Well, let's see:
Diablo 3
I'm not even talking about the always on DRM, though that certainly made it much worse, but diablo 3 was a shitty game before it anyway. The game is shallow, there's no balance between the classes, the lag is horrendous, the story is retarded, and the way that they don't even try to disguise the auction house as a pay-to-win mechanic is just insulting.
WoW: Mists of Pandaria
Yeah, if you hadn't noticed I'm in a bit of a Blizzard-hating mood today. I'll give crdit where I figure it's due: The environment artists are brilliantly good at their jobs. The fact that they could make such beautiful worlds out of the WoW engine of all things is really quite impressive. That said... We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel now, aren't we? Pandaren? That one april fools joke? I kind of resent the fact that WoW even exists, even though I played it, because I loved warcraft 3, and as long as WoW is still going, they're never going to make a warcraft 4. Then again, if they made warcraft 4 now, it would probably turn out like diablo 3 and starcraft 2... and, indeed, mists of pandaria.
Also, on a personal note, they decided to put in monks. I hate monks. I hate their kung-fu bullshit, it's completely out of place in just about every setting they get crammed into, D&D included.
Also, why are we playing Pokemon now?
Assassin's Creed 3
I actually started giving up on the series when Revalations came out, though I figured AC3 might push through and entertain me the way AC2 did.
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnope.
I hope they take the sea battles, scrap everything else and go back to the drawing board making a pirate game (though knowing the AC team, it'd be a game in which you mostly collect watermelons and have bake-offs in Tortuga with maybe a good ship plundering every now and again).
Mass Effect 3
If you asked me last year what my favourite game series was, my answer would've been Mass Effect. Mass Effect 1 was probably the best game Bioware ever made, and 2 was pretty damn good in its' own right, but what made them great were, of course, the characters, the setting and the storytelling. The plot itself was pretty standard, but it was told extremely well, which is also a pretty good description for the original Star Wars trilogy, really.
And then, as with many of my favourite franchises, they ruined it. Utterly, and completely.
You all know why and you all know what. ME3 had some serious problems throughout the entire game, like the convenient crucible from nowhere, the utterly forgettable new characters (whats-his-face Vega, the one reporter played by the incompetant IGN writer, etc.), the bare-minimum lip service given to the characters from ME2 (Oh hey Jack! Oh... bye Jack), could go on, but anyway, my point is that I was willing to overlook all this shit because I loved the first two. Then the ending hit me, and suddenly, my love for the series gone, I looked back and thought of how much of ME3 was just so bad.
The worst part was when Bioware offered a single small hope, only for their 'extended cut' to kill the only two things I liked about the ending.
Mass Effect 3 is not only my worst game of the year, but one of the worst games I've ever played period, because it made me angry. Most games, when I'm done, I may be somewhat annoyed by, or maybe just bored, but it's very rare for me to work up actual rage against a game. Also, it ruined two games I liked a lot. I am so done with Bioware, as is apparantly anyone who still had any kind of talent, including the founders.
Now, because I got myself pissed off again, I'm going to say my favourites, in no particular order.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Realy quite fun. I like having a little more diversity in the available technologies, and the new Titans and Corvettes add quite a lot to the game as well. For some reason I always seem to gravitate toward TEC rebels, probably because I kinda like the 'DIE ALIEN SCUM'-type lore behind it and partly because their titan is really cool.
Crusader Kings II
This was the first Paradox strategy game I played, and now I'm hooked. This is a medieval strategy game based more around dynasties than kingdoms; It's entirely possible to gain, and lose, entire empires through inheritance alone. The kind of politicking and plotting in this game is deceptively fun and I love every second of it.
XCOM-EU
Do I even need to say anything? This game is brilliant. Go play it if you haven't already.
Witcher 2
I'm counting this as a 2012 release because that's when the enhanced edition came out and that's when I bought it. I thought the game was impressive in both it's story and gameplay. I still haven't played the first one, after being scared away by tales of horrendous menues and impossible combat, but maybe I'll brave it one of these days.
Spec Ops: The Line
This! THIS! This is what you're all capable of doing! EA! Activision! Look at this! WHY AREN'T YOU LOOKING NO COME BACK WHAT IS THIS WARFIGHTER BULLSHIT
Diablo 3
I'm not even talking about the always on DRM, though that certainly made it much worse, but diablo 3 was a shitty game before it anyway. The game is shallow, there's no balance between the classes, the lag is horrendous, the story is retarded, and the way that they don't even try to disguise the auction house as a pay-to-win mechanic is just insulting.
WoW: Mists of Pandaria
Yeah, if you hadn't noticed I'm in a bit of a Blizzard-hating mood today. I'll give crdit where I figure it's due: The environment artists are brilliantly good at their jobs. The fact that they could make such beautiful worlds out of the WoW engine of all things is really quite impressive. That said... We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel now, aren't we? Pandaren? That one april fools joke? I kind of resent the fact that WoW even exists, even though I played it, because I loved warcraft 3, and as long as WoW is still going, they're never going to make a warcraft 4. Then again, if they made warcraft 4 now, it would probably turn out like diablo 3 and starcraft 2... and, indeed, mists of pandaria.
Also, on a personal note, they decided to put in monks. I hate monks. I hate their kung-fu bullshit, it's completely out of place in just about every setting they get crammed into, D&D included.
Also, why are we playing Pokemon now?
Assassin's Creed 3
I actually started giving up on the series when Revalations came out, though I figured AC3 might push through and entertain me the way AC2 did.
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnope.
I hope they take the sea battles, scrap everything else and go back to the drawing board making a pirate game (though knowing the AC team, it'd be a game in which you mostly collect watermelons and have bake-offs in Tortuga with maybe a good ship plundering every now and again).
Mass Effect 3
If you asked me last year what my favourite game series was, my answer would've been Mass Effect. Mass Effect 1 was probably the best game Bioware ever made, and 2 was pretty damn good in its' own right, but what made them great were, of course, the characters, the setting and the storytelling. The plot itself was pretty standard, but it was told extremely well, which is also a pretty good description for the original Star Wars trilogy, really.
And then, as with many of my favourite franchises, they ruined it. Utterly, and completely.
You all know why and you all know what. ME3 had some serious problems throughout the entire game, like the convenient crucible from nowhere, the utterly forgettable new characters (whats-his-face Vega, the one reporter played by the incompetant IGN writer, etc.), the bare-minimum lip service given to the characters from ME2 (Oh hey Jack! Oh... bye Jack), could go on, but anyway, my point is that I was willing to overlook all this shit because I loved the first two. Then the ending hit me, and suddenly, my love for the series gone, I looked back and thought of how much of ME3 was just so bad.
The worst part was when Bioware offered a single small hope, only for their 'extended cut' to kill the only two things I liked about the ending.
1) It definitavely ended the series, giving it a clearly defined beginning and ending, which I appreciate. It seemed to me like an attempt by the writers to avoid the dead-cow franchise milking that the extended cut ultimately allowed. Mass Effect 4? More like FUCK YOU BIOWARE. Yeah, I'm mad. What about it?
2) It was a very bleak, Phyrric victory at best and it was clear that, despite you winning, the galaxy was irrevocably changed, and probably not for the better. Then the extended cut came along and "fixed" that particular aspect. Happy endings for everyone! Guh. The fact that Bioware apparantly took the outrage over ME3's ending to mean that it wasn't 'happy' enough really disgusts me. Taking bets on how much drag age 3 is gonna sick!
2) It was a very bleak, Phyrric victory at best and it was clear that, despite you winning, the galaxy was irrevocably changed, and probably not for the better. Then the extended cut came along and "fixed" that particular aspect. Happy endings for everyone! Guh. The fact that Bioware apparantly took the outrage over ME3's ending to mean that it wasn't 'happy' enough really disgusts me. Taking bets on how much drag age 3 is gonna sick!
Mass Effect 3 is not only my worst game of the year, but one of the worst games I've ever played period, because it made me angry. Most games, when I'm done, I may be somewhat annoyed by, or maybe just bored, but it's very rare for me to work up actual rage against a game. Also, it ruined two games I liked a lot. I am so done with Bioware, as is apparantly anyone who still had any kind of talent, including the founders.
Now, because I got myself pissed off again, I'm going to say my favourites, in no particular order.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Realy quite fun. I like having a little more diversity in the available technologies, and the new Titans and Corvettes add quite a lot to the game as well. For some reason I always seem to gravitate toward TEC rebels, probably because I kinda like the 'DIE ALIEN SCUM'-type lore behind it and partly because their titan is really cool.
Crusader Kings II
This was the first Paradox strategy game I played, and now I'm hooked. This is a medieval strategy game based more around dynasties than kingdoms; It's entirely possible to gain, and lose, entire empires through inheritance alone. The kind of politicking and plotting in this game is deceptively fun and I love every second of it.
XCOM-EU
Do I even need to say anything? This game is brilliant. Go play it if you haven't already.
Witcher 2
I'm counting this as a 2012 release because that's when the enhanced edition came out and that's when I bought it. I thought the game was impressive in both it's story and gameplay. I still haven't played the first one, after being scared away by tales of horrendous menues and impossible combat, but maybe I'll brave it one of these days.
Spec Ops: The Line
This! THIS! This is what you're all capable of doing! EA! Activision! Look at this! WHY AREN'T YOU LOOKING NO COME BACK WHAT IS THIS WARFIGHTER BULLSHIT
