Your GOTY 2012?


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Ok, depending on what you look for in a game I either put XCOM or Spec Ops as my GOTY.

XCOM has replayability, but not necessarily an engaging story. By that I mean that the story doesn't really play an integral part other than offering a setting for aliens to invade.

Spec Ops : The Line has an incredible story, and even on my second playthrough I'm finding it tough to make the decisions. However, it falls down on replayability, most people would probably only play it once, and I think I'll put it down for a long time before I consider playing through after the second time.

And it is exactly THE story that makes it the game of the year IMHO. I take it you do not ready anything else I said if this is your reaction.

Indeed, there is not all that much gameplay within the game itself. And it is not challenging to play even in the slightest. That is not what makes it so damn good.

What they were able to achieve with their story was fantastic, and there is no reason other more action based games could not do the same if they choose to do so.

It elevated the art of story telling in the video game genre to another level. For that reason alone it is worthy of GOTY, again IMO.

I don't mind story in games, but if you want an entire story, just read a book. Zombies are one the most overrated content (besides Vampires) in movies, comic books and games it's not even funny.

How about pushing innovative game-play with a story that doesn't involve zombies or vampires.

  • Like 1
How about pushing innovative game-play with a story that doesn't involve zombies or vampires.

Do you mean like Heavy Rain? There were no zombies, and it was a new type of game in that there wasn't a whole lot of...well, gaming. It was an interactive story. I was quite impressed with the results of HR, I might go back and play it again when I've finished Spec Ops.

Do you mean like Heavy Rain? There were no zombies, and it was a new type of game in that there wasn't a whole lot of...well, gaming. It was an interactive story. I was quite impressed with the results of HR, I might go back and play it again when I've finished Spec Ops.

I don't have a PS3, but I watched the entire game on youtube (walk-through with comments) and was impressed at least with the beginning of game-play narrowed quickly.

It did look impressive other than the dude saying "Jason" a million times. Reminds me of Poltergeist the movie where they kept screaming "Carol-ann" all of the time. I think SNL even made fun of it.

^ ^

That's exactly the story of mine. I bought the original one when it came out, but lost interest after some minutes or so. Instead of buying the second one, I played a bit on a friend' PC and it was similar experience for me. I just can't get into it. For instance, the weapon mechanism doesn't suit me. At all. I can't get the grip on 'em.

I guess its hard to explain :|

Max Payne 3 ended up being a good game (not story, per se), there were parts that were unnecessarily bad though. The Favela looked great, but the gameplay wasn't there, and the flashy cut scenes got so bad at that part that I got a migraine. The cemetery was fun, and had that Max Payne 2 sort of 'how many bad guys are there?' feel to it.

Dishonored was a fun game, but the play mechanics didn't really pan out. I only invested in a handful of upgrades, and I got the bad ending even though at no point did I feel like I was a bad guy. I also really couldn't understand Corvo's motive... they made the actual story way too subtle and, quite frankly, unbelievable.

Anyway, my favorite games were probably Mark of the Ninja and Xenoblade Chronicles, although I still haven't beaten XC.. if there's one mark against it, it's that there's too much to do.

Here's my top 3 of the year so far (granted there's quite a few games I'd like to try out that I haven't gotten around to yet, games like Dishonored, Farcry 3 and The Walking Dead)

1. Borderlands 2

2. Journey

3. Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Borderlands 2 I've been playing co-op with friends and have easily put 100+ hours into it and still yet to ge through the second piece of DLC. While I expected to enjoy the game, I honestly didn't expect to be enjoying it this much so that's why it's taken my number one spot. I was in the Journey beta back in 2011 so I had high expectations for it and it certainly delivered on those. Can't remember ever being moved by a game quite like I was with this one after playing it through. Then Need for Speed, racing games have always been my bread and butter and have been loving every moment of this. Originally picked it up for the Vita as I wanted more games for on the go but enjoyed it so much ended it picking it up for the PS3 as well over Black Friday sales and have had a blast playing it both solo and online.

Should it not have both?

It should. But I'm increasingly hearing comments along the lines of "I don't care if the gameplay as bad as long as it has a good story, blah, blah..."

Following this path the ideal game would just be mashing a button to advance cutscenes.

GOTY 2012

Resident Evil 6

Top mentions

Borderlands 2

Xenoblade

I really enjoyed resident evil 6, as a modern resident evil fan since resident evil 4 and 5, i find this last version to be an improved over previous modern resident evil game, move and shoot, improved cooperative, more content and better item management are some gameplay factors that make me enjoy this game over previous version story wise its large and seems more epic than 4 and 5.

I didn't even look at it, nor the first game. It just didn't seem to be my style.

It actually wasn't mine either. But all my PC gaming friends were playing it and every time I looked at Steam and saw them all in-game I felt left out. So I bought it and I was blown away. I really don't care for shooters all that much, and the "RPG" aspect is nothing amazing. But the co-op, and story/dialogue in the game is what really sold me. I dislike the basic gameplay, but love the fun it provides; so much that it negates the things I didn't like about it.

Honestly, this year has had some good titles, but I really can't think of anything that deserves GOTY.

I suppose my vote will go to Borderlands 2 simply because of the amount of fun I had with friends and the hilarious dialogue. Though, if I didn't have friends to play it with, I wouldn't have even bothered, nor do I think it would be that good by myself.

It's sad day for gaming when we've reached the point where people judge a game based on "story" and not gameplay.

Actually you can ask members who have been here about the fact I have stated several times I could care less about the story in video games, usually because they suck ass. I usually almost always care about gameplay. And again, this is why Walking Dead was so impressive to me. As already stated by someone else, we can have both.

  • Like 1

It depends on the game...

Indeed. I personally have room in my world for games that are heavily story-driven (where somewhat shallow gameplay becomes forgivable) as well as games that are heavily skill-driven (where the storyline is non-existent but it really doesn't matter anyways).

Anyways, I'm working on my list right now -- I'll post back a little later. I have enjoyed seeing your guys' choices though. Like Larry said, I'm surprised to see him choose The Walking Dead, since I know how critical he has been of video game stories in the past. Even more tempted to play that (those?) game(s) now.

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