I am not a professional game player and I do not work for any type of magazine or website. This article is being written with the games that I’ve purchased with my own money. These games, of course, are going to be games that interest me. Because of this, I did not purchase every blockbuster game to release this year. There is going to be some glaring omissions on this list so don’t look for Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3, or Uncharted 3. Those games may very well be some of the best games ever made, but I have not played them, so I’m not going to include them based solely on speculation. So, without further ado, here is my Top 5 Games of 2011. 5. Dead Island I’ve spent more time with Dead Island than any other game this year. Graphics? Slightly above average. Story? Largely forgettable. Controls? Sometimes questionable. Gameplay? Average at best. So, why does this game round out my top five? Because we play games for one reason and one reason only: Dead Island provides more fun than any game released this year. If you want to play this game by yourself, you’re really cheating Dead Island of its most meaningful asset. Playing with a friend, or group of friends, makes Dead Island the co-op game of the year. Hearing a buddy scream when a zombie rushes up behind him is priceless. Watching a zombie get curb-stomped is worth the price of admission. Voicing your frustration at a thug launching you across the screen with one of its haymakers, only to be laughed at by a party member, who immediately takes to the air as a result of the same attack you were subject to is hilarious. What this boils down to is pure fun. Games don’t have to be beautiful, AAA, have movie star voice work, or be a sequel to be good. Give Dead Island a try, find one of your XBL friends and set sail for Banoi Island. With zombies galore, tons of loot, a decent weapons crafting system, and an open world to explore, this is the zombie game you’ve been looking for and the co-op experience that many other games can learn a lesson from. 4. Mortal Kombat 2011’s Mortal Kombat marks the triumphant return of the original brutal brawler! I picked this game up only because of a deal posted on Cheap Ass Gamer. I was able to buy it for $19.99 shortly after its release. So, as long as I got an hour or two of fun out of it, I didn’t think it was too big of a gamble. I was more than pleased with MK’s tower mode and online arcade mode. I didn’t even get into the single player story mode because these other two kept me busy for my entire time with the game. Arcade mode is exactly what an older gamer like me expects. You get put into a lobby with other players, represented by your avatar on the 360, and watch a live match on the big screen. You’re able to rate each round individually, but the real draw is the “I’ve got next” feel of the game. Back in the day, we’d put our quarter down on the glass to let everyone know who was next. That’s how the online mode feels. You get to watch what’s going on, perhaps study your future opponent’s tendencies, and then you get to step up and try to take them down. It’s a lot of fun that isn’t available in brick-and-mortar arcades any more. Tower mode is a different beast all together. Loaded with 300 challenges, the player is tasked with completing varying tasks to be able to move up the ladder. Perhaps it’s complete a certain move, beat your opponent only using a certain move, or taking down a number of opponents, the Tower Challenge trains the player to use a lot of the characters in the game while also challenging your skills. The gameplay is tight and very reminiscent of the older 16-bit Mortal Kombats while not needing to throw the game into the third dimension. I’m looking forward to seeing where Warner Interactive takes the series next. 3. Bastion This game came out of nowhere. Yes, it’s a downloadable title that isn’t breaking any new ground. It’s an action-RPG akin to Diablo with its three-quarter, overhead perspective. You kill enemies for “fragments,” Bastion’s in-game currency, to either buy new weapons or upgrade the ones that you already have in your arsenal. What sets this game apart is the watercolor-style graphics and the active narration. Not to spend too much time talking about the graphics, which are both unique and beautiful, the narration is the real draw of the game. Whatever you do in the game, the narrator has something to say about it. I’m not talking about canned responses for when you kill an enemy; I’m talking about comments covering nearly WHATEVER you do. If you decide to hack-and-slash every bit of the destructible environment, the narrator will make fun of you, basically saying that you are wasting your time hoping to find hidden objects. Without any other specific examples, I can liken the narrator’s importance to the game as on par with Portal’s GLaDOS. Both are integral characters that guide you along, help tell the game’s story, provide comic relief, but prove that they are vital characters in each of their respective games. Rarely are downloadable titles as complete as Bastion. Pick this game up and enjoy the roughly twelve hours of gameplay as soon as you can. 2. Portal 2 I’ll admit, I was very late to the Portal party. I had Orange Box in my game collection since it was released. I spent a lot of time on Half Life 2 and its Episodes, but left Portal untouched until Portal 2 released. The hype that surrounded Portal 2 grew to a point that I was ready to purchase it without even touching the original. A writer at Gameinformer.com convinced me to sit on the couch on a Sunday afternoon and not get up until Portal was beaten. Well, four hours later, and I was blown away. Portal 2 was purchased the next day. If you’re looking for a long game, look somewhere else. If you’re looking for a game that engages you from start to finish with clever puzzles, spot-on controls, great writing and voice acting, and a solid single-player campaign, than Portal 2 is your game. This is a rare game that I will go back and play again, and hopefully find a co-op partner to play with, since I didn’t play any of those missions. 1. Batman: Arkham City Rocksteady somehow managed to outdo the greatest licensed video game in history, Arkham Asylum. Arkham City doesn’t change the formula too greatly. Other than a more open world and access to a number Batman’s gadgets from the game’s beginning, Arkham City is very similar to its predecessor. With a silky-smooth, deceptively complex combat system, Arkham City makes it easy for even the most inexperienced player to feel like Batman, punching and stomping ne’er-do-wells into the dirt. In addition to Joker, Arkham City contains wide assortment of Bat-Villains, from Bane to Deadshot. Very few of the villains play a large role in the overall story, but provide for some lengthy, optional side missions that lengthen the game in a meaningful way, unlike the artificial lengthening some games can throw at you. If you haven’t played either game yet, I cannot recommend them strongly enough. The team at Rocksteady have hit another homerun and created not only the greatest licensed game in video game history, the best game of the year, but one of the best video games of this console generation. Batman: Arkham City should not be missed by anyone. Share with friends!
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