You know, i don't believe I've ever really made a top 5 list. Might as well start with a great year for gaming!
5) Dragon's Dogma - A surprisingly hardcore RPG with some of the best boss battles ever in the genre, and a story that has a hell of a lot more to say than many people gave it credit for, though unfortunately all that story came at the last 4 hours or so.
4) Darksiders 2 - I've yet to fully complete it, but i've gotten around 20 hours into it, and the end is actually not all that close in sight, and my experience with this sequel opposed to the first one is much, much better. Mind you, i enjoyed the first one plenty, but it did have this brutish, "look at these big men with big swords" thing kind of going on, which was a bit off putting. So its extremely surprising when Darksiders 2 showed up, and is actually a drop-dead gorgeous game. Not on a technical level, though it does run buttery smooth, but it's art direction and use of vibrant colors and absolutely mesmerizing soundtrack makes this game a real piece of art, on top of being just a damned fun game to play.
3) Serious Sam 3 - Ok, so this one's cheating a little bit. The game released for PC November of last year, but came out on Xbox October of this year. So by the power invested in me, by me, I say that's good enough. It's a great return to form in the genre, and shows that the classic shooter mechanics can work well with modern technology, without anything being sacrificed. If you haven't picked this game up and really love shooters, do yourself a favor and check this one out.
2) Guild Wars 2 - This is the MMO that finally got me to stick with the genre longer than a month or two. The lack of subscription fee helped, but what also helped was the fact that the game just knew how to make people work together, and never punishes anyone for doing what they want. Feel like exploring by yourself, and checking out some vistas? Go for it. Want to join a massive group of people fighting a giant dragon? Run on over and start helping. It's extremely player-friendly and the more involved combat goes a long way towards making this a game i'll be playing years down the line.
1) Far Cry 3 - I'm sure everyone's tired about hearing how great this game is, but it really can't be understated just how out of left-field this game came out. I saw the promotional trailers, and it seemed ok. They made the whole game seem very scripted, with all the trailers seeming to be about Vaas kicking you off high places. But the actual game is so masterfully crafted, it's hard to imagine this is from the same people that made Far Cry 2, a game with great ideas and landscapes, but let down by tedious enemy encounters and an excessive lack of character. Far Cry 3 fixed everything that needed fixing about the Far Cry series. Enemies now react in much more reliable ways, and hiding in brush is actually worth a damn, meaning that you are allowed to learn the limits of the AI, and you won't find yourself getting ambushed by enemies that heard you do a little sprint a mile away. There's a large variety of activities to do, including hunting, assassinations, knife throws, card games, racing, supply drops, radio tower climbs, outpost takeovers (that stay taken over, thankfully), and even some side quests that pop up on the map from time to time. Some of which are kind of...spooky, actually. But what's more, is that everything that was put into the game just feels so fine tuned to be fleshed out enough to not feel like it was just shoe-horned in, which is a complaint that i do tend to have with Ubisoft's other series, Assassin's Creed.
5) Dragon's Dogma - A surprisingly hardcore RPG with some of the best boss battles ever in the genre, and a story that has a hell of a lot more to say than many people gave it credit for, though unfortunately all that story came at the last 4 hours or so.
4) Darksiders 2 - I've yet to fully complete it, but i've gotten around 20 hours into it, and the end is actually not all that close in sight, and my experience with this sequel opposed to the first one is much, much better. Mind you, i enjoyed the first one plenty, but it did have this brutish, "look at these big men with big swords" thing kind of going on, which was a bit off putting. So its extremely surprising when Darksiders 2 showed up, and is actually a drop-dead gorgeous game. Not on a technical level, though it does run buttery smooth, but it's art direction and use of vibrant colors and absolutely mesmerizing soundtrack makes this game a real piece of art, on top of being just a damned fun game to play.
3) Serious Sam 3 - Ok, so this one's cheating a little bit. The game released for PC November of last year, but came out on Xbox October of this year. So by the power invested in me, by me, I say that's good enough. It's a great return to form in the genre, and shows that the classic shooter mechanics can work well with modern technology, without anything being sacrificed. If you haven't picked this game up and really love shooters, do yourself a favor and check this one out.
2) Guild Wars 2 - This is the MMO that finally got me to stick with the genre longer than a month or two. The lack of subscription fee helped, but what also helped was the fact that the game just knew how to make people work together, and never punishes anyone for doing what they want. Feel like exploring by yourself, and checking out some vistas? Go for it. Want to join a massive group of people fighting a giant dragon? Run on over and start helping. It's extremely player-friendly and the more involved combat goes a long way towards making this a game i'll be playing years down the line.
1) Far Cry 3 - I'm sure everyone's tired about hearing how great this game is, but it really can't be understated just how out of left-field this game came out. I saw the promotional trailers, and it seemed ok. They made the whole game seem very scripted, with all the trailers seeming to be about Vaas kicking you off high places. But the actual game is so masterfully crafted, it's hard to imagine this is from the same people that made Far Cry 2, a game with great ideas and landscapes, but let down by tedious enemy encounters and an excessive lack of character. Far Cry 3 fixed everything that needed fixing about the Far Cry series. Enemies now react in much more reliable ways, and hiding in brush is actually worth a damn, meaning that you are allowed to learn the limits of the AI, and you won't find yourself getting ambushed by enemies that heard you do a little sprint a mile away. There's a large variety of activities to do, including hunting, assassinations, knife throws, card games, racing, supply drops, radio tower climbs, outpost takeovers (that stay taken over, thankfully), and even some side quests that pop up on the map from time to time. Some of which are kind of...spooky, actually. But what's more, is that everything that was put into the game just feels so fine tuned to be fleshed out enough to not feel like it was just shoe-horned in, which is a complaint that i do tend to have with Ubisoft's other series, Assassin's Creed.
