With that, I give you our Game of the Year Candidates.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3/360/PC)
In a world where Indiana Jones and John McClane can be brought back from the dead after more than a decade, eight years seems an inadequately short amount of time to necessitate the tag of "revival" on any franchise. But eight years is, like, forever in video game time. That said, Eidos Montreal's "revival" of the Deus Ex franchise was a tricky one.
Deus Ex, (one of the pillars of modern gaming) and its under-appreciated sequel Invisible War, cast a long shadow. Luckily, Human Revolution lives in the shadows. With a silenced pistol. And retractable blades in its arms ready to stab you in the face.
 |
| Or in the neck. Wherever, really. |
That is, if that's how you want to play. The game is all about choice, and it does an excellent job of letting players answer the game's myriad of societal quandaries however they choose. While there are some stumbles along the way, most notably the narrative urgency taking a backseat to the aforementioned choice; Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an incredible game that deserves every one of the hundred-odd hours that will be put into its replaying.
Portal 2 (PS3/360/PC)
Portal was a special game. What could have been a highly conceptual, but otherwise bland puzzle game was brought vividly to life by a tremendous vocal performance by Ellen McLain and some of the decade's best writing in any medium, courtesy of Eric Wolpaw and Chet Faliszek. Following it up was a daunting task, but Valve stuck to the tried and true sequel formula of: MORE.
Portal 2 is bigger, longer, and, in many respects, better than its predecessor. Instead of featuring the best video game vocal performance of the year, it features the three best video game vocal performances of the year, with Messieurs Steven Merchant and J.K. Simmons joining Ms. McLain in the cast. Instead of two writers, they got three, with the original game's duo becoming a trio with the addition of Jay Pinkerton.
(Although no amount of writers could top Jonathon Coulton's theme song from Portal.)
The gameplay in Portal 2 is expanded from what the first game offered, adding co-operative play (worth the game's price tag alone) and expanded contraptions and puzzle mechanics. Portal 2's singular misstep is that, in an effort to streamline the experience, concessions to player freedom were made. While the puzzles can still be tricky and every one of them is wildly creative, there is no getting around the fact that they have been made easier and that alternative solutions have been eliminated. The game is still an absolute blast, and anything that induces this much laughter automatically gets a nod for a Salty.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)
By now, you're surely noticing a trend. There be sequels up ins. Video games are unique as a medium in that, thanks to advances in technology and community feedback, sequels regularly outshine their originators. A perfect example is Naughty Dog's Uncharted series. The first game, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, was an excellent game, but due to its being Naughty Dog's first foray into a game of its kind, it was largely imperfect. Through refining and extrapolating the first game's core concepts, they were able to release the best game of the current console generation with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Now they get to follow that up. Sequels, baby!
Just to get it out of the way, it should be noted that with the release of Uncarted 3, the crown of "Best Game of the Console Generation" still rests comfortably on the head of Uncharted 2. That said: WOW. Drake's Deception is unbelievably good, and it is a testament to Among Thieves that the third installment is unable usurp the throne. The animation, the writing, the action, the explosions, the crumbling buildings... I don't even know where to start. The single player campaign is a stunning achievement in narrative gaming. As I have no desire to be shot in the back of the head by 12-year-olds, the multiplayer is of little consequence to me, but is technically quite proficient. It just saddens me to think of the development hours that went into it that could have been spent making the single player even more grand.
Long story short: Play this game. Or did you not see the trailer above? You get to do the stuff in it!
Minecraft (PC)
Luckily for Minecraft, there is no statute of limitations concerning a game's gestation period and its subsequent nomination for The Salties. Publicly available in alpha and beta versions since 2009, Markus Perrson's (who is clearly either a robot or alien posing as a human under a false name that translates to "Mark Person") Minecraft is the video game world's greatest indie success story. Built on an incredibly simple premise and sporting a pixel count that makes Pong look sexy, Minecraft's homebrewed aesthetic might fool passerbys into thinking it's nothing special.
But it is exactly that. Minecraft is a special game; the likes of which we would be lucky to see again soon. Remember how cool Legos used to be before they sold out? Minecraft takes the principle of block-based construction into the digital realm. It's like Legos, if you had to mine for every brick yourself, and then use those bricks to build defenses against ghastly creatures that attack you as soon as night falls. It sounds slightly tedious, and it certainly can be, but it captures the excitement of exploration and creation in a way that no other open world game has before.
Plus: You can build a giant digital reproduction of you genitals, which is hugely appealing to a certain subset of the internet community.
FIFA 12 (PS3/360/Other platforms but who even plays sports games on those)
Yes. A sports game. Right there, next to regular games, on a year's best list. Deal with it. The criteria for appraising sports games is slightly different than those by which other games are judged. The aim of a sports game is not necessarily to provide a sweeping narrative or an immersive experience. They are intended, with the exception of arcade sports titles, to be as accurate a replication as possible of their sport in a digital medium. By that criterion, FIFA 12 fits right into any year's best list because of one key word: best.
FIFA 12 is the best facsimile of football/soccer ever seen in a video game. It might even be the most accurate replica of any sport in a game, ever. The NBA 2k series put up a reasonable case for that distinction with this year's 2k12, but there are still too many idiosyncrasies that pull the player out of the game for it to properly challenge FIFA 12. It took EA Sports the better part of a console generation, but they finally figured out how to make dribbling a legitimate offensive weapon, and while that took hampering players' defensive capabilities, it is a more than welcome trade.
You're going to want to go ahead an mute this video before you play it.
In FIFA 12, games finally flow and build like an actual match. Defenders are forced to back off, giving good dribblers space, lest they be embarrassed by a quick skirt to the side. With the ability to blindly charge attacking players by mashing down on the pressure button taken away, the rhythm of games is preserved and what unfolds actually ends up looking like a game of professional football. Built on top of the core gameplay are an insane amount of modes and options that could keep players busy for years to come.
Honorable Mentions
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (PS3/360/PC)
I liked it better when it was called Oblivion, which I liked better when it was called Morrowind. It's a great game, there just isn't enough evolution in this series to earn a Salty nod.
Batman: Arkham City (PS3/360/PC)
It's telling that everyone mistakenly calls this game Arkham Asylum, the name of its predecessor. It looks nearly identical. Tons of fun, with a great combat system, but it loses a lot of its luster if the shine from the fan service isn't blinding you.
Mass Effect 2 (PS3/360/PC)
Talk about getting slept on. Released in January for some reason, it just couldn't survive long enough in the collective unconscious of everyone who called it Game of the Year upon it's release. Honestly though, it just wasn't my thing.
NBA 2k12 (PS3/360)
The best basketball game ever made. The problem? It had the previous best basketball game ever made as a foundation to build upon.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)Reliable sources inform us that this was an excellent game, but, to use a turn of phrase from my idol over at Big Ghost Chronicles, "I can't really fucks wit tha Wii yo."
Conclusion?
I don't even know yet.
Stay tuned for the official awarding of The Salties on January 1st to find out which game wins.
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