The Best and Worst Video Games of 2011

[warcrow]

This wonderful year is almost over folks, and I figured it's time we sit down like gentlemen and discuss our thoughts. We've seen some amazing releases along with some disappointments, and now is the opportunity to express your opinions with the group!


Here is the format:

1) Your top 3 favorite games of 2011
2) Most disappointing
3) Biggest surprise
4) Favorite indi-game
5) Most overrated
6) Most underrated




I'll go first: (Disclaimer: Santa is bringing me Skyward Sword so I've not played it yet.)

1) Skyrim, Portal 2 & Deus Ex: Human Revolution
2) Rage
3) Dead Island
4) The Binding of Issac
5) Gears of War 3
6) Saint's Row The Third (EVERYONE should be playing this game!)


Your turn...

 

[Sigfried1977]

1) Dark Souls, Portal 2, Deus Ex
2) Infamous 2
3) Deus Ex (because Eidos actually delivered.)
4) --- played quite a few, but none of them really struck me as anything special. There were no Limbos or Flowers this year.
5) Skyrim on the PS3. A fundamentally broken game shouldn't be universally awarded with near perfect scores. Start demanding quality for your money, and stop giving free passes to obvious sloppiness for fuck's sake.
6) Can't think of any. Video game ratings have ballooned to the point where it's almost impossible to take them serious anymore. If Transformers Revenge of the Fallen had been reviewed with a game critic mentality it would probably sit comfortably amidst a whole bunch of sevens, eights and nines.

 

[Prophecy2k]

Awesome thread warcrow.. I'll bite:

1) Your top 3 favorite games of 2011

Resistance 3, Uncharted 3, InFamous 2 (still lots of games i haven't played this year tho)

2) Most disappointing

Red Faction Armageddon (franchise ruined and the game bombed so hard that THQ won't make a new one whilst Bilson is in charge )

Special mention goes to Crysis 2 (that was this year right?). The game was good, but ultimately lost all the magic of the first. Also NYC was a horrible (done to death in entertainment media) setting. Crysis was always much better in a rural setting, when things get too urban there's less to admire imho. Should set it in a desert-type locale like the grand canyon or something. Have caves and stuff. Would have been much better.

3) Biggest surprise

Deus Ex Human Revolution - i dunno why but i expected the game to not be good. Woe unto me for such a thought. The game was fantastic and being my first Deus Ex game i thoroughly enjoyed it.

4) Favorite indi-game

Don't really play many indie games to be honest. Little time to game, so i devote it to the bigger titles.

5) Most overrated

Portal 2 (don't kill me). I know Valve is the videogames industry's darling, but i just didn't think this game was worthy of all the hype and 10/10s it got handed. I thought the who plot and narrative was soulless and un-eventful, and didn't fit in well with a puzzle game like Portal. I thought the game had terrible pacing issues and just got monotonous after getting about halfway through it. It had great graphics and the puzzled were exellently designed, but the game was hyped to kingdom come and i ultimately felt it didn't deliver.
Waaay too overatted.

6) Most underrated

Resistance 3. The SP campaign is my fav FPS campaign this year and quite possibly this gen. Though it scored well critically (for the most part), the game was mostly a bomba in sales (although i dunno how it faired in Europe). Plus after it's launch it was almost completely overlooked by everyone. I give kudos to IGN for their recent article where they call it out for its fantastic campaign. I also think that the sub-HD resolution deal turned alot of people off, when in fact the game looks fantastic in person (maybe not so much IQ-wise, but art, shaders, effects). The game rocks, and i was genuinely moved by the campaign on an emotional level. Plus playing it with MOVE is just a whole other level of awesome. (Pointer controls in FPS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> dual analogue)

 

[RobertR1]

1) Skryim, BF3, Gears 3, Forza 4
2) N/A didn't play anything bad so far (didn't play too many games this year)
3) Skryim. Knew it would be good but not this good!
4) Bastion
5) Crysis 2 if I had to pick one. The SP was fun but MP was exactly the opposite
6) Forza 4. It's such a step over F3 that it's hard to believe it came out in such a short time

This year I didn't have too much time but so I was very picky with my purchases. Turned out to be a better choice as each game I bought left a great impression. I'll be donig the same for next year. Only sticking with the must buys.

 

[Cornsnake]

1) Your top 3 favorite games of 2011.

Deus Ex Human Revolution, Portal 2, Dark Souls.

2) Most disappointing.

Uncharted 3. I found it worse in almost every way to the previous games.

3) Biggest surprise.

Rage. I didn't really know what to expect out of Rage. It was nice to find a truly excellent shooter goes against most popular trends in shooters.

4) Favorite indi-game.

None. Every time I take a chance with these I seem to get disappointed.

5) Most overrated.

I doesn't really matter to me if everyone else likes a game but I don't. Calling it overrated would say as much about me as it would say that game.

6) Most underrated.

Disgaea 4. Just to give it a shout out. It's a niche game, so not for everyone, but I really like it.

 

[Cyan]

1) Top 3 favorite games of 2011: Skyrim, Forza 4, Crysis 2
2) Most disappointing: Gears of War 3
3) Biggest surprise: Outland
4) Favorite indi-game
5) Most overrated: Gears of War 3
6) Most underrated: Crimson Alliance

In the biggest surprise section I would add Diablo 3 announcement it will be released for consoles, something that I have been waiting for years and Crimson Alliance. I would also add Minecraft here.

I didn't play many new games this year. And after buying Skyrim while this generation is starting to see their twilight, I am pretty happy with the games I have. I would like to try more, but time and the fact that I am not made of money...

 

[2real4tv]

1) Top 3 favorite games of 2011: Dark Souls, Infamous 2, Gears 3
2) Most disappointing: Two Worlds
3) Biggest surprise: Killzone3
4) Favorite indi-game: ??
5) Most overrated: ??
6) Most underrated: Infamous 2

 

[fearsomepirate]

I usually wait quite a while to get games. 2 exceptions this year:

Favorite game: Rage. Liked it a lot, despite the ending being deep-fried crap on a stick.

Most disappointing: Killzone 3. Graphics were great, but everything else was a huge step down from the predecessor. Multiplayer was especially disappointing, with fewer players, fewer classes, crummy maps, and the inexplicable removal of the server browser and custom public games.

 

[messyman]

1) Uncharted 3, inFamous 2, Resistance 3
2) Dragon Age 2
3) none
4) Limbo
5) Portal 2
6) Resistance3

 

[nightshade]

1) Your top 3 favorite games of 2011 Deus Ex 3 (easily my GOTY, I knew right from the moment I started playing it), Skyrim, Uncharted 3
2) Most disappointing Killzone 3, why oh why? The terrible multiplayer and the 4 hour long SP (on veteran) is shorter than what I've clocked in for any COD game
3) Biggest surprise Saints Row 3
4) Favorite indi-game Bastion
5) Most overrated Dragon Age 2 ofcourse
6) Most underrated Saints Row 3 again ! Its my 4th fav game of the year

 

[RobertR1]

I can't believe I forgot one of the best games I've played this generation, not just this year:

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

What an amazing game. The best combination of atmosphere, combat, length, characters and immersion in an action. Really looking forward to the sequel.

 

[NRP]

1) Gears 3, Battlefield 3, Halo Anniversary
2) Rage, Crysis 2
3) N/A
4) N/A
5) Portal 2. Meh.
6) Homefront. Not sure why Kaos' games aren't well received. The MP was pretty good while it lasted.

 

[Kameradschaft]

1) Your top 3 favorite games of 2011

Batman: Arkham City, Bastion, Gears of War 3

2) Most disappointing

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

3) Biggest surprise

Deadly Premonition

4) Favorite indi-game

Bastion

5) Most overrated

Little Big Planet 2

6) Most underrated

Alice: Madness Returns

Keep in mind that I still haven't finished Skyward Sword and haven't touched Uncharted 3 & Dark Souls.

 

[Zaphod]

1) Your top 3 favorite games of 2011: Deus Ex, Witcher 2, ... Shogun, maybe? Didn't buy many 2011 releases.
2) Most disappointing: That they finished DNF.
3) Biggest surprise: That they finished L.A. Noire.
4) Favorite indie-game: Frozen Synapse. Addictive (consecutive) turn-based tactical shooting goodness.
5) Most overrated: Dragon Age II. Got loads of rave reviews at release and probably sold better than Origins. A shame.
6) Most underrated: Driver: San Francisco. Didn't think I'd like it. I was wrong. It's very, very, silly. But quite fun.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Interesting.

1. Top 3 - Dungeon Defenders, Trine 2, Fable 3 (PC version came out 5/11).

2. Most Disappointing - Tied between Skyrim and Dragon Age 2. Bioware is a dead company to me now after DA2, and Bethesda is close to being a dead company to me after Skyrim.

3. Biggest Surprise - Duke Nukem' 4ever actually went on sale.

4. Favorite Indie game - Cave Story+, this could also qualify as a big surprise in that I didn't expect it to be any good. It's a fantastic 2D platformer.

5. Most overrated - Skyrim. It is NOT a TES game no matter what kind of kool-aid Bethesda is trying to make people drink.

6. Most underrated - Hmmm, no clue, I usually don't pay attention to how games are rated/reviewed.

I have a feeling Deus Ex: HR would be one of my top 3, but I haven't bought it yet and haven't allowed myself to try it at a friends house so I don't spoil anything.

Regards,
SB

 

[BoardBonobo]

1. Uncharted 3, Resistance 3, Skyrim (where did my life go?...)

2. Gears 3 (would the last one out switch off the lights...)

3. Infamous 2 (how to make a great game even greater)

4. Dead Nation (was that this year?)

5. Crysis 2 (Ooh look it's shiny. Tick box gaming, bleh!)

6. Resistance 3 (Put right all the wrongs of R2 and then some.)

 

[Rangers]

Uhh I really didn't play more than a handful of games, but here goes


1) Your top 3 favorite games of 2011

Crysis 2, Gears 3, Halo Anniversary

2) Most disappointing

Portal 2

3) Biggest surprise

Positive surprise? I really dont play enough games to have a surprise.

4) Favorite indi-game

Haven't played any.


5) Most overrated

Portal 2

6) Most underrated

Crysis 2

 

[Miksu]

1) Dues Ex, Witcher 2, Batman: Arkham City
2) Rage
3) Deus Ex
4) Haven't played any
5) -
6) Football Manager 2012

 

[tuna]

Crappest game for me is Enslaved. Probably the most unengading game play I have felt in a long time. Latency and frame rate really do matter.

 

[Scott_Arm]

This may be heavily weighted to the end of the year, because I really can't remember exactly what came out in the first half.

1) Top 3 favorite games of 2011: Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3. Those are my clear-cut favourite single and multi-player games, respectively. After that, it's hard to pick a third. Skyrim, Gears 3, LA Noire, a bunch of downloadables, Uncharted 3 (maybe) and some of the sports titles I play are all in the mix.
2) Most disappointing: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ok game)
3) Biggest surprise: Dead Island
4) Favorite indie-game: Bastion
5) Most overrated: Maybe Uncharted 3, because I don't think it's better than Uncharted 2, but it's still very good and only slightly overrated. Uncharted 2 is a hard game to top.
6) Most underrated: Dead Island

All I have to say, is that Dead Island is a game I should have picked up on day 1. It's absolutely great. A few people had told me it was good, but I had no idea I'd like it as much as I do. There are some problems. It isn't a perfect game, but they got so much of the game right.