My 7 favourite games of 2011

You’ve gotta love all these “top ten” lists that emerge at the end of each year. Well, you don’t really; you can totally hate them if you want. But you’ll still click on them, so we’re going to go ahead and keep writing them.

You’ve probably spotted a few of them floating around MyGaming. Some of them aggregate review scores from Metacritic and Gamerankings to try and provide insight into the best reviewed games of the year, while others are specific to MyGaming staff.

This is such a list. I’m not going to pretend to be objective, or even right. I haven’t even played many of this year’s biggest blockbusters, such as Uncharted 3 (which is totally on my “to-do” list by the way). But I did play the vast majority of highly acclaimed games that came out during the year, and these were the 7 that stood out for me:

Why 7? Well because I was shooting for 5 and ended up with these, and then couldn’t choose which two to omit.

Battlefield 3 (PC)

I didn’t have to deliberate for too long before settling on DICE’s latest outing as my favourite game of 2011. The single player campaign bored me to tears, but the multiplayer has sunk its hooks well and truly into my prefrontal cortex.

Battlefield 3

The game combines arguably the most technically stunning visuals ever delivered with some amazingly realised sound effects. The gameplay is dynamic, the maps varied, balanced and interesting, and the game delivers an unprecedented scale.

On top of that the game is ridiculously fun to play on a basic shoot-stuff level, and offers a deep leveling system that I’m sure will keep me well invested for months, if not years to come.

Portal 2 (PC)

Hands down my favourite video game narrative from 2011, Portal 2 is a product of genius on every level. Intricate, varied and complex level design combined with almost frustratingly simple gameplay make it accessible yet challenging.

Portal 2

This combined with an outstanding atmosphere, memorable characters and more than just a handful of laugh-out-loud moments peppered throughout its engaging and unique story make it my favourite single player game of 2011. Then of course there is the co-op…

The Witcher 2 (PC)

The Witcher 2 could have been my favourite game of 2011 if it had not taken a drastic turn for the worst about half way through. That it is a PC exclusive made it possible to develop with high-end hardware in mind, and therefore it was one of the year’s most visually impressive games.

The Witcher 2

On top of this, it offered rich and varied locations, an enjoyable combat system, great characters and a solid story. Unfortunately, it felt to me as though CDProjekt Red rushed the last third of the game, and as a result it lost the sense of epic scale it achieved early on.

Shogun 2 – Total War (PC)

My favourite strategy game of 2011 was without a doubt Shogun 2. Where Empire – Total War crushed my heart with its relentless bugs, shaky interface and badly optimized engine, Shogun 2 succeeded by being released mostly devoid of game-ruining bugs.

Shogun 2

The scale and tactical dynamism provided by the turn-based campaign map was offset perfectly by the brilliantly realised 3D rendered battles, which not only looked phenomenal, but thanks to the tightest control system seen in a Total War game yet, was incredibly enjoyable and satisfying.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

There was a lot riding on Human Revolution. It was a long awaited reboot to one of gaming’s most respected franchises, and for the most part Eidos Montreal did a great job of delivering a thoroughly enjoyable and challenging sci-fi RPG.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Aside from the locations being a little limited and static, and a story which was for the most part quite difficult to follow (that might just be my shockingly poor attention span), and of course those painful boss fights which seemed to jar against everything the game was about, Deus Ex: Human Revolution was an absolute success.

Dragon Age 2 (PC)

I’m pretty much the only person that I know who loved Dragon Age 2. I even preferred it to Dragon Age, and I played it on PC. I’ll admit that in some ways it is a step backwards for the series, and it certainly is not without its flaws, but BioWare’s new combat system kept me playing through the drab storyline and rehashed locations until the very end. More varied locations, better loot selection and a less rubbish storyline would have made it one of my favourite RPGs ever. Here’s holding out for Dragon Age 3.

Dragon Age 2

Bulletstorm

Here’s another one I feel kind of alone on. Simply put, Bulletstorm provided very straight forward but solid, and ridiculously fun shooter action. The visuals were great, the game played extremely smoothly and with a sense of weight, and the characters were grotesquely butch and over the top. I absolutely loved Bulletstorm, and the only thing that held it back was its lack of longevity due mostly to the multiplayer not really being viable in South Africa thanks to the P2P matchmaking system.

Bulletstorm