2011 in Video Games (and my 2011 Game of the Year)

By EricMesa

January 4, 2012 - 4 minutes read - 847 words

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Civilization V (75 hrs) - What can I say about this game that I haven’t said already? This is the series that made “One More More Turn…” famous and it still works today. If I were to start a game tonight, I would not go to bed at a reasonable time.

Team Fortress 2 (70 hrs 45 min) - This game is almost as addictive as Civ 5. I never thought I’d end up saying that about a first person shooter. But I’ve played nearly all of my 85 hrs logged for this game in 2011 and in 2012 it might even surpass Civ 5!

Final Fantasy X (57 hrs) - I finally got around to this game. I wrote about what I thought of it. Overall, I think I’ve somewhat outgrown Final Fantasy games. It’s too bad I didn’t have access to these games earlier.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (28 hrs 30 min) - Known through various parts of the internet as Assassin’s Creed 2-2 or Ass:Bro, this game was a ton of fun. It really added a lot to the Ezio story and the ability to have a bunch of assassins at your beck and call was awesome!

Assassin’s Creed II (27 hrs 30 min) - This was the game that took everything I liked about the first one and went and improved it. Everything from the stories to the combat was refined.

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Mass Effect (16 hrs) - I finished the first Mass Effect. I have to admit that I enjoyed this game, one of my first American RPGs a lot more than I thought I would. I think it helped that the game had a solid fictional universe that you almost felt was real.

Greed Corp (15 hours) - One of many games I checked out based on the soundtrack, this was an extremely fun indie game that actually involves more strategy than it seems at first. It’s kinda like a very fast-paced Risk. Definitely check it out.

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Portal 2 (14 hrs) - This game was AMAZING. The voice acting was terrific. The puzzles were fun. Cave Johnson! This is about as close to perfect a sequel as Portal could have had. Portal, like The Matrix or Men in Black was partially awesome because of the novelty of the situation. With those movies, the sequels never captured the magic of the original. With Portal 2 they just about did it and they deserve kudos for that.

Tetris (PSN) (9 hours plus?) - It’s Tetris as perfect as you can get it in this console generation

Mass Effect 2 (6 hrs) - I’m just started to get to the point where the story is getting interesting, but this game has the promise to be just as good as, if not better than, the original.

Plants vs Zombies (5 hrs) - This game is not as addictive as Tetris, Civilization, or Team Fortress 2, but it’s pretty close. I launched it up to get some trophies and then kept on playing all night.

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Monkey Island 2: Special Edition (6 hrs 30 min) - This is a point-and-click adventure game. That means good things like absurdist humor and bad things like puzzles that there’s no way you could solve without a strategy guide or a walkthrough. I’m glad I played it, though.

The Secret of Monkey Island (4 hrs 30 min) - I’m going to say that this essentially deserves the same description as above.

Bastion (4hrs) - This game is amazing. See my review in a couple days.

Batman: Arkham City (3 hrs) - I’m just not feeling this game as much as the previous one. Unlike Portal 2, this team seems unable to make lightning strike twice. If there’s a third, I definitely don’t want it.

Portal (2 hr 10 min) - I played just enough to finish the game and see the ending in time for Portal 2.

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Cities XL (2 hrs) - See what I wrote about it here. It’s a pretty great city sim and I hope to get some more time into it.

Mario Party 8 (2 hrs) - It’s a great party game.

Mario Kart Wii (1 hr) - You know this game.

Dungeon Defenders Demo (30 min) - See the end of this article.

My 2011 Game of the Year

If I’d beaten Bastion by the end of the year, it would definitely have been that game. But of the game I completed in 2011, it’s a very tough call. I played a LOT of great games. I think runners up are Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Team Fortress 2. But my favorite game of 2011 was Portal 2. That game had everything to make it a great time to play. I was truly sad when it was over.

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