The Round Up

Last night wrapped up 2012, and while it's a little late, I wouldn't be much of a blogger if I didn't pull out a list of my favourite games of the year gone by.

Being a normal guy with a normal job means I sadly can't afford every single one of the big releases of the year. Nor do I have the time to play them, so my list is restricted to games that I actually finished. It's not a definitive best of. You won't find the likes of Far Cry 3, Forza Horizon or Tekken Tag 2 here, as much as I'd like them to be. Since I haven't actually got those games yet, including them would be a bit of a sham, no matter how well they reviewed. Think of the run down below as a round up of my favourites of the new releases that I managed to play over the the past year. So, let's start with numero uno.

The Walking Dead.

Everything that can be said about The Walking Dead as a game has already been said, some of it even by me. It's won more game of the year awards than it's possible to count and it's all justified. From its superlative voice acting, to its affecting story, its sledgehammer ending and its fantastic (nearly) mainstream revival of old school point and click mechanics, almost everything in The Walking Dead makes it a work of genius. But for me, the best part apart from all of that was the episodic release model. By ending each episode on a cliff hanger and making us wait for the next, The Walking Dead was a near constant conversation point between my friends. Sitting over a beer, discussing plot points, characters, where we thought the story might go, the decisions we made, why we made them and how bad that made us as people was almost as great as the experience of the game itself. I can't wait for season 2.

Dishonored.

Winner of all of the game of the year awards not given to The Walking Dead or Journey, and rightly so. I've blogged about Dishonored in the past, so I'll try not to repeat myself.

Dishonored is a triumph. It absolutely nails what I consider to be the three pillars that hold up a great game, gameplay, setting and story. The game gives you pretty much free rein in how you approach it's missions. It encourages you to experiment with its systems and often rewards you for it. The city of Dunwall grounds the game in a richly imagined universe with a sense of place that rivals any game out there, and in my personal opinion is probably the best gaming setting since that of Half Life 2. It's beautiful too, with art liberally hung upon Dunwall's virtual walls and the city looking almost like a painting itself. On the story front, it's a time honored tale of betrayal, redemption and rescue, simple yet effective, and barely hampered at all by the silent protagonist's near complete lack of personality. The fact that the only thing I can find to rant about is Dishonored's silent protagonist shows the quality of this fabulous game. If you haven't played it already, I urge you to.

Fez.

No enemies, no peril, no game over screen. Despite it's sometimes fiendish puzzles, and the tetris block language that I'll probably never be able to translate, Fez is the most relaxing gaming experience I've had all year. There is literally just you and a massive world to explore and decypher. I loved its retro look. I loved its soothing chiptune soundtrack. I loved the clever gameplay hook that lets you rotate the world around the x-axis. Fez is about as indie as they come and all the better for it. I love it dearly.

Trials Evolution.

My secret stash of gaming crack cunningly disguised as a fridge-full of my gaming comfort food. Whenever there is doubt about what to play there is one answer. Trials. What starts as a simple racer quickly becomes a relentlessly addictive one-more-go motorcycle based platformer that eventually morphs into a how-the-hell-do-I-get-up-that motorcycle based puzzle game. No matter how many times Trials evolution beats me around the face with its sometimes extreme difficulty, I always wind up coming back for more. I'm an addict.

Jet Set Radio.

Yes, it's a re-release of a decade old Dreamcast game. Yes, the gameplay is a bit ropey sometimes. Yes, there's a huge difficulty spike at the Noise Tanks level. No, I don't care about any of that. Jet Set Radio is a classic. Period. If ever there was a game that was greater than the sum of its parts, JSR is it.

Its wildly stylized look means it has aged remarkably well, the soundtrack remains awesome and you can skate up behind a cop and graffiti his back. Despite sometimes clunky controls and the complete lack of a free camera, Tokyo-to is a joy to inhabit. Virtually tagging a wall and then running away from the cops while they chase you in tanks and helicopters is an experience I can recommend to everyone.

Dust.

One of the stand out indie games of the year. Dust is beautiful to behold, a joy to play, and the owner of a surprisingly good story. The combat and exploration both surprised me with their depth, and the fact that most of it is the work of just one person is even more impressive. Dust itself is just the first part of a larger story set in the world of the game. Personally I hope this means more games, because I'd happily buy them. If you overlooked Dust on release, download the trial. You'll thank yourself for it.

SSX.

Ahh, SSX. Always reliably amazing on the PS2, I owned every game in the original series bar SSX Blur and loved every one of them. The combination of ludicrous stunts, larger than life characters, festival atmosphere and consistently incredible licensed soundtracks made for a near perfect gaming experience. Suffice to say, I was very excited when I got my paws on a copy of the new SSX. Initially I was bitterly disappointed. Gone was the festival atmosphere, gone were the huge personalities, gone was the old control system that I knew so well. It was jarring. The difficulty didn't help either. At first it seemed like all that was left of SSX was a another great soundtrack and a bunch of snowboards. All of a sudden though, at the point that I was giving up trying to like it, SSX clicked. I slipped into the flow state so easily entered in the old games and SSX came back to me. Massive air was obtained, monster tricks were busted, helicopters stalled upon, wingsuits deployed. Somewhere under all the new stuff, I found SSX's old soul, and when I brought it back into the daylight, that old soul burned as brightly as it ever had in SSX's illustrious past. I'm still playing it, on and off, nearly a year after I first started it. Long live the king of extreme sports games.

So there you have it, my personal favourites of 2012. My only regret is that I couldn't afford to buy the rest of the great games that came out over the year, but oh well, I'll catch up eventually. Also, to those wondering why Journey isn't on the list, my answer is that I fervently wish it was, but I don't own a PS3 and my girlfriend hasn't downloaded it on hers yet. I know it's a rubbish excuse, but it's the best I have.

I end with an Honorable Mention. A game that is so not eligible for this list it's a joke, but it provided some of the best moments around a console with my mates all year. That game is:

Circuit Breakers.

Greatest multiplayer game known to man. In possession of a totally level playing field. Capacity to win totally reliant upon ones own skill, luck, sheer mean spiritedness and ability to smack talk. Cause of many arguments. Settlement of none. Track a copy down, slap it in your PS3, pair up four pads and prepare to call Bullshit on the guy who knocked you off on the last corner to claim victory. The most fun you can have with three other people while keeping your clothes on.