Later than intended, but it’s finally here for you! The my write-up (and the final video) of our Top 10 games if 2011. Last up is Darren, get comfortable because you’re in for a long one!
It’s been a good year for games, plenty of titles to spend hours of fun in digital heaven with, so here’s a bit more details on my top 10!
Dragon Age 2
Starting it off is BioWares epic sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2. Despite all of its falws, I loved the original Dragon Age, the story was absolutely amazing and the combat worked better then most RPGs of this style I had played before. Yeah it was buggy and could have done with alot of fixing, but it was alot of fun!
So I went into Dragon Age 2 expecting very much the same, but with less bugs. Certainly the bugs issue was fixed, or at least I never cam across that mny while playing, however the story did feel like it took a bit of a hit, it just didn’t feel as epic as the original. Thats not to say that it’s not a good story, I did like the concept of the story and if it wasn’t for the original being so amazing then it probably would have felt alot better. But, restoring the family name for the first big portion of the game isn’t quite as epic as JESUS! THE WORLDS GONNA END UNLESS I KICK SOME ASS!
What was a great improvement in the game was the combat system, rather than being a small move set with cool-down timers on the moves you would use, it expanded the set to still include these great abilities, but also introduced a hit-for-hit button so combat felt far more engaging than just jumping between characters because you still had to wait for your abilities to become ready again. Speaking of the characters, they also retained their former greatness, with great stories ranging from the Nathan Drake type of bad, but doing good things to being a slave and on a quest for vengence.
Very much worth picking up if you haven’t already played it, but, if you have played the original, don’t expect eveything to outshine the original because, sadly, it just doesn’t.
Rayman Origins
I was highly skeptical when I first heard about this game. There hasn’t been an even semi-decent Rayman game since the originl Rayman. However, this one is freaking AWESOME! It’s a great classic style platformer with the added chaos of a multiplayer. What this results in is not only a fun game and good laugh with some mates, but an insane enviroment that will see you killing your supposed comrade over and over…. or if you’re unlucky, it’s you!
Like all Rayman games, there not much to speak off in the way of story, but what it lacks there it makes up for in sheer stupid awesome fun. The worst thing I can say about this game is it should have come out as a downloadable title rather than being a full retail game. So with that being its only flaw, how can you not go and pick it up?
Iron Brigade
I love tower defence, it’s something I’ve always enjoyed. So when I originally heard about Iron Brigade (aka Trenched outside of Europe) I knew I had to give it a go, tower defence AND mechs! COME ON!
Iron Bridage is such a cool game, it’s very comfortable in its bubble universe where 2 men became super geniuses thanks to a stray radio transmission and went on to create the Trench machines and the Broadcast and end up starting a nice big war over who is better!
Playing like many standard tower defence games, you collect resources to drop down defence towers against differnt, or specialised, units. However, where this differs is rather being the eyes in the sky controlling it all, you are in one of the affor-mentioned Trenches fighting in the thick of it with your fully customisable mech unit to complement the towers you have choosen to use. Alot of fun and some great humour, more people need to play this game because I think it just passed you all by!
Battlefield 3
Well Battlefield, as anyone who has listened to us or read anything by us will know. Queens of the Pwn Age have had a long and ever ongoing love affair with DICE and the amazinf Battlefield games and this one is no different. Days and days of anxious waiting for the release of Battlefield 3 (while still playing Bad Company 2) were had and as soon as we had it we threw ourselves straight into the Multiplayer. Becasuse we all know that the multiplayer is where the action is at with any Battlefield game. Yes there is a story/campaign mode and yes I am glad that its there and they keep trying to make it awesome, but really… and Battlefield 3 really shows this… the “main game” is Disc 2 to the Disc 1 of the multiplayer.
I don’t feel theres really much we can say about Battlefield 3 that we haven’t already said about Bad Company 2. DICE make amazing FPS games and always have, the guns, the sounds, the vehicles, the levels (both layout and size) are fantasic and we will contiune to drop hundreds of hours of our life into this title shoot mans…. shooting many many mans!
L.A. Noire
Well what can I say that hasn’t already been said? Likely nothing.
So let’s be brief! Great story, good gameplay, STUNNING facial animation. Play it!
Saints Row: The Third
Really not my kind of game, never really liked the look of the series as I usually played and got quickly bored of similar titles from the Grand Theft Auto world. However during our discussions for the Game of the Year podcast, Ally really sold the game to me and since I had to play it anyway for our newly restarted and very sexy YouTube channel, I thought I would give the game a proper chance rather than place half-assed.
So, this games freaking crazy! No seriously, it’s like Joker crazy. It’s everything I ever wanted from the Grand Theft Auto series and then some. I don’t want to be running around as some little guy working his way up petty little jobs clawing his way to the top, what I want is a crew who walks in, grabs the situation by the balls and kick its ass in the most over the top way possible. You know what, Saints 3 doesn’t do that…. it goes DEEPER! How many times have you jumped out of a plane only to have the plane come at you again so you have to shoot out its window, soar through the plane, grab a parachute from some dudes back so you can head back out the end of the plane to use the chute you just pilfered? Never, well it’s one of the first things you do here just to you know, set the tone of the game!
As ridiculous as the game is, it is a hell of a lot of fun and would have definately benn higher on my list if the rest of the games weren’t well established titles I already loved!
Portal 2
I love Portal 2, it is a very worthy sequel to the original. I mean, it could have been terrible, it would have still sold millions and topped the charts because its the nest Portal game, but it still would have been terrible, like you know…. THAT game. But thankfully, it’s not like that and it is infact mind-blowingly good.
The story is great, the characters are fantastic, the humour is great and the puzzles are mind-blowing. I would like to talk about the game loads, but our man Sean said it best, so I’ll just quote him and leave it at that “It takes very high concept physics and makes it fun!”
Batman: Arkham City
Whats not to love here? YOU GET TO BE BATMAN!
It’s everything the original Arkham Asylum was with a touch more awesome thrown in. The story is great, it’s so dark and the twists in it are fantastic. The characters that appear are great and develop very well even in short amounts of screen time. The combat has been expanded and works really well. Oh, and as Debs said. “Catwomans ass!”
(Felt like I should have been efficient here, Batman might come along and catch me monologuing and kick my ass!)
Dead Space 2
I love Dead Space 2, Dead Space 2 is single-handedly keeping the survival horrer genre alive since Resident Evil lost its way. Playing this game in a pitch black room close to the tv with a good pair of headphones is fantastic and if you know and loved the original, then you will love this game because you will share all the freaking out that Issac has because of that shard freaking out back in the day on the Ishimura so it becomes that much more immersive.
Rarely does just the random background noises in game freak you as often as this does and knowing that just around the corner there is some new horror awaiting you if both terrorfiying and exhilarating. This time around though Issac is adding some new tricks to his repertoire with a larger selection of guns, new suits with specialized abilities/stats and new authentic space-walking action!
The story is great and will keep you on the edge of your seat (ignore Mark…. he’s just a damn fool anyway!) and you will love and hate it (for freaking you out so much) every step of the way!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
It’s hard to quantify such an immensely vast game as Skyrim. The whole region is open to you at anytime and you can wander for days just discovering new things and completely forgetting about not only the insanely epic main story arc, but the fantastic array of side-quests as well. Infact, I almost guarentee that if (and more like WHEN) you play this game, you will be on a mission and then something will happen. Be it bear, wolf or random dragon encounter or discovering a new interesting looking cave/crypt or some bandit/refugees come running at you for your head/aid and BOOM! Your quest is all but forgotten and you spend the next 4 hours killing various beasts (animal or man!) to show them not only who’s boss, but because the story and even the random events just carry you away without you even realising it!
The scope of the game is such that I’ve heard of people not even playing the main quest line and instead, setting up shop as it were in the startng area (depending on your inital choice) and booking a permanent room at the local inn and making a living with a bow and arrow hunting wild game as well as people who get setup in a village such as Whiterun, get married and live out their virtual life with the wife and a strong business in Blacksmithing. This of course is just one side of the coin with others forging characters that excel in archery and dedicate everything to developing skills not only with the bow, but in all areas that complement the use of it so every arrow become a deadly shaft of…. well…. death!
So with such a massive range possibility in the game, there is a niche for everyone and Skyrim is more than happy to take on another citizen, be they heroic adventurer or humble deer hunter.
Well, there you have it. My Top 10 Games of 2011! Hope that I’ve sold you on these titles if you haven’t already given them a go, I highly recommend them. You won’t be disappointed!
- Darren “ramblin on and on” Fotheringham
