1) Shadow of the Colossus & ICO HD Collection
This game was already locked at
number one for me the day that it was released. The first time I played Shadow of the Colossus, it was
unlike any game that I had ever played before. It was so simple, but at the same time difficult; beautiful,
yet sorrowful. Shadow hit me on a
level that I had previously never thought possible, and of which has never
happened again. Shadow was a
groundbreaking game for me, so its spot on my top 10 list was pretty much
set. When compiled with ICO at a
lower price tag, this collection is one that all PS3 owners should have on
their shelves.
It's hard to say why, but Shadow of the Colossus captured my heart just as easily the second time as the first
2) Skyrim
Chances
are that if you are reading this list, then you have already made your opinion
on whether or not you are going to be playing Skyrim, but for those who have
not played or heard anything about it, Skyrim is a pretty amazing game. Let me preface this by saying that
there are still a lot of bugs (as in most all Bethesda games), but there is
also an extreme amount of polish from the last Bethesda developed game, Fallout: New Vegas. The sheer depth and scope of everything
in TES: V makes it something that you
really should experience first hand, and will likely be in the top three of most
game websites “Top 10” lists.
Fighting Dragons in Skyrim is a thrilling experience everytime
3) Saints Row: The Third
One
of the podcasts that I listen to had a running joke where they would continue
to tell one of the four members that “You should really play Saints Row: The
Third”, without ever really explaining anything else (as to why he should play
the game). While this turned into
an ongoing joke, I cannot think of a better way to tell you to play this game
outside of just saying “You should totally play Saints Row: The Third”. If you have played the previous games
and got tired of certain elements *cough* mandatory side activities *cough*,
the gameplay systems have been changed for the better and the game as a whole
is much crazier. The best part is
that the story is unique enough from the other two as to where you can enjoy
the game if you haven’t played the other two just as much as if you have.
This image explains Saints Row: The Third better than I ever could
4) Batman: Arkham City
Arkham
City had all the makings of being a great game, and it turned out not to
disappoint. Rocksteady made enough
changes to make the game fresh, while keeping many of the core elements as
fantastic and as polished as Arkham Asylum. The inclusion of a much more open world environment in
addition to tons of collectibles and side quests give an extra depth to the
gameplay that made Asylum so great. Combine this with fantastically rendered
characters (including Batman and all of his nemeses), a compelling story and
setting, and you will realize that Rocksteady is giving you another great
excuse to don the cowl and protect the streets of Gotham.
Suiting up as the Bat and protecting Arkham has never been more fun
5) Uncharted 3
One
of the main quips that many people had with Uncharted 3 was that it was
essentially just more Uncharted 2.
The next thing that most critics say, though, is that while it is
just mimicking an older game, there could definitely be a worse game to
mimic. I myself had a fantastic
time with the game, and while it is true that it didn’t have as large of an
impact as Uncharted 2, I did not find that it made the game any less fun. The story was still quite enticing and some of the elements that were handled a bit worse in previous games
were handled much better in this entry.
Uncharted 3 may not have been as groundbreaking as Uncharted 2, but it definitely made me like Subway more
6) L.A. Noire
With
this generation of consoles, it seems like the one thing that everyone is
trying to get is the best value for their dollar (as it relates to
video games). What I mean by this
is that almost all big games now release with some sort of multiplayer element
that will keep the gamer interested in the game far after he or she has
completed the single player campaign.
L.A. Noire was a bit unique in that it was released as a
wholly single player game. There
were a few things to do outside of the main missions, but the gist of the
gameplay was in the story mode.
All discussions about the messed up nature of Team Bondi aside, I found
that Team Bondi and Rockstar took a risk on L.A. Noire, and it ended up turning
out great for them.
Kinks aside, I thought that LA Noire turned out to be a very competent game, which also looks absolutely gorgeous
7) Bastion
Out
of all of the downloadable titles released in 2011, none had a larger impact on
me than Bastion. At its top level,
a team that only had six members and one voice actor developed it. Yet despite the small team size, the
gameplay was fresh and entertaining, and the amount of content that was
included was quite extensive, considering that it was a downloadable
title. In addition, it was just
announced that the team will be releasing free DLC in the near future that adds
a few new maps and a new mode.
This is really cool to see, because as a team of so few, you
would expect the DLC to be priced higher, yet they seem to be catering to the
fans much more than other developers.
Bastion was quite a surprise, and with a deeply personal narrative, it will easily make many top 10 lists
8) Rayman:
Origins
This
would be my sleeper pick for my top 10 list, because I really did not expect
much from Rayman: Origins. The
trailers that had been released made the game look good, but the fact remains
that the Rayman name doesn’t really have the pull that it used to. Everything about the game, from the
gameplay to the graphics to the sound left a good taste in my mouth that I
hadn’t received from any other game that had come out this year. Some could say that Rayman: Origins was
a “hipster” release, but the fact remains that it was a great game nonetheless.
This image really describes the nature of Rayman: Origins; pure, unadulterated fun
9) Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I
was a pretty big fan of the first Deus Ex, and like many of you, was not the
biggest proponent of the second iteration. Luckily, Eidos changed the game for the better with Human
Revolution. The whole black and
gold color scheme in combination with interesting gameplay made up for the fact
that the second entry in the series was, let's say, less than ideal. All in all, Deus Ex was a fun game that
came out this year, but for the things that it did, there were also other games
that did it better.
If you need any Black and/or Gold, Deus Ex has your back
10) Dead Island
Dead
Island certainly isn’t a perfect game, and the fact that Deep Silver dipped
into the zombie genre once again for this release did not make me too thrilled,
but Dead Island ended up being just plain fun. The story and the characters were a bit weak, but killing zombies with obviously makeshift weapons in a
location that hasn’t really been explored too much (in sandbox games) was a lot
of fun. The cooperative
multiplayer allowed for lots of fun to be had, and I found that the multiplayer
and single player shenanigans were able to outshine the few down moments that
Dead Island had.
Dead Island may not be the best game, but it can prove for a great time whether alone or with friends