2013 is looking to be an interesting year for video games, with Temple Run 2 for mobile devices already out, besides a trilogy re-release of Hitman in HD, and such probable hits as Bioshock Infinite, GTA 5 and Crysis 3 visible on the horizon. But 2012 was arguably a very important year for video games, and it’s necessary to revisit the hits (and failures) of the previous year in order to have some sort of relative comparison for the new year of gaming – so here’s a brief retrospective of my top ten game releases of 2012.
At ten sits the puzzle game Quantum Conundrum, a game from the brains of Kim Swift, whose ideas behind the DigiPen graduates’ game Narbacular Drop resulted in the subsequent successes of Portal & Portal 2. Where the latter games were about solving puzzles and navigating a big environment full of pseudo-science, armed only with some exotic technology that opened dimensional doors, QC is, quite honestly, more of the same. That’s not to say it’s not great, and completely mind-boggling at times, but a little more variation might have been appreciated. That said, the vocal talent of Ellen McLain (GLaDOS) was replaced with the intricately beautiful sound of John de Lancie…
At nine is the Ubisoft exploratory post-apocalypse game I Am Alive, which pits the player against treacherous environments and enemies and is especially effective in making sure you know just how much you are up against. While sometimes the level is hard to navigate or work out where you’re going (the effect of the giant dust cloud both damages you over time and makes you completely blind), the best thing this game introduced was weaponless intimidation. Bullets are scarce in the aftermath of the apocalypse, but merely having a gun in your hands is enough to convince enemies that you’re not worth dealing with.
FEZ is about a man with a fez. Okay, it’s more detailed. This XBLA exclusive platformer had a relatively unique feature in that the levels are two-dimensional; but the player can rotate around the Y axis and move through four different level layouts for each screen, demonstrating the importance of viewing things from a new perspective. Some brutally difficult puzzles, beautiful environments and self-referential humour place FEZ at number eight.
Lego Lord of the Rings
There were two Lego-themed releases this year, and though I was quite taken with the Justice League, my preferred release was Lego Lord of the Rings: the levels are accessed through a fantastic, sprawling open world hub that is essentially the entirety of middle-earth. You can literally walk Frodo right from his front door to the peak of Mt. Doom, and the combination of Lego slapstick with lines from the film was surprisingly bearable and even quite hilarious at times.
Number six goes to Dishonored. I’d had this on pre-order way before the release date, expecting big things, and I was not disappointed. The creation of a Bioshock-like world that seems to fit in with the regular London setting was fantastic, if sometimes linear as opposed to the various playstyles it boasted. However, the atmosphere was perfect and the combination of magic with technology really worked for the Steampunk feel.
Sleeping Dogs is the spiritual successor to the True Crime series, and it does some things pretty well. The combat, though a little jerky sometimes, hearkens back to thoughts of Arkham City, but it’s much more varied when you collect the karate master’s trophies and learn new moves. It’s very satisfying to break several bones in your attacker’s body, then draw a gun and finish him off. However, the story leaves a little to be desired, as does the setting (though the mandatory karaoke game is surprisingly good).
Six years on from the last release, Hitman: Absolution was published. It detracted quite a bit from some of the stealth focus of the last four games in the series, just like Splinter Cell Conviction (incidentally also the fifth game of its franchise), trying to tie stealth and action together. The return of David Bateson as 47’s voice actor was a welcome and pleasant surprise, but the gap left by Jesper Kyd’s soundtracks was not adequately filled by whoever replaced every musical cue with the roar from Inception. Altogether it’s every bit as replayable as previous Hitman games, but fails to match the charm or outright absurdity of those classics. It does try – leather-bound nuns with rocket launchers come to mind – but ultimately it doesn't quite hit the mark.
Top three now. Mark of the Ninja makes an appearance at number three for its distinctive platforming and stealth gameplay. Its approach to stealth, in particular, is a welcome break from previous stealth sections in games, as it refines and streamlines mechanics like shadow and sound levels to the utmost perfect level. When you play, you really do feel like a deadly ninja sneaking up on your enemies, and the cutscenes between levels and the general art style of the game really add to the atmosphere. Story could be a little more original, but it’s pulled off so well you’ll forgive that minor criticism.
At two is a very recent release, Far Cry 3. I remember playing the first two games and not being particularly taken with those tropical island exploration simulators. This third game really takes the cake though, by becoming a first person version of Just Cause 2. The amount of exploratory freedom in this game is immense, and you quickly find yourself immersed in the detail of the jungle, prowling with a bow and arrow drawn, ready to pounce on your next target, whether it be a bandit or pirate or even a passing deer. The atmosphere is perfect and the characterisation pretty flawless.
Disclaimer: I know that X-COM: Enemy Unknown is not a game for everyone. This is my personal top ten, so you may have a different opinion. But mine is thus: Enemy Unknown is a bloody masterpiece from Sid Meier’s Firaxis Games, and they have done nothing short of brilliant work by adapting an ancient and very complex game for the modern player so that it is not only simple, but challenging. It’s not a perfect game (and I don’t think there can ever be such a game in realistic terms), but what it has done for the X-COM series is something to remember for future games that are ‘remade’ for the modern audience. Syndicate tried to update a classic isometric game to a first person shooter, and for that it dropped like a stone. Firaxis Games managed to maintain all the nuances of classic X-COM, while putting it in a form that anyone can pick up and play, even without the manual. And for that, I applaud them, for it lands my top #1 position for 2012.