Designer1 Posted December 6, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted December 6, 2012 So, what are your favourites? I would go with: Guild Wars 2 (PC) - Excellent MMO which I'll be returning to again and again. Dark Souls (PC) - Quite simply one of the best games of the last decade, stunning. Prototype 2 (PS3) - Simply because of the totally OTT fun factor. Day Z (PC) - Best.Mod.Ever. But, number one for me (and I don't give a f**k that it's an expansion)... WoW: Mists of Pandaria (PC) - After all the moaning and fanboy qq about dumbing down and the Panda's being a joke (I was firmly in the group who hated the idea of them) it's actually the best thing that Blizzard have done since The Burning Crusade. Rich storylines, gorgeous looking environments and a gear system that finally got people out in the world again. Biggest disappointment for me would be Diablo 3 (PC) - Such a wasted opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Top 3 of 2012 for me would be... 1. Far Cry 3 2. Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron 3. FIFA 13 Indie game of the year - Trials Evolution Biggest disappointment/worst game of the year - Resident Evil 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I still need to get stuck into XCOM (PC/360/PS3), Dishonoured (PC/360/PS3) and Faster Than Light (PC), all of which are games I expect great things from. I really enjoyed Trials Evolution (360) but I think the game got too hard too soon for me to fall in love with it, and I will have to say while I liked Journey (PS3) I fail to see what all the gushing about it being a work of genius was, in fact I'd say Flower was a better game, so the four which stand out for me in 2012 are: The Walking Dead (PC/Mac/360/PS3/iPad) Bought it for odd reasons, wasnt expecting much at all and was utterly blown away by it. Some of the best characters of any game I have ever played and I will confess to getting a bit misty towards the end. For Clem! Mark of the Ninja (PC/360) - Really fun old school 2D stealth em up. I think it is proof that 2D stealth just works, its beautifully balanced and nails that "one more go" thing perfectly. Borderlands 2 (PC/360/PS3) - Steam says I played this for 67 hours. Fun shooter, lots of great pop culture references, interesting loot/class systems at play and gorgeous graphics. New Star Soccer (iOS/Android) - Okay, it's basically a remake of the old 8 bit game Footballer of the Year but it is perfect for a touch screen. The biggest criticism I have about the game is how badly it **** over the battery on my phone. I am almost certain I didnt buy a game released in 2012 on a disc either. Everything was a download. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Tales of Graces f, The Walking Dead, Tokyo Jungle. As usual with these things, I am sure I'm forgetting something. But there is 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rino8 Posted December 6, 2012 Visiting Supporter Share Posted December 6, 2012 I'm still planning to get Dishonoured, Farcry 3 and AC 3 (of which i don't expect huge things from) but I'd say Borderlands 2 has been my favourite. Even the DLC has been superb so far. One of the few games where DLC doesn't feel like a cheap afterthough. Expecting big things from Dishonoured and Farcry though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_c Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 There's a few recent titles I've yet to play that look good (Far Cry etc.). But from what I have played, XCOM and Walking Dead were great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobler Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I've played probably more games than ever this year, for some reason. It's been a decent year after a slow start, lots of excellent and creative indie games and a few of the AAA games towards the end of the year have lived up to expectation too. For a large part of the early year I was catching up on games from the previous year that I hadn't played, so my list of new stuff isn't that great to choose from. That said, a fair few games i've spent hours in this year have been good but not great and we've seen more content rushed to meet deadlines and more overpriced, pointless dlc. Anyway, games i've enjoyed this year, going way back to January with KINGDOMS OF AMALUR: RECKONING I liked this, simple in concept, even more simple in story line but I liked the free flowing, smooth combat; beautiful open world and decent, magical art style, it was worth the hours I invested into it. LEGEND OF GRIMROCK: An old style dungeon crawler, produced I think by one guy in his bedroom. Really, really atmospheric, creepy feeling of coldness, trawling around finding keys, mixing potions and avoiding giant spiders. MARK OF THE NINJA: Another great indie title, just really, really enjoyable, even quirky 2d graphics still make you feel like a badass stealth killing and successfully sneaking around. Think we'll see more lower budget games like this appear in the future, but if it gives indie developers more freedom to create, then the more the merrier. DISHONOURED: Possible GOTY contender for me. Everything about this game is class, the art style is stunning: a vibrant, watercolourish steampunk world, completely moving away from the bog standard first person style graphics. The story, although nothing ground breaking is well thought up and fairly deep, particularly certain characters - the collection of notes/journals and info pieces really glue together a story of emotion and deceit. Your playstyle is left completely down to you. I personally love games where you can take them at completely your own pace, explore environments and plan routes without ever feeling rushed and pushed to do something, that's why I love this game. WORLD OF WARCRAFT - MISTS OF PANDARIA: Not a great deal more to say after the mini review I did on the WoW forum but, it was pretty much my biggest surprise of the year. Blizzard went in big here and really didn't mess about, it's just a brilliant, brilliant expansion absolutely bursting with story, content and just brought a hell of a lot of fun back to Azeroth. DRAGON'S DOGMA: I think i'll go all out and label Dragon's Dogma my Game of the Year, not because it was anything earth shatteringly amazing but just respect for Capcom's ambition and balls. In a time when everyone expects their games to come gift wrapped, perfectly polished and cry at the slightest dip in fps, I think Capcom deserve credit for trying something that others wouldn't. It is mirky in areas, weird AI, shoddy textures and poor ps3 frame rate, but none of it affected my enjoyment of the game, at all. It felt like a 3d version of some old atari game but on a ridiculous scale with the most epic battles and feeling of genuine elation in taking down an ambush of three large cyclops' with seemingly no hope of victory. The story kept me occupied throughout, the long journeys from one town to another without a fast tracking option and stumbling across night time and its hideous surprises really tested the patience, but was worth every second. Honourable mentions: Darksiders 2, Ys Origin, Dark Souls PC/DLC, Binding of Isaac - Wrath of the Lamb DLC Disappointments: Diablo III. Like many others said, it starts well but I don't think the novelty has worn out of anything so quickly, ever. Borderlands 2: I really gave this a good go, but it's just personal choice really, there is a great game in there but I need to accept that I don't like the Borderlands series. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laivasse Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 XCOM and The Walking Dead are up there for me. Sleeping Dogs, Max Payne 3 and Hotline Miami are in the 'almost but not quite' bracket, because despite them all being excellent, they're also all a bit too shortlived for what they offer. Sleeping Dogs had some substance but was short for an open world game; I just couldn't return to MP3 with all those unskippable cutscenes; Hotline Miami was a great experience, just lacking in levels and replay value. Admittedly, it's not as if I'm still playing XCOM or TWD either, but I feel like I could return to XCOM to replay it at any moment, while TWD offered a solid couple of hours for every episode, minimum, and strung me along for several months of worthwhile anticipation. Plus TWD has one of the best stories I've ever seen in a game. Some criticise it for not being much of a 'proper game', with controllable action and gameplay - but to me the lack of those things just means it isn't a candidate for game of the decade. It's still an excellent release and holds its own against most stuff from this year. XCOM is just a juicy succulent cake made of satisfying, compulsive, strategic gameplay. Probably the only reason I stopped playing it in the first place was that I traumatised myself with Impossible mode. One potential contender, which arrived too late for me to be sure, is Natural Selection 2. It's an online team-multiplayer, class-based shooter and my early impression is that this could be the next great online shooter to take over my life, following in the footsteps of TFC, CS and TF2. It is overwhelmingly deep, so at this stage I just suck too bad at it to make a pronouncement. Also the team autobalance is kind of broken and I've joined a lot of matches where teams just get steamrolled by an enemy team with 2 extra players. However it is in a constant state of improvement and the devs seem very active and involved with the community. Biggest disappointment: Hitman, no question. In so many ways it crystallises what's wrong with modern gaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoD Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 The Walking Dead gets my vote. Diablo 3 wins comfortably for the most disappointing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 The Walking Dead for me as well. I don't think another game has even come close this year. I do still have Dishonored and Far Cry 3 to play though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 WoW: Mists of Pandaria for me. I hated the whole idea when it was announced and swore I would never go back. However I'm now back playing and raiding again with my guild. The storylines are fantastic, the music is great as always and they have basically nailed the expansion. LFR now works very well (as well as it can anyway) and the new raids are good fun. Blizzard just keep on coming back and no other MMO will ever top WoW, unless Blizzard somehow top it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxjackle Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Walking Dead. Loved it and I'll play it back through again soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 On the subject of biggest disappointments, mine would be for a game I didn't get to play, which was the disappointing thing. Someone, somewhere, has made a massive **** up in regard to Persona 4 Arena not being given an EU release, after it has been given massive plaudits by our American friends. Not only that, but it also by 'coincidence' happens to be the first ever game to be region locked on PS3. Man. It won best Beat em Up at the VGA awards too...a potential EU release is still possible, but theres been no official word for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 The Giant Bomb video links start here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czechlad Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 No Assassin's Creed 3? It is loads of fun and deserves a shout. There weren't many good games this year to be honest. Diablo 3 is the biggest disappointment. It was fun in the beginning but then everyone realised how repetitive and boring it truly was. The new DLC cant even bring my friends and I back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) Deus Ex deserves a mention, not the best game of 2012. But still very good imo and worth a play. Edited December 27, 2012 by AVFCforever1991 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Really really really enjoying Faster Than Light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingram85 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Forza Horizon for me, followed by Halo 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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