Top 10 Games You Probably Didn’t Play in 2011…That you MUST play in 2012
If there’s one thing a good New Years Celebration can’t go without, it’s resolutions. Though we all eventually fudge them, modify them, and, inevitably, break them there has never been a time frame in which loftier goals have been set than in the period from December 31st of the current year to January 1st of the next. So with that, I present you with the one New Years resolution you owe it to yourself to stick to. No it has nothing to do with eating less, exercising more, or reconnecting with that sister, brother, mother, father, or significant other you can’t stand to be in the same room with. No, this is the resolution of games: specifically games you may not have gotten to, but owe it to yourself to play. Why? You ask, in shock and awe? Well, without breaking out my protractor and getting all technical with bars and graphs and such…ahem…LOTS of games came out in 2011. And some seriously did not get the attention they deserved, for one reason or another. So with out further ado, I present you with ten games from 2011…that you must play in 2012. These are not my top 10 games of the year, although some of these games may or may not be on that list. These are ten games that, I believe, deserve real attention for being either innovative, of exceptional quality, extremely unusual, great fun, and sometimes all of the above.
Shadows of the Damned is what I like to think Resident Evil would be if it was set in the worst Tales from the Crypt film you’ve ever seen combined with some of the cheesiest dialogue south of Big Trouble in Little China. But in this case, that is Shadow’s greatest asset. On the merits of writing and gameplay alone, Suda 51 (No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami’s (Resident Evil) game would be grindhouse, c-horror movie inspired gold. But throw in Akira Yamaoka’s incredible hard rock/metal soundtrack and you have the makings of a game that will go out of its way to warm of the cockles of your funny bone and (usually) succeed with flying colors. Shadows certainly isn’t without it’s flaws, including one-hit death segments, sub-bosses that can be more frustrating that main bosses, a light and dark mechanic that borders on grating at times, and a final boss fight that will make you rip your hair out. But overall, Shadows is an excellent package that deserved way more love than it got. If you have ever enjoyed a super-cheesy, hyper-sexualized, ultra-violent horror flick in any way, shape, or form, then Shadows of the Damned should be on your short list for 2012.
I’m going to do my best not to reference that ‘other’ game that Terraria may or may not draw inspiration from. What I will say about Terraria is that what it lacks in dimensions it makes up for with an excessive array of armor to craft, weapons to build, enemies to summon and slay, and location types for you to explore. More importantly, it has definitive goals in a world that is seemingly anything but. And when you’re tired of hoofing it by your lonesome, adding a few friends to the mix infuses the game with a level of complexity, community, and hilarity that is shared by everyone involved (especially when the accidental, or not so accidental, rogue stick of dynamite comes into play). In my opinion, it is the game for people who can’t be bothered with something as open-ended as that “other” game, but want the freedom and creativity to make their world their own in whatever way they see fit. And with a recently released patch that adds even more crazy items and bosses into an already jam packed world, Terraria has the ‘game’ and ‘reward’ aspect that makes all the constant digging for ore far less of a chore than it would be otherwise.
While we all know the Japanese have a tendency to create games based on really wacky concepts (Like numbers 7 and 10 on this list), the idea of building a game around something as ‘biblical’ as the Dead Sea Scrolls (or the Book of Enoch, take your pick) seems downright batty. But that’s just the thing, this game somehow balances out the religiosity of it all with something that is both entertaining and pretty fun to play. It may fall short of being the next Bayonetta or God of War, but with it’s living water-color aesthetic, it’s excellent sound track, and a pre-fall Lucifer, cellphone always in hand, it’s one of the most unusual and unique games to come out this year. Besides, someone’s got to give those fallen angels the thwacking they deserve.
Name one game that has ever seriously dealt with the concept of relationships, infidelity, or the impeding responsibility of parenthood in any meaningful fashion. No luck? Well, how about a stacking puzzle game that ratchets up the ‘gravity’ of those issues with the threat of ‘impending, horrible, painful death.’ Crazy, right? I’ll be the first to admit this sounds like a match made in gaming purgatory. However, Catherine attempts to make the trials and tribulations of a life-well-wasted by a near thirty-year-old man-child the catalyst for a ‘real’ game that pits himself against the choices he’s made, or will make. And although it’s a stretch at times, the concept is unlike anything I’ve ever seen or played outside of (maybe) Puzzle Quest. Think about it this way: would you ever put a story mode in Tetris? Well, that’s essentially what Atlus did. And for my money, it actually works because the story is pretty damn…okay it’s not the best, but it’s warped and I can get behind that. Furthermore, the puzzle aspect of the game is awesome. Not to mention in the later stages, it can get pretty damn challenging. As far as this list is concerned, Catherine makes the cut because it’s unique, it’s fun (at times), and there’s just nothing else like it that came out this year. But most importantly, it deals with some of the sticky subjects gamers my age will have to face at some point in our lives: turning into sheep…no, wait.
Bastion could be one of the most atmospherically perfect games released this year. It knows it’s own world so well and is so grounded in the horrific reality of the Calamity, that the idea of traveling across the floating platforms of Caelondia never seems unusual. Those land masses are all that remain of a world the Kid once knew and loved. Well, that and the Bastion, the last place in all of Caelondia that is safe from windbags and gasfellas . And it’s the one place where the Kid will decide the fate of the entire world . Unfortunately, I’d be lying if I said that the combat in this game is what kept me coming back. While I enjoy what Bastion is offering from a gameplay perspective, it’s really the whole package that gets me wrapped up in the fantasy and the fiction of Bastion. Rucks, the Kid, Zulf, Zia, the enemies, the zones, the art style, the sound effects, the narration, the weapons, and especially the fantastic score by Darren Korb, create a world that is fully realized from beginning to end. It’s a wonderful, albeit, brief journey that really takes other, more expensive and bloated games to task and should be a measuring stick for what video games should aspire to be, but sometimes fall way short of reaching. The Kid just rages for awhile…because you haven’t played Bastion yet.
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