So, what's up for Game of the Year so far?

[Electro UK]

2011 has already presented a tonne of great games that could be crowned game of the year. I'm hoping this thread can be an ongoing discussion throughout the rest of the September/October/November madness, but I'd like to get started while the past 8 months are still fresh and not drowned out by the Battlefields and Uncharteds etc.

So for me so far, my GOTY is still Dead Space 2, which I absolutely loved and continue to love. It's an action game on-par with Uncharted 2 with ease and I really love Isaac as a character and the universe and lore on the whole. I never had any doubt this sequel would improve on the incredible original but I didn't know it would be by this much.

Problem is, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is fast approaching on that top spot. I didn't expect to love it as much as I do, but holding out on a fantastic ending is the only thing keeping me from crowning it my favorite game of the year so far. I think I'm nearing the finish line now, but it's been a joy to play throughout, which really surprises me when I think about how I don't really like other shooters with RPG elements and twists of that nature. Normally I find the gameplay suffers when BioShock/Fallout 3 etc try to take those turns but the experience is silky smooth in Human Revolution. GREAT story too.

Looking past that two of my top titles for the year are definitely L.A. Noire and inFamous 2. Noire is the first Rockstar game I've really connected with because it actually feels like a tribute to its genre instead of the parody that GTA/Red Dead feel like thanks to their protagonists being the only ones with any brain cells (bar a few in Red Dead). inFamous on the other hand tries to go the Dead Space 2/Uncharted 2 route and starts of strong. It's faults show a bit towards the end but I still enjoyed it more than the already-stellar first outing.

Yakuza 4 should also get a special mention just because I love those games so damn much, along with Shadows of the Damned, Back to the Future Season 1, Crysis 2 and Portal 2. All really fantastic games, I think.

Of course, this will all change when Nate returns, that's for sure .

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

I haven't played much of Bastion, only about an hour or so. It seems like pretty standard stuff with the gimmick being everything you do is narrative. So far it seems like a solid game with a cool idea but not really something I will remember a year or two from now. It's probably going to be alot better than most of the crap out this year though.

Crysis 2 was very dissapointing, never finished that. Probably will on a boring weekend.

Dues Ex: Human revolution I have yet to finish. It keeps the open nature gameplay of the first game. But the AI is just, really, really bad. Like, really bad. Even if this was just a straight up shooter without all these options than can allow you to exploit them, it would probably be considered quite bad. Still, decent game. Would have been better if it was more challenging. The other thing as well, like Portal 2, FMV's. These are fine on consoles, on a pc, the compressed video looks bad.

From a distance I was expecting Portal 2 to be the game I enjoyed the most this year. While the voice acting is top notch, I still prefer the first games much tighter narrative. I also didn't like the "press X to win" ending or FMV sequence. I think attempting to replicate the memorable score at the end of Portal was also a fairly bad idea. The quility of the CO-OP was surprising, gameplay wise it was better than the single player I think. It's kinda like a great art house movie that has went to the big screen and lost abit of soul and became abit more bloated. Great game but I don't think it's one for the ages.

Dead Space 2... Played two thirds and didn't finish it. Walk into area, monsters jumps out. Third person Doom 3. I think it's a pretty average game with a huge flashy budget. It's getting kind of like CGI now being really hard to impress people like it once did.

I think Shogun 2 is pretty much un-matched by any other AAA game in scope, depth or visuals. Unlike other games, it's cinematic without having a bunch of lame scripted sequences in an attempt to be movie like. It can be replayed almost endlessly. The other thing as well very much like World Of Warcraft. It has layers and layers of gameplay building u but is accessible. A 12 year old can play this game. It's also a surprisingly immersive game chalked full of character. I think it's one of the few AAA games that isn't some simplistic throw away piece of crap. Sadly hampered by a broken mulitplayer at launch and AI still prone to breaking during siege battles. Overall though, masterpiece of a game specifically designed for winners. Akira Kurosawa himself would probably be proud of it.

Battlefield 3? Eh. Was in the alpha. Not a drastic diffrence from Bad Company 2. Single player looks like your spectacle wack-a-hole Call Of Duty gameplay.
Muliplayer should be good.

Of the upcoming games, I will probably pick up Skyrim when its had a price cut. Oblivion had terrible design and wasn't really worth the effort of playing without mods. Mods for Skyrim will take a while. The game will probably launch with problems as well i'm guessing. Rage? Eh. 60fps on a console doesn't mean much to me. I doubt it will for most console users either. Uncharted 3? I'm sure it will be a decent game but not really my thing. It's kinda hard to remember whats coming out this year because the dates keep changing.

 

[Spider-Vader]

Out of the 3 games I've played this year (MvC3, MK, LA Noire), LA Noire is definitely the best. MK & MvC3 are fun, but I'm not even considering MvC3 as a GOTY contender since Ultimate is coming out in November with a better roster.

I have a feeling Gears of War 3 might be my GOTY though.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

I can almost gaurantee Skyrim will be my GOTY.

 

[Soapy]

I feel like once the heavy hitters of the holiday season start rolling out it's a little too easy to overlook or sometimes even forget about everything else that came out in the year, so great thread!

My game of the year so far is without a doubt Portal 2.

The original Portal was such an unexpected delight for me, as well as many others. Sitting alongside fan favorite Half-Life 2, the hotly anticipated next chapter of said game, and the long-awaited Team Fortress 2, the first game was seen by most as a mere "bonus", an "extra". An odd experiment that Valve threw in because they didn't really know what else to do with it. It's easy to see how it might have been overshadowed next to those other games. So it came as a shock when people were buzzing the loudest about this quirky little puzzle game. Not only was it the standout hit of that package, but it became something of an instant classic. The gameplay was inventive and outstanding. Glados was immediately placed in the pantheon of great video game characters. Professors would go on to use the game in their classes. Every memorable line became a meme to be quoted for years to come. And that song. Oh god, that song.

The prospect of a sequel didn't really occur to me until it was all but announced. With Valve at the helm, of course the game would be good, but could they recapture everything that made the first game such a masterpiece? Yes, I think it did. And then some. The variety and cleverness of the puzzles and new gameplay mechanics is incredible. The characters are well-written with some really impressive voice work. Many games try to be funny, but Portal 2 is one of the few that succeeds. The narrative was full of twists and turns, going down the rabbit hole of Aperture's history was especially memorable. Above all else though, it was fun. Portal 2 was simply a joy to play from beginning to end.

The only thing Portal 2 lacked that its predecessor had was impact. That first game hit the collective consciousness of the gaming community like a bolt of lightning. But anyone with the least bit of common sense knew that was never in the cards for Portal 2. Portal 1 had the element of surprise on its side. No one knew what to expect. It would be next to impossible to replicate that in a sequel. But even so, if you separate Portal 2 from all that stuff in the periphery, I think it's a much better game than the original and by far the best game I've played this year. It also exhibits, more than any other of their games in my opinion, that the people at Valve are true masters of their craft.

 

[socool]

So far it's Deus Ex: Human Revolution followed by Portal 2, but I'm 99.99% sure my GOTY will be Skyrim. I have yet to see something I don't like about the game.

 

[KALEL114]

I'm playing Deus Ex right now and I am loving it. It is in the lead at the moment. A distant second would be LA Noire, but it ultimately was a huge let down to me.

Can't wait to hit up the big guns this holiday. U3 and Batman AC look very promising for GOTY.

 

[jacobed]

Deus Ex followed very closely by Dead Space 2. Batman or Gears will no doubt be my goty

 

[Jick]

I think the biggest competition will be between Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Dead Space 2 and Skyrim.

I'll be cheering for Batman and Uncharted.

 

[Solidus]

Deus Ex Human Revolution hands down. There are tons of good games this year, so its a win for all of us. But Deus Ex and its incredible world, gameplay (that doesn't hold your hand) just was amazing. But I'm sure my top games will be Deus Ex, Batman, and Skyrim. Nothing wrong with tons of good games.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Dead Space 2 is my GotY so far. However i fully expect it to be topped by Arkham City, Skyrim or Uncharted.


If i were to wager a bet, i think Skyrim takes the AIAS GoTY award this year. It will be the most impressive game to release this year, no doubt.

 

[eternalinferno]

At this point I'd say mine is Deus ex, but considering arkham city and uncharted 3 have yet to come out that may change

 

[cherokeesam]

Shouldn't a GOTY be awarded on what kind of *novelty* it brings to the table? Something that's never (or rarely) been seen or attempted before?

I generally like the previous Elder Scrolls games and all, but I'm wondering what's so different and special about Skyrim that would make reviewers and players alike say, "Holy crap, I've NEVER seen anything like that before! Amazing!"

I'd say that, of games released so far this year, L.A. Noire, InFamous 2, Portal 2, Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, Crysis 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, MVC 3, Fight Night Champion, DiRT 3 and Assassins Creed Brotherhood offered the most innovative gameplay and critical and sales success to qualify for GOTY '11.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Shouldn't a GOTY be awarded on what kind of *novelty* it brings to the table? Something that's never (or rarely) been seen or attempted before?

No, not at all. Sure that can help, but GotY is simply the best game over all(Story, visuals, gameplay etc)

Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, Little Big Planet, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War and God of War have been the last 6 winners of overall GoTY as voted on by industry professionals that belong to the AIAS.

 

[Soapy]

Pat is absolutely right in everything he said.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dead Space 2 and Mortal Kombat have been the best games I played this year. I'm not really at the point yet where I'm ready to say which one specifically, though out of the list of upcoming games I expect Arkham City to join them.

 

[SpideyVille]

I just started Portal 2 and I'm waiting for Deus Ex to come in the mail, and even though I've heard great things about them, I still think the best have yet to come and my money is on Arkham City or Uncharted 3, mainly because I haven't played games like Dead Space, Gears of War, or Skyrim to have a wider opinion. Plus those games haven't really interested me aside from hearing some hype.

Infamous 2 was also good and LA Noire was good at first, but I don't think either had enough of a lasting appeal to be considered. Both were easy Platinums and I didn't really have much of a desire to go back afterwards, plus I found LA Noire to be a huge disappointment based on what the game was hyped to be.

 

[cherokeesam]

I just started Portal 2 and I'm waiting for Deus Ex to come in the mail, and even though I've heard great things about them, I still think the best have yet to come and my money is on Arkham City or Uncharted 3, mainly because I haven't played games like Dead Space, Gears of War, or Skyrim to have a wider opinion. Plus those games haven't really interested me aside from hearing some hype.

Infamous 2 was also good and LA Noire was good at first, but I don't think either had enough of a lasting appeal to be considered. Both were easy Platinums and I didn't really have much of a desire to go back afterwards, plus I found LA Noire to be a huge disappointment based on what the game was hyped to be.

I wasn't *disappointed* in L.A. Noire in the least, but it's perfectly understandable that so many people felt let down by the lack of replay value. It's the nature of the genre --- murder mysteries *have* to be scripted, so once you've played through the story, you already know the plot twists and secrets and lies, so there's nothing left to be revealed.

I think L.A. Noire could have benefitted, replay-wise, from the same approach that Red Dead Redemption took: i.e., create a really amazing SP storyline, but take a radically different approach to MP and tear it wide open to free-roam. If they'd had a MP that was more like a generic cops 'n' robbers format, where you could play as cops *or* bad guys (with tons of unlockable skins, like in RDR) on either side of the law in various minigame scenarios, like bank robberies, gang shootouts, heists, car chases, hostage situations and the like, then the game might have had some lasting value.

 

[Oscorp]

I haven't played many of the games released this year. I want to buy a whole bunch of those games because many seem great but I simply don't have the money to afford it.

The only ones from this year that I have are God Of War 3 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Those are both great fun, God Of War 3 is truly epic and grand in scale. But I think neither of those will be GotY. From the looks of the trailers and clips so far, I think Arkham City or Uncharted 3 will take that prize. Uncharted 3 will be released this year, right?

 

[Jick]

Yeah, in November.
But God of War 3 was released in 2010, so it's out of this year's list..

 

[SpideyVille]

If Uncharted 3 is basically the same formula that they used for the past two, I can easily see people considering it a great game, but also looking past it at the same time. Because of that, I think Arkham City might win because it looks like it'll be the same as Arkham Asylum, on improved on so many levels to expand the experience onto a grand scale.

 

[Lord]

i don't know but i'm sure that after Battlefield 3 is released a friend of mine (who'se life as a gamer is basically for FPS) will say that it was the best game ever

 

[ProjectPat2280]

If Uncharted 3 is basically the same formula that they used for the past two, I can easily see people considering it a great game, but also looking past it at the same time. Because of that, I think Arkham City might win because it looks like it'll be the same as Arkham Asylum, on improved on so many levels to expand the experience onto a grand scale.

Yea Arkham City looks to be beyond phenomenal. I really wouldn't be surprised to see it take GoTY.

 

[Union Jack]

i actually didnt like deus ex..thought the graphics were dull and story a bit boring too.

my GOTY would be marvel vs capcom 3,crysis 2,killzone 3 and captain america for the funfactor(thisll never get it tho unfortunatley)

but either batman or unchartered should get it.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I only played Mortal Kombat and Captain America this year, both are great
After playing Batman and Uncharted I expect to give my vote to Batman, riding helicopters and fighting using a very agile characters beat everything else