Since there are 12 months in a year and I'll take any excuse to include more games on this list, I've decided to compile a 'Top 12', hardly the most-common numerical choice for this sort of list but frankly I feel the number ten gets far too much airtime these days, twelve is far more sensible. I'd also like to preface this with a small note: this list is my own personal preference, simply the twelve games I enjoyed the most, some of them will have been on almost everyone's lists, a couple probably won't, but in no way is this an assessment of quality. Enjoyment is what I want from a game and enjoyment is the factor that decides this list. I could very easily--if reluctantly--argue the nonsensical semantics of why game X is better than game Y but frankly that's not why I'm here. Video games, like any form of entertainment, are a very subjective matter and there will always be plenty of people who share a very different view, anyone in the business of sharing their opinion has to face up to this simple truth. So, without further ado, here goes the first ever Attack Button Game of the Year awards.
Honourable Mentions
Ah the honourable mentions. Yes of course, where would any self-respecting, sympathetic list be without the honourable mentions; those games that I simply adored but not quite enough to make it to the final dozen. They shall not be granted the prestige of a paragraph of praise and accompanying picture, but they were brilliant nonetheless. Here's why, along with a few reasons they didn't quite make the cut for me.
Portal 2 - I adored the first Portal, and frankly my feelings for the second were no different. Valve improved the game in virtually every possible way, building on the story with some surprising plot revelations and entertaining voice-acting, and giving us plenty of new toys to play with. The co-operative game was an absolute blast to play through with a friend, and a lot of care clearly went into Portal 2's production. Unfortunately, I enjoyed the experience less and less as the game wore-on, and the humour began to grate on me; I shamefully regret that I seem to be one of the only people worldwide who didn't find Cave Johnson funny in the slightest, but there you have it.
The Gunstringer - Twisted Pixel's Kinect-exclusive tale of a sheriff marionette risen from the grave and out for revenge was a wonderful surprise of 2011. Not only did it take fine advantage of the Kinect technology, but offered a laugh-ridden campaign that failed to fall into the motion-control trap of gameplay gimmicks. Despite The Gunstringer being a fairly repetitive experience and unfortunately suffering from some hardware-integration issues, it is one of the only Kinect titles to date that actually feels like a real video game, and TP deserve plenty of praise for realising such an apparently lofty goal. The free DLC that shipped with the game, 'The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles', was also absolutely brilliant and I hope we'll see more great work with Kinect from this developer in the future.
Modern Warfare 3 - With another year came another blockbuster in the Call of Duty franchise. As far as those games go, my interest has varied over the years from 'mild indifference' to 'rabid fanboy craze', and Modern Warfare 3's release saw me transform somewhat closer to the latter. Whether or not you adore or detest the franchise, I find it hard to mount a cohesive argument against the quality of Call of Duty's raw gameplay and the stupidly addictive nature of its multiplayer. Yes these games are completely unrealistic, yes the multiplayer can be an unbalanced mess, and yes this thing is the biggest cash cow in the industry, but so what? Just as there are nights when I'd rather watch a bit of Commando than The Hurt Locker, there are times, especially in video games, where I just want some old-fashioned, stupid fun. CoD has, at the very least, provided that in spades for a good few years now, and Modern Warfare 3 was no exception. The campaign, while being about as mind-meltingly Michael Bay as you can imagine, provided a fitting end to the most profitable video game trilogy of all time, and countless nights in front of the console were guaranteed for fans the world over as the game's multiplayer and co-operative offerings continued to expand. Personally, I felt a little burnt-out on the game after a couple of weeks, the multiplayer did little to grab me and I never got back into it, but MW3 deserves plenty of praise.
Saints Row: The Third - Well, well, well, the franchise that began as nothing more than a fairly-meagre GTA clone has gone on to not only match its influence, but exceed it. Some of the most hilarious writing, most-involved customisation, and most addictive open world gameplay of all time made the third Saints Row game an utter joy to experience from beginning to end. Not only hearkening back to the days of the more crazy GTA games, but topping them in nearly every way and delivering what the Saints Row franchise initially never looked capable of: a wholly unique experience. Sure, the story itself was threadbare, the difficulty seemed to jump about all over the place, and unfortunately almost all of the game's DLC has failed to match the quality of the full product, but Saints Row: The Third was the booster injection of fun for which the open-world, gangster genre was sorely overdue.
Batman: Arkham City - Anyone who has played an Arkham game would tell you it's not just the intuitive combat, the gargoyle-clad stealth rooms, or the Riddler puzzles that make it special, it's the whole package. When you put so many brilliantly-polished mechanics and features together, the result is a shining example of what a video game can be. That's what Arkham Asylum was. Arkham City, at least from my point of view, was just more of that. Now, I'm not one to argue against 'more brilliance'; 'more brilliance' is, by definition, a wonderful thing and I very much enjoyed spending more time in this particular vision of Batman's world. However, I was left feeling that very little had been done to improve the formula. Sure, its a winning formula and 'don't fix what ain't broke', but that sort of excuse has never been enough for me. I felt as if Rocksteady were doing nothing more than riding the success of the first game, and even then, it was a bumpy ride at times, with the game's story becoming something of a convoluted mess as one-too-many villains were shoehorned into the plot. The only major gameplay addition came in the form of Catwoman as a playable character, which I personally could have done without. Don't get me wrong here, I adore both Arkham games and am confident in Rocksteady's ability as a developer, but I sincerely hope, if there is another of these games, that they have enough confidence in themselves to shake things up a little.
12 Shadows of the Damned
Just about making the list is Grasshopper Manufacture's punk-rock, action horror. What the game lacked in gameplay, it more than made up for in character. Garcia Hotspur became one my personal video game icons and it only took him a few hours of gameplay to do it. Not to mention his witty sidekick Johnson, who acted as a fine cowardly counterbalance to Hotspur's brutishness. The pair were an instant hit, and represent all that I loved about Shadows of the Damned. It was stylish, it was hilarious, it was undeniably cool, it didn't take itself too seriously, but knew it had a damn fine world to show you and a kickass story to boot. It was an experience like no other in 2011, an impressive feat considering the raw gameplay itself might well have been Ctrl+V'd from any other third-person shooter. But Shadows of the Damned was about more than pressing buttons and shooting dudes; it was about the ride, and it was one I haven't forgotten.
11 Rise of Nightmares
Part of the reason I loved Rise of Nightmares so much was because it stood out. Even now, nearly eighteen months on from its release, it remains one of the only Kinect games that really tried to, well, be a video game. And for the most part it succeeded. The team at Sega Wow did what virtually every other Kinect-developer has failed to do; they didn't see the device as a hindrance, as something to be worked around as best as possible with shortcuts and handholding, they didn't even see it as a piece of serious hardware that should be treated delicately to cater to a 'hardcore' crowd. They saw the mad little toy that makes people the world over flail their limbs about in the living room like madmen. They saw what is, for now, the essence of Kinect: a kinda broken, kinda stupid thing that can actually be a whole lot of fun if you don't take it too seriously. They said let's make a game for that. And that's just what they did. Rise of Nightmare's cliché-ridden, hilarious B-movie horror, combined with surprisingly varied gameplay, remarkably intuitive control systems, and more wacky gestures than you can shake a leg at, more than cement it as one of my favourite games of 2011.
10 Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
It seems that not a lot of people noticed Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. For a variety of reasons it slipped under the radar, but I would implore any Dead Rising fan, or even anyone with a passing interest in the franchise to pick it up because it is, quite simply, the best game in the series. Finally the folks at Capcom paid attention and made some of the changes fans and detractors alike had been clamouring for. The introduction of a sandbox mode was a much-welcome feature, eliminating the pesky time limitations and letting players get down to the meat (or perhaps flesh?) of the Dead Rising experience. Snapping "erotic" photos again felt like being reunited with an old friend, and at least on a personal level, the most important addition of all was the return of perhaps the world's favourite wartime photojournalist, Frank West. The developers took the time and care to not just rush out a re-release, but really make a product worth the money. The completely re-imagined story, along with the new area, weapons, and psychopaths all contributed to making the game more than justify its creation. There are still things in the Dead Rising formula that require a bit of tweaking but Off the Record improved far too much to be ignored. In short: fantastic!
9 L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire was something special, not just in the way it went about using its marvellous MotionScan technology to present lifelike characters, but in everything else it did too. The interrogation mechanic was something else, and the way in which Team Bondi went about converting the methodical, slow-paced style of an adventure game into an open world was a stroke of genius. Not to mention they wrapped it all up with an emotional story, and decorated the game with just the right degree of raw brutality and dark corruption to capture the fragility of post-war Los Angeles, and its inhabitants. The game was a triumph; a sterling example of storytelling, artistry, and remarkable technology. The tale it told left a lasting impression on me, as did the characters I met along the way. The pleasure of donning my sleuth cap and sussing out--or at least attempting to suss out--each crime was the realisation of a childhood dream. I can only hope we see more games taking inspiration from L.A. Noire in the future.
8 Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
I'm hardly a fighting game pro but this game made me feel like one. Capcom's fantastic design allowed rookies to pull off 100-hit combos and screen-filling ultra moves with ease, while meticulously balancing each member of the game's huge roster to suit the competitive community too. The inclusion of well-made challenge and training modes only eased the introduction for less-experienced players, and the overall accessibility of the game is one of its finest attractions. Fights themselves are truly a spectacle to behold, with utterly sublime graphics and magnificently-detailed animations. You'll never see a slow fight in MvC 3 and the game does a sterling job of essentially capturing what you would expect a battle between the likes of Ryu and Wolverine to play out. The initial release of the game would've made the list by itself, such was the quality of the core game, but the Ultimate edition really completed the package. The addition of so many new characters and stages was enough to sell me on the product, but Capcom went above and beyond, tweaking and re-balancing each character, adding a spectator mode that was sorely-missing in the original, throwing in a free downloadable--and completely wacky--card-based bonus mode, and even the little novelty additions like playable Galactus went a great way to making Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 fantastic value. The attention to detail on display from the developer, and the care they invested to make a truly accessible fighting game was a gesture I fully appreciated, and to this day UMvC 3 remains one of my all-time favourite fighters.
7 Mortal Kombat
Just edging ahead in the fighting game stakes is Mortal Kombat. This is a franchise that, at least from my point of view, trod a drastically fluctuant path since the turn of the millenium (and perhaps even a little bit before, the less said about Mythologies: Sub-Zero the better) and fans--myself included--were, understandably, rather equivocal in our expectations towards this new game. But as more footage was released, doubts were vanquished and excitement grew, with good reason. Mortal Kombat (9) is a sensational video game, and the perfect example of how to reboot a struggling franchise. Netherrealm took MK back to its roots, whilst adding a modern touch to spice things up. All of the game's classic characters returned, and each was designed and balanced so well that I found it impossible to decide on a favourite. It was one of the only fighting games in recent memory to feature a full story mode that actually made sense, and evidently a lot of attention went into providing as full an experience as possible. The Challenge Tower was an addictive and varied addition, while the game's multiplayer--the lifeblood of any fighter--was handled very well, with the theatre-style spectator mode a nice touch. Roll on Injustice!
6 Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Human Revolution surprised me. I'd never been much into Deus Ex before, I played and enjoyed the first game enough but never really invested myself in the series. Picking up a copy of HR, I expected a decent little stealth romp to kill a weekend. What I found was an awful lot more; a wonderfully-imagined, and rather scarily realistic cyberpunk vision of the future; a story wrought with intrigue, fascinating science, and conspiracy; and some of the most dynamic gameplay I've seen in the last few years. To top it all off, the game handles stealth--should you choose that particular path--brilliantly, with some truly challenging segments, multiple pathways through nearly every area, and countless options to deal with the enemies you face. The quality of the story missions can't be understated, but it was outside the core game that I really found myself falling in love with HR. There's such a lot to explore in the game, so many computers to hack, well-written side missions to undertake, and secrets to find, and all of this content is such a lot of fun to discover. A hallmark of a well-made game is a world worth exploring, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution can safely check that box.
5 Dead Island
Oh Dead Island, you were the zombie game I've always wanted. You took zombies and made them scary, something that an awful lot of developers have been unable to do. You built a world that really felt like it had been overrun with the undead, complete with the raw helplessness and terror that we imagine would come with it. I felt genuine dread at the prospect of running from one end of a city to the other, sure in the knowledge that the fight for survival would be a tough one. A fight with more than a few zombies was a true challenge, and the wild howls of the lethal infected would send a shiver down my spine. Dead Island did so many things right that I was more than willing to overlook its minor flaws, and I feel anyone else should be too. Techland crafted a survival horror experience that was simply fun to play, with an intuitive combat system, a ludicrous amount of content, and a co-operative game that can't be missed.
It's hard to put into words just how much I adore Rayman Origins. As a lifelong fan of the limbless wonder, I don't think anybody could've been happier than me to see his return to the two dimensions from whence he came, and a big, beaming smile didn't leave my face from the moment I picked up the controller until I set it down. The game is beautiful. In fact, let me just say that again for emphasis; the game is beautiful. It is an utter joy to make one's way through each and every wonderfully composed level, accompanied by a cheerful soundtrack every bit as gorgeous as the world that dances to its beat. The nicely-balanced difficulty, hilarious multiplayer, and hours of potential replayability were generous sprays of polish on an already shimmering game. Rayman Origins is a consistently blissful experience from start to finish, and I was truly sad to reach the end; which is not something I feel very often.
3 Gears of War 3
It's amazing just how good Gears of War 3 is. After the original blockbuster, and it's more than impressive sequel--a game that more than managed to deliver on the developer's promises of a "bigger, better, more badass" experience--I admit I felt some trepidation going into the final chapter of the trilogy. Could they really do it again? How can you possibly improve on a game like Gears 2? Well, as it turns out there's an awful lot of answers to that question, and Epic Games knew them before the rest of us. Gears 3 was the ultimate package, an explosive campaign saturated with some truly great storytelling, the horde and beast modes that surpassed their peers and cemented Epic's place as masters of their own innovation, and, perhaps best of all, a balanced, addictive, and superbly refined multiplayer. The game captured every aspect of the franchise that people adored, polishing each to a gold standard and throwing in plenty of new tricks to keep it fresh. It not only surpassed its outstanding predecessors, but somehow made them look puny and hollow when put up against such a masterpiece. As we now know, it wasn't the final Gears of War game and I can only hope Judgement delivers this year, but I won't believe it until I see it. After all, how can you possibly improve on a game like Gears 3?
2 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
How can one summarise Skyrim in a paragraph? After spending my first hundred hours in the game's world, I felt like I'd only just scraped the surface of what that game has to offer, and I remained just as eager to see it all as when I began. It's more than a game, it's another world. A living, breathing, wonderfully-built world that you want to explore. The fiction is rich, the scenery beautiful, the adventuring wild and the quests innumerable. It feels as though you're living another life. The freedom the game offers you only enhances this, and it's something I feel other developers could learn a great deal from, as well as the reason I adore the Bethesda RPG model more than any other. They don't confine you, shepherd you along, hold your hand or tell you what to do. Skyrim teaches you its basics and sets you loose, there's a hell of a lot out there to discover and Bethesda are confident that whatever you find, whichever path you take, cave you explore, town you terrorise, or quest you undertake, you'll be desperate for more. They're right.
1 Dark Souls
Yes, as you may have guessed, Dark Souls takes the 2011 crown. What can I say that I haven't said already? I've spent over three hundred hours on this game now, completed it over a dozen times, and I continue to fall deeper in love with each passing minute I spend in the world of Lordran. People talk about the similarities between Dark Souls and Demon's Souls and they're certainly there to see, but From Software didn't just build on a solid foundation, they went above and beyond. Preserving the intense difficulty and dark fantasy adored by many in the first game, they crafted a whole new world even more intriguing, mysterious and unforgiving than the last. They built an experience that functioned on a completely different level to most video games, centrally-focused around the ideas of challenge and achievement through a combat system that taught players to learn from their mistakes. It says it all when the game took me about fifty hours to complete first time through, and now I can finish it in around five. And in spite of what little value that achievement really holds, I'm proud of it. I've "beaten" an awful lot of games in my times but Dark Souls is the first I feel like I've truly "conquered," and I'm still desperate to play more. In the same way that my character has levelled up over time, I too felt like my own stats were rising, my dexterity piqued after countless battles, my foresight matured through my adventures, and my strategies honed through repetition. Everything about Dark Souls is handled in a way that appeals to me and my sensibilities, from the lore that isn't thrust into your face with hours of cut-scenes, but delicately gleaned from your interactions with the world itself, to the boss battles that feel every bit as grand as they look. It's an incomparable video game experience, and the best I had in 2011.
