Kevin VanOrd has the best top 10 list, no over-hyped game in the list if you know what I mean.. But I would exchange Spec Ops with Max Payne in that list.
Personal Perspectives: The Top Ten of 2012
The GameSpot editors reveal their personal top 10 lists for 2012.
Ryan Schubert, Video Curator
My favorite games of 2012 in no particular order.
Assassin's Creed III
I love this game for breathing new life into a now aging franchise. It brings back the full open world of the first game with plenty of fun distractions while introducing new features like the oddly engaging naval warfare. The game is not without its flaws, but it’s engaged me for over forty hours. Sometimes just stomping through the snow hunting elk is enough to occupy my time.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
In the last two years, myself and some friends have become somewhat fanatical about tabletop board gaming. XCOM plays like a tabletop game with special effects and sounds, and without a giant mess of pawns, chits, counters and dice. My girlfriend and I love playing this together, strategizing as if we’re playing a tabletop game co-op.
Borderlands 2
The hours of this game I have played with friends online have been so gleefully entertaining that I can’t recommend it enough. Not many shooters embrace the value of playing with friends (L4D, we still you love you! Gears, you’re OK too!) and Borderlands does it so well with its funky open world, gazillions of guns, and awesome, quirky characters.
Mass Effect 3
There’s little I can say that hasn’t already been said about Mass Effect 3. I think the ire it stirred up in the gaming community is evidence enough of how deeply players were emotionally invested in the series. If only games with such strong characters, beautiful graphics, and engaging gameplay were more common. I will never forget when I purchased the first game and an employee of GameStop told me that Mass Effect spoils you for other games. When it comes to how involved I feel in the story through the decisions I make, I couldn’t agree more.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
I can’t say that I played a ton of this game, but if there’s anything all of the other shooters out there can learn from this game, it’s how to create a sensible user interface and weapon customization system. The shooting range alone, where you can test a weapon before taking it into combat, is a feature all shooters should have in the future.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Sometimes your favorite games are ones that remind you why you stopped playing them. A few years ago, I stepped away from Call of Duty after logging 35 days of multiplayer in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. A couple of hours of Black Ops II completely vindicated that decision. In spite of its smooth controls, excellent multiplayer modes, and over the top killstreak and perk systems, my personal tastes have changed. Still, I have to hand it to Treyarch for producing a polished game in a tired franchise. Infinity Ward is no longer in charge of this series.
Medal of Honor: Warfighter
In spite of its hackneyed single-player story, frustrating menu interface and unlock system in mutliplayer, and the bombast of its “authentic” advertising campaign, Warfighter gives shooter fans bored with Call of Duty and Battlefield something to be excited about in the multiplayer arena. Battles are exciting, controls are smooth, and its perk system contributes to an enjoyable experience. If the aforementioned flaws can be worked out next time around, MoH will be a major contender against the other war shooter titans.
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@666NightsInHell It accepts box 360, PS3, and third party controllers just fine. The game was build ground up for the controls to work with a controller and there isn't a good transition to mouse and keyboard.
1 Like Either I'm continuing to drift away from enjoying video games or nothing fun or interesting came out this year. Either way, I'm saddened by it.
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@Suikogaiden Games can still be great or memorable yet have flaws to them. Also Chris is the one that reviewed the game and it isn't on his top 10 list.
Look for the podcasts Gamespot Gameplay, they talk often on there about Spec ops and what makes it good. Very good show that gives you insight to the staffs true thoughts and opinions about games.
Don't look at one review and take the number for granted. Compare it to similar games so you get an idea of how much it will appeal to you, then watch a number of reviews/impression videos on youtube. This game obviously appealed more to the person who wrote the article than gamespot's reviewer.
[i]It's also a huge criticism of the many shooters out there that glorify and justify their subject matter.[/i]
its the line of the year ...
1. Deus Ex Human Revolution, like every year since release
2.Dishonored
3.Max Payne 3
4. Planetside 2
kevin and carolyn sure are my fav reviewers , both of you should review bioshock infinte when released
If anyone ever has a problem with GS review scores, just check out these lists: Some editors don't know how to count to 10.....
@Succumbus I put The Witcher 2 on my list, but because the game originally came out on PC in 2011, it was more likely to appear in last year's personal lists (and official Editor's Choice Awards).
Mass effect 3, Dishonored, The walking dead, Amalur, FTL, Xcom, Hotline miami and Guild Wars 2 are my games of the year.
1- The Witcher AOK EE
2 - Max Payne 3
3 - Hotline Miami
4 - Mass Effect 3
5 - Far Cry 3...and what else honestly...
1-Far Cry 32-assassin's creed 33-mass effect 34-saints row the third5-kingdom of amalur reckoning6- Max Payne 37-Sleeping Dogs8-Darksiders II9-Dishonored10- Hitman Absolution
Good ol' Chris Watters! If it hadn't been for him, I would have made a HUGE mistake and passed on Dishonored.
Thanks for that list Danny. As is so often the case I find myself agreeing with you yet again. Max Payne 3 is a real gem of 2012 as is F1 2012. I'll get round to Journey & FTL eventually...
Every blessing for the new year!!
1 Like oh Tom Mc Shea like anyone cares what u have to say or like. u are by far the worsr reviewer on game spot. with a new year coming soon i hope u loose your job so u can stop being paid for your bad reviews. i hope all the bad things in life happen to you and only you. pos
@jcwainc Baseless accusations and attacks don't go very far, you should take them elsewhere.
There are many people, myself included, that respect and enjoy what Tom has to say.
@Toysoldier34 its not baseless attacks. look at his reviews then look at the people telling him off. if u like him thats fine but in my and a lot and i mean a lot of people he is the worse reviewer here on game spot. his shinning moment is his the Simpsons review. please understand reviews really dont mean nothing to me cause i'll buy a game cause it looks good to me. but people look at reviews in a means to buy a game. its sad but true (thus why metacritic is a good and bad thing). well i could go on and on but why the kool aid drinking people will believe what they want to. while others will see with eyes open
@jcwainc There is no need to hide behind your keyboard and say things like you have about him that you would never say to a person. It only reflects poorly on yourself.
2 Like @jcwainc Boo hoo McShea writes OPINIONS I dont like, boo hoo I am too childish to look for second opinions, boo hoo there was something else my whiny ass wanted to say but the rock between my ears cant hold water.
Happy new year mate, hope everything goes swell for you too this year.
3 Like @jcwainc Regardless of how you feel about the work someone else produces, to me, those who wish bad things on others, especially to the severity that you just have, are the worst kinds of people in this world. Nothing he has done is so evil that he deserves to suffer for it, so you seriously need to wake up and smell the roses and stop being so selfish and immature.
@Succumbus @Kevin-V @ReadingRainbow4 i think the point stands that it wasnt absent. not at all.
Aaron Sampson had the best description for ME3 being his 2nd choice (besides the fact that he chose Control) lol
Lot's of good games missing: Xenoblade Chronicles, Kingdom Hearts DDD, AC3, Kid Icarus Uprising, The Last Story
@Kenshin0011 We recognized Xenoblade Chronicles in our 2011 awards. Both The Last Story and Kid Icarus Uprising actually do appear on one of these lists!
@carolynmichelle @Kenshin0011 No disrespect but why are there soooo many arcade games up there? I mean come on, people don't even take half the time REAL developers do to make there games. Where is Dishonored, Borderlands 2, AC 3, and so many other GOOD games that people had sweat and blood in to it. I'm just saying that ARCADE games need to be separate from RETAIL games. And by the way, you are one of my favorite reviewers on this website :D.
@Livefantasy7 @carolynmichelle @Kenshin0011 AAA title =/= good game.
Hotline Miami is a great example of a game that doesn't have a massive budget and marketing campaign or is even that long. While it may be short it uses every moment to the fullest and is one of the best games of the year.
It is funny that you mention people putting blood and sweat into projects when indie games are often the ones fueled by entirely that. While they may be solid games stuff like Assassin's Creed 3 is being pumped out year after year for money, not because of the passion of its creators and all the blood and sweat they put into making it.
You should look up Indie Game the Movie, watch it and see if you feel the same way. That even smaller arcade games don't have countless hours and sleepless nights poured into their creation.
@Livefantasy7"I mean come on, people don't even take half the time REAL developers do to make there games."
you kidding??
how are they not real developers. If any, they are the real ones. And remember, these lists are "personal perspectives"
@Chippa7 @carolynmichelle @Kenshin0011 Like I said it's like comparing College Football to NFL. And I think a game does deliver to how long and much is into the game.
3 Like @Livefantasy7 @carolynmichelle @Kenshin0011 A great game is great regardless of how much it costs, which platform it appears on or the way it's delivered to players.
I think it's unfair to assume arcade game developers aren't putting in the same time and effort as the teams making retail games. If anything, because of the escalating cost and time required to make successful retail games, we're already seeing far fewer games made each year. If all the development efforts were going into making the next Uncharted, Mario or Halo to put on a disc, we'd probably never have experienced amazing games like Journey, The Walking Dead, Minecraft or Hotline Miami.
@carolynmichelle @Kenshin0011 It's like comparing College football to NFL, as Arcade to REAL RETAIL games.
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