Day 12 - Mass Effect 2

And my most favourite and best game I’ve played of 2011?! Mass Effect 2!! Admittedly.. this is a cop-out seen as I’ve already included it in my list.. but it truly is a fantastic game. I love it. I’d love to play both ME1 and ME2 again on a harder difficulty before Mass Effect 3 comes out, but that’s not going to happen. I don’t have 50+ hours to spare. I really can’t wait until I can play with my FemShep through another great adventure!! Eee. I know I sound like a massive dork, but I don’t care. I can’t even bring myself to post any pictures of a FemShep which isn’t mine because it’s just not her!! March 2012 can not get here quick enough.

Day 11 - Assassin’s Creed

Another item on my Christmas list is Assassin’s Creed Revelations. I’ve included Assassin’s Creed as a whole though because I am so massively in love with this series of games. I have to admit, I sometimes struggle to follow the storyline but I think the gameplay really makes up for my occasional moments of confusion. I LOVE free running. I LOVE Ezio and Altair. I love knights and Templars! Yup.. it was the thrill of playing a game in the Crusades with Richard the Lionheart which initially drew me to this game. I think I might have mentioned before I adore knights and swords and history.. Ha! And then whoosh! I’ve just been sucked into Assassin’s Creed. And as flawed as AC1 was (I didn’t think it was THAT flawed) it demonstrated great gameplay.. AC2 just fixed those problems and developed the storyline and boom.. the rest is history. <3 Ezio. I really can’t wait to get my hands on this game. Do you know how many times I’ve come this close to spoilers?! Unbelievable!

Day 10 - Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I don’t have this game. I am waiting so patiently for Christmas. Hopefully Santa will answer my prayers. I need this game. I am prepared to lose the rest of my feeble social life for this game. I fell in love with Oblivion looking for a game where I could swing a sword and fire some arrows.. basically living out my fantasy to be a knight. And it was just so good. So so good. I haven’t played Morrowind or any of the other Elder Scrolls, but if Skyrim is anything like Oblivion.. even better.. I can die happily forever playing this game. What else can I say?! I don’t own this game but I crave it so badly there’s been times where I’ve almost caved and bought it! I’m probably going to remain unemployed by the games industry for a very long time playing this game.. 

Day 9 - Bulletstorm

I almost included Medal of Honour in this list.. cos you know.. it was good. It was a nice change from Call of Duty. But then I remembered this little beauty; Bulletstorm. Initially I wasn’t too fussed about playing this game but I ended up renting it when things were slow. Turns out.. its pretty awesome. It’s grizzly and gory and everything you would except from something with Epic’s name stamped on it. But it shakes up the way first person shooters are played. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not about to break any new ground or anything.. but being able to shoot people and “leash” them is pretty damn cool. I was probably no where near as inventive as I could have been with my executions, but god, you feel so cool playing it. The difficulty was a bit lacklustre, and the storyline wasn’t exactly movie magic.. but gameplay was AWESOME. It’s just one of those pick-up-and-play, easy but pretty cool games. A nice tide-me-over ‘til Gears I guess. But of course.. after the credits there’s every possibility of a sequel. I really, REALLY hope they make a sequel. I’d play it.

Day 8 - LA Noire

I admire the work that went into this game. It’s scary, crazy good. Yes, it was amazing to look at and watch. The faces! THE FACES. But also it was a solid detective game. If memory serves.. I’ve never played a game similar to it. A real mystery game! I’m a terrible detective! I can’t read people.. so although I solved all the cases.. I didn’t do it very well. Please don’t lie to me.. I won’t be able to tell. I haven’t played all the possible case outcomes, or answered all dispatch calls or found everything. But I very much plan on playing this game through again. Maybe not too soon.. but it’s not fresh in my mind so I think I can get away with it. The storyline and ending admittedly wasn’t as good as Red Dead Redemption (a game which would have made it to my top 12 if I had played it this year), but I think from a tech point of view.. THE FACES. Just amazing. But then the gameplay got a bit repetitive.. I enjoyed progressing through the ranks of detectivism (yes.. I just made that word up).. but it was always 1) look at this dead body 2) get mocked by partner 3) search for clues 4) drive recklessly 5) pursue fleeing suspect. Which yes.. is great! I’m a detective!! But three discs of this.. urgh. And the ending? I don’t even know what happened there. Maybe a second playthrough will indeed clear up what happened in my head. But there is definitely no denying this was a fantastic game.

Day 7 - Mass Effect 2

Shortly after completing Mass Effect I started on Mass Effect 2. And it’s even better than ME1! For sure, my favourite game this year! If it’s even possible, the storyline is 100x times better than the first! Straight away it’s absolutely mind blowing what happens! Then the ending just tops it off! I can’t remember the exact number of hours I played for.. definitely over 30 hours at least. And every second of it I wasn’t bored or infuriated by it. I preferred the levelling up system from the first game, but as soon as you get the hang of that and the new control system.. it’s better.. so much better. I really can’t wait for Mass Effect 3.. I can’t decide whether to buy the collector’s edition or just buy a normal copy.. but it will definitely be one of the few games I buy on release.

Day 6 - Mass Effect

This is one of my favourite games I have played this year. I actually bought both ME1 and ME2 years ago for £10 altogether brand new (barrrgain) but I was never “in the mood” to play it. I wasn’t ready for a sit down game. But thank god I ran out of games to play because this game is amazing. It has its occasional glitch but that’s nothing compared to the storyline or the characters! I am in love with my FemShep! She is the greatest commander in the world! The moral decisions you have to make, the characters you play along side, the levelling up system.. just.. fantastic. There are only two things I can criticise about this game; the mako, and elevators. There is no need for the Mass Effect universe to have THAT many elevators. Having Tali and Liara as my squad members definitely made those long elevator rides more amusing. And the Mako? What was that stupid vehicle in Halo 3? They’re just stupid! You hit a bump in the road and BOOOOOOFFF! You’ve off flying in the wrong direction. Removing that in ME2 was a godsend. Other than that.. I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH.

P.S You better be able to romance Joker in ME3.

Day 5 - Portal 2

Portal 2 is fantastic! The single player campaign alone is superb. The puzzles, the characters, the gameplay. Just.. amazing. I’ve gushed oodles and oodles about it here, but it’s just fantastic! Even if you haven’t played the first Portal, Portal 2 is a game you can jump straight into. Wheatley (voiced by Stephen Merchant) narrates and guides you through the game.. and quite deservedly (if we pretend we haven’t heard Mark Hamill’s Joker) won Best Performance by a Human Male at the VGA’s. I can’t imagine what the game would have been like without Wheatley and GLADoS. I’d probably have wanted to escape Aperture Laboratories waaaay quicker.. and probably easier actually. I kind of want to play it through again.. I probably missed loads of easter eggs and dialogue! Eurgh.. this game is SO SO good!!

Day 4 - Dead Island

Once again, I’ve discussed my feelings for this game before here. And although I have very mixed feelings about it.. it’s still a good game. Take away the repetitiveness and annoying glitches, it’s a zombie RPG! AWESOME. I wouldn’t play it again.. there’s no two ways I could really play it, but zombies hold a special place in my heart and for that that’s why I’m mentioning it in my top 12 games of the year. It’s what Dead Rising 2 should/could have been (but at the same time, still not quite as good as). You’ve got the customisable weapons and the long trawling to side quests and mission, but without that annoying, stupid time limit. I hate time limits in games. What’s the point?! Dead Rising 2 was MUCH funnier and better in different ways.. but I hate psychos, time limits, and nipping to the loo to save my game. I can not stress how much I hate that. Screwed up my entire Dead Rising 1 game. In all honesty.. neither Dead Rising OR Dead Island are even a notch on my favourite zombie game.. the almighty Left 4 Dead. *aaaahhhhhhh* I could go back and play both L4D’s for hours and hours on end.. great engine, great enemies, great gameplay, no need for a real storyline.. just endless amounts of zombie-killing fun. In fact, I talk about our Expert exploits here.. ahh.. the good ol’ days where buggy zombie games were more entertaining than tedious. I miss playing you for hours on end, Left 4 Dead. <3

Day 3 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

It’s not a bad game. It’s really not. It’s not really a good game either. I’ve talked oodles about this game already here, so there’s nothing fresh I can really say. It’s made it to my “12 days of Christmas” list however because as much as I rant about it.. I did enjoy it. Yes, it’s short. Yes, it’s overpriced. Yes, the majority of players are under the age limit and know naughtier words than you do. But the main campaign was action-packed (albeit non-engaging) and delivered a good first person shooter. Let’s compare it to some FPS’s I hate.. Crysis 2 (I don’t even know what’s happening in this game), Duke Nukem (way to ruin a classic) or Halo 3 (OH I WENT THERE, seriously what was the storyline even about?!). So yeah, compared to these games, MW3 was awesome. Compare it to previous Call of Duty’s and “did I just play Modern Warfare again? No wait.. it was Modern Warfare 2, right?” It’s no different.

I hope to god the next Call of Duty goes back to World War 2. They were by far the best, most engaging and dramatic series of games I have played. Call of Duty 2 on the Normandy beach.. broke my heart. See?