2011 was one of the biggest years of gaming yet. No matter what kind of gamer you are, there was something for you, and now you can use this list for all those Best Buy gift cards you racked up over the holidays. Picking five games was no easy task but here are the games that stood out from the rest, in my eyes. Starting with number five…
#5. Dead Space 2: The continuation of mild-mannered engineer Isaac Clarke’s journey into insanity was an enjoyable one. Going from a mining ship in the first game to a space station with schools and apartments on one of Saturn’s moons really varied up the settings. The new monsters added much-needed variety to the game. Having Isaac talk gave the player someone to cheer and root for and the twists and turns the story took and the questions of what is real and what isn’t kept me engaged till the very end. I didn’t spend too much time with the multiplayer but the singleplayer kept me on the edge of my seat during the most intense moments.
#4. L.A. Noire: Set during the 1950s, you take the role of Cole Phelps as he rises through the ranks of the L.A.P.D. As touted by the developers before the game’s release, L.A. Noire captures the exact facial features of a real actor and incorporates that into the gameplay. You really have to examine the evidence and the suspect's face for you to know whether they are lying or telling the truth. It was an interesting experiment for any developer to attempt this type of technology into a video game and shows where the industry, with regards to actors, could potentially be headed.
#3. Gears of War 3: I was hesitant about buying another Gears of War game after the disappointment that Gears of War 2’s story and multiplayer was for me. But those thoughts and reluctance were quickly quelled by the game’s first act and so forth. However, that was merely the icing on the delicious cake. Horde Mode got an upgrade with barriers and turrets incorporated into the hectic five players versus waves and waves of bloodthirsty monsters. The multiplayer got a massive overhaul with non-lag servers and more focused and concise maps and matches. Had it not been for the following two games, I’d still be playing Gears of War 3.
#2. Batman: Arkham City: I love Batman. I loved Batman: Arkham Asylum. I played that game over and over and over until I knew the Asylum like the back of my hand. Arkham City improves on every aspect of Arkham Asylum, giving us the best gaming rendition of the Dark Knight to ever be created so far. The combat was expanded to include Batman’s gadgets and the side missions interspersed throughout the city gave Arkham City more personality than Arkham Asylum had. More gadgets, more villains and more playable characters. It seemed that “more” was the design decision that was made at Rocksteady Studios and it paid them back in full.
#1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: I gave this game my highest recommendation in my review and I still didn’t cover everything The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has to offer. I have played this game for 50+ hours and I still haven’t done or seen everything in the game. Everywhere I look, there is a new location being discovered or someone telling me that a dragon is terrorizing their town and I have to go stop it. The combat has improved, the voice acting has improved, and the character animations have improved. Everything in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an improvement over Bethesda Game Studio's past games. Not even the game’s infamous glitches and bugs can hamper what Skyrim achieves and that is a fantasy world that the player inhabits and not your on-screen avatar.
