GOTY 2012 #07 - Far Cry 3

A dark and twisted fantasy, Far Cry 3 is an absolute joy.

 

Welcome back to our countdown of 2012’s finest video games! Number 7 was developed by arguably the most successful and popular developer of 2012, Ubisoft. Whatever they seem to release turns out to be absolute gold, it’s truly impressive. The same wonderful praise applies to Far Cry 3, which is an immersive, twisted and dark first-person shooter that takes you places you would never want to go.

Shots now, stabbed later -- great party guys.

Far Cry 3 tells a very mature and gruesome story about a group of friends who accidentally find themselves on a pirate infested island when sky diving on holiday. A fun trip quickly goes sour and it’s your role to rescue your friends and eliminate those who have harmed the ones you care for. But how does a normal person who’s never been involved in any type of dangerous situation suddenly go about murdering a group of pirates and more importantly, how does one drive himself to do something so inconceivable to his fellow man?

What is so brilliant and simultaneously twisted about Far Cry 3’s story is the emphasis on the protagonist’s transformation from a regular guy to a killer. Real concentration is placed upon his emotional stability and it’s clear as you progress through Far Cry 3, Jason goes from a boy scared of survival, to a man who will do anything to complete his goal. When we debate about whether children can play games that are rated higher than their age, this is a prime example of a title that requires emotional maturity to be able to step into the shoes of a regular man and go through a transformation that feels, scarily believable.

Far Cry 3 introduces one of this year's most demented new characters.

Of course this terrifying story is intertwined in very special and enthralling gameplay. It takes a lot for a shooter to stand out in a modern market flooded with shooting games, but Far Cry 3 delivers a stunning environment that really helps expand your gaming experience. Ubisoft created an open world for players to explore and exploit when taking down forts of enemies. You have the option of deciding how you want to plan your movements and attacks, giving this shooter a real sand box feel. A host of cleverly devised role-play elements like experience points, skill trees and a crafting system make Jason’s physical progression as well as his emotional progression, apparent.

Ultimately Far Cry 3 stands out because of a terrific combination of story telling, gameplay and progression. It’s a higher-level first person shooter, one that provides more than simple run and gun gameplay. As a result it’s difficult not to be invested in Jason’s plight to save his friends, kill his enemies and get off that wretched island. Far Cry 3 is a wonderful game and rightfully deserves its number 7 spot on our list. If you’re looking for a shooter this holiday period, look no further than Far Cry 3.

The industry needs most games like this and more characters like Vaas.

GOTY 2012 #08 - Dishonored

What a bad ass, I mean look at this guy seriously.

Hello and welcome back as I continue with another title to grace my list of 2012’s best games! Number 8 is actually a title from a video game developer that I don’t, like … gasp! That’s right I said it, I don’t like Bethesda, I don’t like the Elder Scrolls series and I certainly did not like Skyrim! This made me the perfect candidate to play Dishonored (I promised myself not to be bias) because I didn’t have rose-tinted ‘I love Skyrim’ goggles on during my play-through.

Surprisingly however, Dishonored was a magnificent title that took just about everything I didn’t like about Bethesda’s pervious outings, removed them and added just about everything I love about role-play games and as a result, comes in hot at number 8!

The environments and artistic direction are absolutely stunning.

So what made Dishonored so special? You could point to the absolutely stunning visual concept intertwining Victorian England with an industrial Steampunk style. Or perhaps the incredible voice acting and narrative that filled out this intriguing tale? It could also have been the entertaining and diverse combat system, or the multiple ways to tackle the game forcing different endings. Finally, it could just have been the plain and simple fact that Dishonored is a brand new IP and during a year full of games ending in the numbers 2 and 3, it’s always a breath of fresh air to see something new emerge in the video game industry.

Out of the aforementioned it was perhaps most surprising to see how developed Dishonored’s combat mechanics were, especially considering games like Skyrim had absolutely none whatsoever (I’m just gonna keep mashing right trigger in front of this fire-breathing DRAGON and when my health gets low I’ll pause MID-COMBAT and drink a potion, cool. Takes notes from Demon’s and Dark Souls Bethesda please. Still not bias!). The entire of Dishonored could be played with a Metal Gear-esque non-lethal approach, knocking out enemies and opting for one of the more rewarding endings available. Or there was of course the brutal variant, but whichever you choose the supplementing supernatural powers are what really stood out in Dishonored.

I still don't know what these things are but damn they're scary.

Resembling Bioshock’s plasmids, you had the ability to summon swarms of rats, use the elements or even perform bodily possession to force guards into battle with one-another. There were so many awesome ways to mix and match how you wanted to progress through Dishonored and this gave Bethesda’s title a significant amount of replay value, which was needed considering it was quite small in comparison to other offerings like Elder Scrolls. But this wasn’t a bad thing at all; in fact slimming down the game makes for a much better and more concentrated experience.

Dishonored was simply a great example of what happens when all the core elements of a video game align successfully. Even if one piece of the puzzle is wrong it can potentially ruin the whole experience but Dishonored provided excellent gameplay intertwined in a thoroughly enjoyable and diverse world. Congratulations Bethesda, this time you get a massive thumbs up from me.

I want to see more games like this Bethesda.

GOTY 2012 #09 - Hitman: Absolution

 

Agent 47 returns in splendid fashion.

Hello and welcome back as I continue the countdown towards the best game of 2012! With Resident Evil 6 opening our list the standards are already pretty high. In at number 9 to pip Capcom’s action horror adventure is the ever-popular Agent 47 in Hitman: Absolution.

Absolution is literally one of the last high profile titles to have been released in 2012 and what a monster of a game it turned out to be. Packing an impressive storyline, narrative and gameplay mechanics, this welcome divergence from the generic first-person shooter made gamers leap for joy as they were forced to strategize every move, learn their environments and come up with a variety of unique and sometimes horrific ways to assassinate their targets.

Disguises play a massive role to keep Agent 47 hidden.

The truly impressive thing about Hitman: Absolution was how the developers IO Interactive really stayed true to the original Hitman formula, just adding enough new content and additional gameplay elements to modernize what was already a really impressive set of foundations for a video game. The introduction of Instinct Mode gave Agent 47 heightened senses to learn about his surroundings, while Point Shooting gave our assassin precise accuracy should the need arise for open conflict. IO Interactive also made sure Agent 47 interacted with the environments much more naturally, now being able to use cover and weave his way around surroundings.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Hitman: Absolution was the awesome Contracts mode. This allowed players to participate in custom missions created by other gamers. Players focused on achieving the fastest times and the highest scores just like in the campaign, but these user-created scenarios were a whole load of fun to participate in and create too.

Sexy nun trailer that pissed everyone off -- awesome.

It was also nice to see a development company not shy away from a steep difficulty curve. On the easier settings Hitman: Absolution was fairly simple, guards had poor reaction times and there were way less of them. Ramp the difficulty level up however and you’re in for a serious battle. Hitman: Absolution was no walk over in the slightest when it came to its hardest difficulty settings and this had the potential to test even the most hardcore of gamers.

Hitman: Absolution was the perfect sequel to Hitman: Blood Money and it provided the perfect balance between familiar and new content for fans of the series and newcomers looking to dip their toe in for the first time. Hitman: Absolution was an experience unlike any other this year, providing challenging, interesting and thought-provoking gameplay that shouldn’t be missed by anyone who calls themselves a gamer. Well done IO Interactive, you’ve placed number 9 in our list of the best games of 2012!

The future is bright for Hitman after such a wonderful return.

GOTY 2012 #10 - Resident Evil 6

Capcom captivate some and disappoint others with Resident Evil 6.

Hello and welcome as I once again count down the video game industry’s best achievements this year. Spread across the next 10 days I will be revealing what I consider to be 2012’s finest, culminating in my Game of the Year 2012. I would of course LOVE to hear all your thoughts about the following choices and do debate, argue and ramble on our social network feeds to let me know whether you agree or disagree.

2 leading characters return alongside a new protagonist.

In at number 10 I have chosen Resident Evil 6, a title that received very mixed reviews globally. I personally felt that the negative reception was totally unjust and obviously some reviewers just woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

Resident Evil 6 evolved Capcom’s iconic series further down the line of Action Adventure Horror – which seemed to be most people’s biggest problem. Once you make your peace with the fact Resident Evil 6 is not a Survival Horror title, you find an action-packed adventure spread across 4 fantastic campaigns.

Resident Evil 6 refined the gameplay formula too, making this a much more fast-paced shooter, with plenty of run-and-gun moments and larger than life set-piece battles. Each campaign provided a strong sense of varied gameplay and it was clear that there was no weak link between them.

This, isn't survival horror?!

Saying all of this, I have to acknowledge that Resident Evil 6 did have some consistency and pacing issues. It wasn’t the most balanced game with ammo constantly being on the low side, enemies proving to be very cheap on harder difficulty levels and some disconnection between certain areas of the game. This perhaps can be blamed on the large development team behind the title but it’s no real excuse, especially considering how important the story is to Resident Evil 6.

Nevertheless, the offline split-screen cooperative mode as well as online functionality allowed gamers to experience this thrilling ride with a buddy, or go through it solo with an AI partner. If that’s not enough the infamous Mercenaries mode made a triumphant return as you attempted to climb up the leaderboard and achieve ultimate Resident Evil greatness.

While having some issues Resident Evil 6 still stood out as one of 2012’s finest, leaving me with a satisfying grin on my face after every single campaign. With plenty of replay value alongside the relatively large initial story, this is an absolute must have for action adventure and horror hybrid lovers. Zombies may be on the down but Leon and Chris’s battle against Umbrella is really just beginning. 

An iconic scene for the video game industry.

CeX Review - New Super Mario Bros. U

Click here to read my review.

CeX Review - Hitman: Absolution

Click here to read my review.

CeX Review - Nintendo Wii U

Click here to read my hands-on review with Nintendo's new hardware.