2012 was a rather mediocre year for computer games. There wasn’t any amazingly good or horribly bad games this year (No Skyrim’s or Duke Nukem Forever’s), because of this I’ve decided to choose a series of generic categories, pick which games of this year are the best of that category and a short description why. Since a game I didn’t play won’t be rewarded, below is a list of games I did play from 2012 and is thus the list of nominees (or in the case of best character, game/s that character was in).
Assassins Creed 3
Bad Piggies
Borderlands 2
Catherine
Dear Esther
Dishonored
Dragons Dogma
Far Cry 3
Football Manager 2013
Hellfire
Hitman: Absolution
Mass Effect 3
Resident Evil 6
Silent Hill Downpour
Spec Ops: The Line
The Walking Dead
So without further or do lets start with our first award.
Best Story:
And the Winner is:
Spec Ops: The Line
I was originally going give this award to Mass Effect 3, but after playing Spec Ops I couldn’t not give it the award. It really did surprise me how good a story can be for a modern war based tactical shooter. In fairness it’s probably the first modern war based tactical shooter that puts forward the message that war, guns, fighting and killing are a bad thing. This message really being pounded home after a certain incident in the game where Walker fucks up on a colossal scale. All and all the story is well paced, engaging and does leave an impression on you. Which is more than I can say for any of the other games I’ve played
Best Character:
And the Winner is:
Vaas Montenegro – Far Cry 3
In fairness I was expecting more from Vaas, some sort of Tyler Durden-esque relationship going on between him and Jason, but that aside he still stands head and shoulders above most characters this year. He’s just the right amount of psycho that puts him in your face and just the right amount of goofy that makes him likeable. Like a dog licking it’s testicles, it’s disgusting but you can’t help but laugh (that sentence probably says more about me than anything). Anyway, Vaas is pure drug-fueled bonkers and will go to any lengths to make sure you are dead. Set you on fire, drown you or even the plan old just shooting you. Sadly he meets his demise at the hands of a no personality, no faced protagonist. So long Vaas you crazy son-of-a-bitch.
Best Gameplay:
And the Winner is:
Dishonoured
Dishonoured is very much a one trick pony. The story is horribly predictable and has serious pace issues, but the gameplay makes up for all that and then some. The ease and fluidity of the sneaking and assassination is nothing short of spot on. The variety maybe more limited then trailers and previews noted but there’s still more than a good mixture of techniques and abilities to keep you entertained. That is if you even choose to kill anyone, you can have just as much fun sneaking your way past guard after guard. For making assassinations into an art form, Corvo, this ones for you.
Worst Game of 2012:
And the Winner is:
Resident Evil 6
I knew this was going to be bad from the word go. I mean Resident Evil 5 was the computer game equivalent of flogging a dead horse, this however is like selling the rotting carcase. Resident Evil 6 (or as I like to think of it, Resident Evil “Just how far can we push this shit”) suffers from bad everything, the plot is even more bonkers than it’s counterparts, instead of the slow paced puzzle solving psychological survival horror of the first games, instead we get a half-baked, bland, boring 3rd person shooter. Leon’s campaign which is said to be more survival horror based is average at best and although at times does looks promising, in the end though it still becomes the same boring shoot-em-up the other 2 campaigns made no attempt to hide from.
Dishonourable Mention:
Dragon’s Dogma
This really did annoy me. Normally this would be the kind of game I would lap up with no hesitation. Broad sword wielding knights fighting dragons and other manor of nasty beasts followed by a stint at the tavern with a tankard of mead and a wench under each arm, sign me up. Capcom however have other ideas. I wish to clarify now that it’s not a bad game, it’s just boring. I never went into it expecting Skyrim v2.0, but I did go into it expecting to have fun. The game was a chore from the start until I decided that I would have more fun playing something else. Also one thing I noticed that I thought worth mentioning, the graphics look like they’re come straight from the PS2, correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s the only PS3 game on my list to not run in 1080 HD. This would be understandable 3-4 years ago, but these days with HD 4000 on it’s way it’s just not acceptable.
Best Game of 2012:
Honourable Mentions:
The Walking Dead & Spec Ops: The Line
It was close between these two and the game I finally decided to name my game of the year in the end. In the end the deciding factor was the length of the game. I easily finished both of these games in a single day. My winner I’ve been playing for a week already and I still don’t know how far I am from the end. It’s not entirely a bad thing to have a short game. To use an alcohol based metaphor, both of these games are sambuca, enjoyable for the short period but you couldn’t have a lot of the stuff. About the games however, the stories in both are gripping and exciting. The Walking Dead can look a bit tacky at times but the interactive story experience and character progression will help you forget about that.
And the Winner is:
Far Cry 3
And here we are, game of the year. I couldn’t find any faults with Far Cry 3. The story was well paced kept me wanting to play it that little longer, the game play is crisp and fluid, graphically it’s spectacular. It’s not perfect, animals have a tendency to kill you at the worst possible time, they are also built like brick shit houses, I had a tiger survive a grenade in the face. There are a few other minor niggles like the vehicle physics but that’s all they are. A good game, not exactly another Skyrim but it’s the best of the bunch and my game of 2013.
Exciting wasn’t it? but before I go a look ahead at 2013 and at my
Most Anticipated Game of 2013:
Nominees:
Beyond: Two Souls
BioShock Infinite
Grand Theft Auto V
The Last of Us
Watch Dogs
And the Winner is:
The Last of Us
When the first trailers were released at E3 I was hugely impressed by this game. The general idea of trying to survive the end of civilisation in a lawless, uncaring world. It fascinates me. Then learning that it’s being developed by Naughty Dog, I was excited. I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a game release since Heavy Rain, and I was dam excited about that. This doesn’t take merit from any of the other games in that list. I’m anticipating the release of all of them, just The Last of Us more than the others.
Well that’s all from me, I might post a review of a few of these if I can be bothered. So from me and everyone else here (which is still me), Good night.
Indi Plays 
