Our Christmas rundown reaches its enthralling conclusion with what we consider to be the five best games of the year.
Santa was so pleased with the choice of
No. 1 game that he put Keef back on the 'nice' list. Photograph: Peter
Teller/Getty Images
At last, here are our very favourite games of the year. We've had a few controversies on the way (the lower than expected placings of Battlefield 3 and Dark Souls among them), so let's see what everyone makes of the final five.
This game is what cyberpunk fanatics have been waiting for since
Bladerunner – an extensively realised near-future world that allows
players to explore and discover its secrets, but also lets them become a
functioning, creative part of the universe. The story and themes of
Deus Ex, the concept of a post-human environment in which super hero
abilities are just an augmentation away, are engrossing and almost –
almost – as well planned as in Warren Spector's original title. But it
is the freedom to play as you will that really makes Human Revolution –
you genuinely can be a stealth ninja, creeping about manipulating the
world and its objects to your quiet design; or you can load up on guns
and blast your way through. You can also continually change your mind,
switching between the two, depending on your mood. The game copes. It's
always on your side. And despite some unforgiving boss battles and a few
glitches here and there, that is masterful design.
Skyward Sword, like all Zelda games, is about love and bravery, but
it is also about time and memory. Link transfers between worlds, between
the sky and earth, and between dimensions, like a child making believe.
It is a game about the beauty of having an imagination and using it. It
also makes wonderful use of the Wii's motion controls, not just in
sword fights but in numerous interactions with the world. It has a
lovely story and a truly memorable enemy in the form of androgynous
Demon Lord, Ghirahim. It has enough ideas, locations and interlocking
systems to sustain several lesser titles. It is filled with joy and
invention. When media bullies and bookish anti-gaming bores dismiss this
whole medium as creatively defunct and soulless, they should be
required to play Skyward Sword. We will then allow them to make their
groveling apologies.
An astonishing combat engine; a peerless collection of entertainingly
insane super villains; an atmospheric rendering of Gotham city, its
looming spires and shadowy towers like skeletal fingers reaching to the
heavens for mercy. We all know what makes Arkham City great. But at the
heart of it is one simple premise: you are the Batman. You're
not controlling an avatar, it's you in the cape, it's you dealing out
fluid punches and kicks, it's you flirting with the extraordinary
Catwoman. This is the perfect interactive distillation of the Dark
Knight imagined by Frank Millar, Grant Morrison or Jeph Loeb. And yes,
it could well be the greatest super hero game ever made.
A lot of people think Dark Souls is a better fantasy action game than
Skyrim; others would put Skyward Sword at the top of this whole list.
Both groups make convincing arguments. But Skyrim is here, despite its
flabby narrative and troubled PS3 incarnation, because it is an attempt
to bring a whole world, a whole history, into interactive life. Like
Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption,
it somehow manages to be both a game and a tourist experience – you can
stand amid the swirling snow on a mountain side and look out over
valleys and woodlands, knowing that they're all attainable – and that
they will doubtless have their secrets to yield. It is a game with a
different story for every player, and in the role-playing genre, that is
surely the loftiest achievement.
A masterpiece – that's all we really need to write. No other games
this year has attained near-perfection in so many different areas.
Portal 2 is a thrilling narrative adventure; it is a deep, complex
physics puzzler; it is an astonishingly clever co-op experience. Valve
has a unique understanding of architecture and environment as
story-telling media – the Aperture lab, like the Black Mesa facility, is
a character in its own right – and as with Black Mesa, we get to
scramble behind the public facade and meet the monster within. Portal 2
is also one of the funniest games for years, with Cave Johnson's
narrative both illuminating and hilarious, and of course, Stephen
Merchant's turn as the hapless, over-ambitious droid, Wheatley,
alternating between knockabout laughs and twisted mania. Add in the new
gel-based game mechanics, which fit perfectly without unbalancing the
purity of the portal concept, and another belting end song, and you have
an astonishing experience.
5. Deus Ex Human Revolution (Square Enix, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
This game is what cyberpunk fanatics have been waiting for since
Bladerunner – an extensively realised near-future world that allows
players to explore and discover its secrets, but also lets them become a
functioning, creative part of the universe. The story and themes of
Deus Ex, the concept of a post-human environment in which super hero
abilities are just an augmentation away, are engrossing and almost –
almost – as well planned as in Warren Spector's original title. But it
is the freedom to play as you will that really makes Human Revolution –
you genuinely can be a stealth ninja, creeping about manipulating the
world and its objects to your quiet design; or you can load up on guns
and blast your way through. You can also continually change your mind,
switching between the two, depending on your mood. The game copes. It's
always on your side. And despite some unforgiving boss battles and a few
glitches here and there, that is masterful design.4. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo, Wii)
Skyward Sword, like all Zelda games, is about love and bravery, but
it is also about time and memory. Link transfers between worlds, between
the sky and earth, and between dimensions, like a child making believe.
It is a game about the beauty of having an imagination and using it. It
also makes wonderful use of the Wii's motion controls, not just in
sword fights but in numerous interactions with the world. It has a
lovely story and a truly memorable enemy in the form of androgynous
Demon Lord, Ghirahim. It has enough ideas, locations and interlocking
systems to sustain several lesser titles. It is filled with joy and
invention. When media bullies and bookish anti-gaming bores dismiss this
whole medium as creatively defunct and soulless, they should be
required to play Skyward Sword. We will then allow them to make their
groveling apologies. 3. Batman: Arkham City (Warner, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
An astonishing combat engine; a peerless collection of entertainingly
insane super villains; an atmospheric rendering of Gotham city, its
looming spires and shadowy towers like skeletal fingers reaching to the
heavens for mercy. We all know what makes Arkham City great. But at the
heart of it is one simple premise: you are the Batman. You're
not controlling an avatar, it's you in the cape, it's you dealing out
fluid punches and kicks, it's you flirting with the extraordinary
Catwoman. This is the perfect interactive distillation of the Dark
Knight imagined by Frank Millar, Grant Morrison or Jeph Loeb. And yes,
it could well be the greatest super hero game ever made.2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
A lot of people think Dark Souls is a better fantasy action game than
Skyrim; others would put Skyward Sword at the top of this whole list.
Both groups make convincing arguments. But Skyrim is here, despite its
flabby narrative and troubled PS3 incarnation, because it is an attempt
to bring a whole world, a whole history, into interactive life. Like
Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption,
it somehow manages to be both a game and a tourist experience – you can
stand amid the swirling snow on a mountain side and look out over
valleys and woodlands, knowing that they're all attainable – and that
they will doubtless have their secrets to yield. It is a game with a
different story for every player, and in the role-playing genre, that is
surely the loftiest achievement. 1. Portal 2 (EA, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
A masterpiece – that's all we really need to write. No other games
this year has attained near-perfection in so many different areas.
Portal 2 is a thrilling narrative adventure; it is a deep, complex
physics puzzler; it is an astonishingly clever co-op experience. Valve
has a unique understanding of architecture and environment as
story-telling media – the Aperture lab, like the Black Mesa facility, is
a character in its own right – and as with Black Mesa, we get to
scramble behind the public facade and meet the monster within. Portal 2
is also one of the funniest games for years, with Cave Johnson's
narrative both illuminating and hilarious, and of course, Stephen
Merchant's turn as the hapless, over-ambitious droid, Wheatley,
alternating between knockabout laughs and twisted mania. Add in the new
gel-based game mechanics, which fit perfectly without unbalancing the
purity of the portal concept, and another belting end song, and you have
an astonishing experience.
[via TheGuardian]
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