basically an RPG, we will jump ahead to a special category -
DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE YEAR!
(They don't deserve pictures)
~~Final Fantasy XIII - You were so disappointing, I thought I was playing eleven with the leftover crap from twelve and I’ll never play twelve. Visually - you were amazing. I was so happy to get my hands on you. You looked so good, I actually thought I was playing a movie. I didn’t regret wasting time on you, until I realized how much a pain in the butt you would be. Don’t give me that “We wanted to make it more difficult…” pile of dung speech. There’s a very strong difference between difficult and annoyance. Your battle system might as well been a button masher without a block button. Is your glory days that far behind you? Take a lesson from a lot of games the past two years - Go back to basics and improve on them.
~Splatter house - You wanted to add on the horror game genre. Hell, me and Jo Garcia on Twitter had a ‘bigger disappointment’ discussion on Twitter about you vs. Final Fantasy XIII. You were better, but damn you sucked when it came of just overall repeating violence. There’s only so many times you can kill an enemy the same way. I honestly want some really cool way of doing it and it wasn‘t enough. Music and visuals were awesome and just the variety of weapon…even your own limbs were a nice touch. For a game like this, leveling up the force of your shotgun to kill your enemies doesn’t make sense. However, I fell asleep while playing with the controller in my hand…ENOUGH SAID!
~X-Men Destiny/Spider-man: Edge of Time - What a big pile of dung you were. I couldn’t believe how sad you made me. You were just a button masher with no signs of improvement. Why couldn’t you just give us another X-Men: Legends?! That game was your shinning moment and people love you for it. You actually played as the legendary X-Men and as soon as the new character was available, we wanted to play with her. That how good the game was and how bad you were! The moment Legends come up on the Playstation Network or X-Box Live, I will buy it. That’s how much I want that game over you. You’re not getting off easy too, Spider-man. You sucked more than them. Shatter Dimensions was just awesome! I really did enjoy playing you and you were just an awesome example of where Spider-man games can go. Believe me when I tell you this - Never change a good thing no matter how good the money looks.
EDITOR NOTE: Final Fantasy XIII. I have to repeat this disappointing pile of trash once again. Square, you used to be awesome. Anyway, back to Vann's article....
I am about to give you my overall top-ten games of the year. I do apologize in advance because well - I AM NOT A WII GAMER! There’s just one Wii title on this list and after doing my research against the other games that could have made it, it surprised me and actually almost made the halfway point my list:
10) Dead Space 2 - If you were on a Resident Evil 5 hangover, but you just needed a little bit more blood and gore to start your day, you most likely picked up this game and ran rough-shot. I screamed my head off and said “WTF?!” so many time watching people play this game. You know a game is too scary for me when I have nightmares about it.
9) L.A Noire - This game almost makes me with I was a cop - if a black man could be a cop in the 50’s in California. The nostalgia of this game had addictive qualities. Seriously loved this game. I am now looking forward to L.A. Noire cosplay at future con gatherings.
8) Saint’s Row: The Third - I shall confess early that this game isn’t on my official play list, but I do give it props for being as crazy as it is. Honestly, it makes being a thug fun. If you almost want to know what the hell could be going wrong in America, play this game!
7) The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - The only Wii game to make the cut! The only reason this game made the cut wasn’t its excellent usage of controls and story, but it was Robin Williams along with his daughter, Zelda Williams. This game proved something to me - The Zelda franchise will be forever timeless. Outside of that, it was just good, classic fun.
6) Infamous 2 - Sorry, Wii gamers - Playstation had to beat you somehow and this was a good draw for them. This game had right from the get-go: Let’s not ignore your hard work from the first game. Let’s reward you for it by making sure you can carry over your powers that you earned and powered up. Also, this game had a great way of presenting its Karma system with a good-girl/bad-girl. By siding with the good girl, you can get ice powers on top of your already inFamous lightning powers. Be with the bad girl, you get some fire powers. I already know how much of you sided with bad so you can have fire powers (Freakin’ Future Arsonists of America!)
5) Mortal Kombat - Best fighting game of the year, plus it did what every video game needed to do - Improve on the basics and make it look better than the rest. The Challenge Tower was also a nice touch.
4) Gears of War 3 - Best shooter, awesome guns, villains, and buyable replay on all modes.
3) Assassin’s Creed Revelations - We finally reached the end of Ezio’s story and it couldn’t have ended better. Now we really can move on to Assassin‘s Creed 3. It’s about damn time. The new weapons weren’t a nice touch, but they were fun to use.
2) Mass Effect 2 (PS3) - It was the silent victory for all Playstation fan boys and girls around the world who didn’t want an Xbox, but definitely wanted to play a few of their games. How did we win? We got two DLCs that Xbox Live friends had to pay for, plus it was our way of saying ‘Thanks for taking Final Fantasy. We’ll replace that pain with the Mass Effect series.’ To be honest - I wanted Fable instead.
1) Batman: Arkham City - You knew it was going to be my number one! I love this game! I cut class for it, but I didn’t cut work! Storyline, game play, visuals, fighting engine, Catwoman….AH! This was some good stuff, plus the DLCs for this game are worth the steal. Besides, if you go into the jail cell of the City Courthouse, you’ll meet Calendar Man and he will talk about the day. I didn’t hear his Christmas or Thanksgiving message, but something tells me his New Year’s Eve and Day speeches might be excellent.
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