Careful consideration has led me to this and every one of these games is a complete and utter blinder. There's a couple of sleeper hits in there too, like I said I root for the underdog, and for once there isn't anything in the list that can honestly be called shit, no Rogue Warriors or Dead to Rightses that limp up on three legs, cough up a hairball at my feet and give me the puppy eyes and make me declare my undying love for them. But I digress. Onwards.
10: Dead Island - Techland - PS3 (360, PC)
Dead Island is a game I've not spent much time with so far, but it's already left a huge impression on me. It's like a happy half way point between Fallout 3 and Borderlands, with obvious influence from Valve's Left4Dead too. Set on the fictional resort island of Banoi, the game tells the story of four survivors of a Zombie apocalypse who find themselves immune to the virus. There's tons of weapons, from the makeshift such as wrenches, claw hammers and baseball bats, to military grade guns and explosives, to the downright bizarre (a morning star? on the beach?), and both shuffling Romero Zombies and savage, sprinting 28 Days Later ones, plus the more mutated Thugs, Butchers, Suiciders and the like, so every fan of the genre is catered for. The game was at number 7, but the repetitivity of the quests had me re-think. Still, the general quality of Dead Island surprised me.
9: Bulletstorm - People Can Fly - 360 (PS3, PC)
Another pleasant surprise, Bulletstorm is doubtlessly the best FPS I've played all year. Following the exploits of space-pirate Grayson Hunt (voiced by the great Steve Blum, who is in every game you own) and his crew of mercenaries striving to bring down the evil mega-army they once worked for. The main draw for the game is the variety in player-dealt mortality, with a huge array of weapons and environmental hazards at your beck and call, backed up by an energy whip, used to move your enemies around the battlefield, and your own trusty right foot. And on top of this, there's quite an emotive story being told of betrayal and redemption, and some of the most imaginative swearing I've ever heard. The only thing missing is a co-op mode, as you are rarely alone in the main campaign, bit of a missed opportunity there.
8: ICO/Shadow of the Colossus Collection - Team ICO - PS3
I know, I said I couldn't place SSFIV3D any higher because it's a re-release, but the fact that both of these games are outstanding pieces of code that a lot of people missed the first time around means it would be criminal to ignore it. Both games are unlike anything else prior to or since their original release, and have influenced everything from Resident Evil 4 to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and still look beautiful after all these years, especially with the 1080p shine and updated textures. Whether you're holding hands with girls or stoving the shit out of a 60ft tall cow-thing, this collection is worth every penny.
7: Gears of War 3 - Epic Games - 360
As with Call of Duty, Gears of War is a series I've never been able to enjoy to it's potential due to my distaste of online multiplayer, but unlike CoD, Gears has a more interesting plot and a sci-fi setting to draw me further in. Gears 3 then, is the climax of the trilogy, and ramps everything up a notch to deliver a great experience from start to finish. The visuals are unparallelled on the XBox 360, and for a game about grunting shaved gorillas causing mass-genocide, the story is surprisingly engaging too, at least by the third iteration. The new characters, badass scavenger weaponry, amazing visuals and a tale of human triumph in adversity is great and all, but the deal is sealed with a playable Cole Train chapter, which is what I've craved since the beginning.
6: Mario Kart 7 - Nintendo - 3DS
Probably the first time a DS game has ever made it into my top 10, which is testament to the quality of the 3DS as a gaming machine more than anything. Mario Kart 7 is the perfect casual multiplayer game on-the-go, and deserves this spot just for the amount of monotonous dinner hours at work that it's consumed, sometimes with four of us hunched around a table battling for the gold. Away from work, the unlocking of characters and car parts has whipped me into a collector fanboy frenzy, and I've even been known to even take the race online, which is something of a rarity for me.
5: Shadows of the Damned - Grasshopper Manufacture - 360 (PS3)
Another surprise for me, SotD is basically a retelling of the story of Dante's Inferno, where a man must travel alone to the depths of hell to retrieve his lost love from the clutches of the devil. Developed in tandem by Suda 51, of No More Heroes and Killer 7, and Shinji Mikami, known for Resident Evil and Devil May Cry, among others. SotD plays like a cross between RE and DMC, but has the distinctive sexual themes and toilet humour of Suda 51's games, and with Akira Yamaoka (the genius composer of the Silent Hill soundtracks) providing the music, and Steve Blum once again headlining the cast, everything comes together to form something very special. And how can you pass up the opportunity to play as a character who's actual name is Garcia Fucking Hotspur?
4: Batman: Arkham City - Rocksteady - PS3 (360, PC)
As with Arkham Asylum before it, Arkham City would have been higher on the board if it was released any other year, but there have been so many triple A releases in 2011 that it will have to stew here. Playing largely like Asylum, City just cranks everything up to eleven, with bigger environments, more gadgets and a more epic story that puts everything at risk. The Catwoman chapters add a nice bit of variety too, and the sped up Assassin's Creed combat seems to flow a lot more evenly now, although the questionable knockout animations are still there. But the main draw, apart from the great fanservice (fan-favourite characters such as Hush, Azrael and Rhas al Ghul make appearances), is the amazing storytelling - Paul Dini is the best there is at what he does, and the twists and turns are everywhere and often completely unexpected. Dini also proves he has huge bollocks by how the game ends, a very bold move sir...
3: Mortal Kombat - Netherealm Studios - PS3 (360)
2011 saw a huge return to form for the Mortal Kombat franchise, that once rivalled Street Fighter for genre dominance. As a lifelong fan on the series, any MK game is likely to feature in my top ten, but even if I remained neutral, MK9 is still among the best fighting games I've ever played. Retelling the story of MK1-3 through the eyes of an enlightened Raiden who attempts to alter the course of history after receiving visions of good's eventual defeat at the hands of the diabolical emperor Shao Kahn, MK9 sees the return of a 2D plane of battle, and also to the OTT violence and gore that was toned down to meet a T/15 rating for the previous game in the series, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, much to the annoyance of the fanbase. There are boat loads of playable characters, including guests such as God of War's Kratos and A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Kruger, a deep and well-made story mode with some ballsy plot twists, buckets of unlockable content and some great extra single player and online modes to keep you occupied. Any fan of the genre would be mad to miss this.
2: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Naughty Dog - PS3
A high point in the series, for me at any rate. While the aiming was decidedly clunky, there was a return to the level of exploration and platforming that first made me fall for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, which I felt to be lacking in the sequel, and the melee combat has been cranked up a notch making it very enjoyable and satisfying, similar to that of Arkham City. Add to this some of the most dramatic set pieces known to man, all delivered with the ad-libbed voice/physical acting the series is famed for and a visual quality unrivalled on a home console and you're onto a winner. Probably the best exclusive on the PS3, any other year it'd have been number one easily, but not every year sees the release of a new Elder Scrolls...
1: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Bethesda - 360 (PS3, PC, Mac)
I missed my opportunity to write about this game while it was still new (it's funny, I was strangely busy for the few weeks after Skyrim's release. What was I doing again? Oh yeah, Skyrim.), but anyone who's read any of my blogs for any length of time will know of my love for Oblivion and Fallout 3, and Skyrim is the best of both worlds. To be honest, even if I had written a Skyrim post, I don't even know where I would begin, and I certainly don't know where I would stop. I'd probably go on about how the game is absolutely stunning visually, how great the custom class levelling system is, how awesome it is to bring down a dragon, how it's bloodier combat is so much more satisfying, how varied the map is, how fun the smithing is... I could literally go on forever, which is ironic, because with the infinite quest system so can Skyrim. No game is perfect, but fuck me, Skyrim comes very close. I want that quoted on the box for the inevitable Game of the Year Edition.
Predictions for next year? Well I'm personally very excited for Resident Evils Revelations and 6 respectively, Mass Effect 3, Silent Hill: Downpour, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken X Street Fighter, Title Fight (if it indeed exists), Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Lollipop Chainsaw, and that's ten just off the top of my head. Hopefully this year will be as good as the last one.
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