I’m serious. We live in one of the best if not the best time to be involved in this hobby. More people are gaming than ever, more great games are available than we could ever imagine and competition both among game companies and retail is driving prices down faster than ever.

Multiplayer games are reaching al new heights. Battlefield 3 is an example, Hey Dez, C4!

So why is it so many gamers can do nothing except point out the negatives? Don’t get me wrong; I am very aware of the problems which currently exist within this pastime of mine. I just think many gamers have gotten so jaded they cannot see just how good we have it. A few weeks ago, while reading yet another comment on Twitter about how some issue was ruining gaming, I decided enough was enough. I felt it was time to remind gamers just how great a time it is to be a gamer. This series was born out of that frustration.

So sit back as over the next few weeks I explain why we live in a Prime Time for gaming.

The Misconceptions

So just where has this idea that everything is horrible for gamers get started? That’s a difficult question to answer. A couple years back, it seemed that the industry could do no wrong. The consoles were selling, games were breaking sales records all over and it seemed gaming was almost immune to the recession.

Somewhere in this time of gaming explosion, however, something happened. Studios began closing. Online passes started to creep in to the gaming community, going from being something a couple of publishers were doing to the norm for multiplayer games. Core gamers began to see the rise of casual and social gaming as a threat instead of more people being introduced to this hobby we all love. Slowly, gamers went from being excited to share their interests with others to being jaded, and they took to the Internet by force to start decrying the death of gaming as we know it.

Gunstringer proves Kinect could really provide some unique experiences.

Is gaming dead? Far from it, yet it seems that many people want to convince you of this. If you read Twitter, forum posts, comments on gaming sites and even some opinions from well known gaming writers, you would begin to think it was. Every change to what we have come to know as gaming is being viewed with cynicism if not outright criticism. Many have treated Kinect as the end of core gaming. When Double Fine turned to Kickstarter for funding, many people freaked out over how it was unfair for an established company to use that service. EA chose to release an indie bundle on Steam, and all many gamers could mention was how EA had no clue what the phrase indie meant as opposed to just being happy EA was bringing attention to some good games. While I am not trying to say there are no issues surrounding these examples, the response from the gaming community has been blown severely out of proportion. The game industry is still alive and well, and it is not going anywhere.

Why This Is Prime Time

I understand there is a big difference between realizing gaming is not dead and actually stating we are in possibly the best time to be a gamer. I don’t just expect you to agree with me without some evidence. Over the next few articles, I will be covering many of the reasons why I think we live in a Prime Time for gaming, but the following is an overview of just a few of the reasons:

• There are more people gaming than ever before.
• There are more unique gaming experiences than ever before.
• Gamers can take their gaming experience anywhere they go.
• Gamers have the ability to track down games thanks to various sources including the internet which were not available even just a few years ago.
• Steam, Amazon and other forms of digital distribution have made games both cheaper and more readily available.
• Retail competition has truly put the power in the hands of gamers.

The Vita is making gaming portable like never before.

These are only a few of reasons why I would argue we live in the best time to be calling ourselves gamers. There are many others, and over the next several articles in this series, I will look at many of them in much greater detail.

So just what is the point of this series? Why am I taking the time to write about something we as gamers should already understand? I think it is time we as gamers stopped just complaining about everything and realize just how good we have it. No, we should not turn a blind eye to some of the concerns we have in regards to what is happening to our favorite pastime, but we also should not automatically jump to the worst case scenario once something happens, even if it is a negative. If we can learn to appreciate just how good we have it, we not only will enjoy gaming a whole lot more, but we may just find creative ways to deal with the problems within the industry.

It’s a great time to be a gamer. It’s about time we took the time to realize that.

SpyParty is an espionage style game being created by Chris Hecker and is currently in early Beta testing. I’ve been invited to take part in the beta and have the opportunity to share pictures, videos, and impressions of my experience. Time to shake your martini and dive into the party.

Those martinis better be shaken!

The Game:

On the surface, SpyParty is rather simple. It is currently a 2-player game where one player controls the Spy and the other plays as the Sniper. The Spy is placed in a room full of party goers and must accomplish a set number of tasks before time runs out but must do so by drawing as little attention to themselves as possible. Naturally, as the sniper, you are trying to find and shoot the spy before they are able to do all of their missions. The one thing both players share is that there is little room for error. One wrong move can give the spy away while the sniper only gets one shot and needs to make it count.

Impressions:

First and foremost, do NOT judge this game by the graphics. The graphics may seem a bit retro but the meat of this game is the interaction you share as spy and sniper. While the concept seems very simple, the game is far from it. Both roles play very differently and focus on different things, but what is shared between the two is a crucial attention to detail. At first I thought playing the Spy would be easy, I mean how hard could it be to act like a NPC, right? Apparently very hard I came to realize after playing my first couple of matches. Little things like not making a mistake when you are walking, mistiming a certain action, or simply leaving a conversation too early can give you away. The game does a great job reminding you how human it is to err.

Plenty of the classic spy characters are present at the party and anyone of them can be the spy.

As the Spy, you always are able to see where the Sniper is pointing their gun…but this doesn’t necessarily mean that is where they are looking. This created an intense paranoia feeling for me where I felt I was under a microscope and was always being watched at all times. This in turn makes every mission as a Spy extremely tense and suspenseful. The smallest action easily becomes a tense, hold-your-breath-moment as you cross your fingers and just hope your advisory didn’t just see that statue swap.

The Sniper is equally as intense. Instead of focusing on blending, the greatest tool you must rely on is your observational skills. Hecker does such a great job of making the NPCs more human that it makes it a real challenge to determine whether something you just saw was Spy or intentional programming. NPCs will occasionally make movement mistakes, change directions suddenly, behave odd for just a short enough to make you question if they are the Spy. Often times I would spot something and monitor a character for minutes at a time believing them to be the Spy when they were really just an NPC. There are tells that are dead giveaways for the Spy and when I caught them, I felt a rush of joy and relief while thinking to myself “checkmate”. But these 100% certainties get harder and harder to catch as you begin to play with more experienced players. Just like with the Spy, there is always that suspenseful moment you have right before pulling the trigger where you’re not 100% sure you have the right target and hold your breath to see if you were right or just shot an innocent bystander.

I spy, with my little sniper eye…

SpyParty truly is a game of psychological warfare. Strategies and style had to change with each person I played. It is incredibly addictive as well. While each match only lasts around 3-5 minutes, it was very easy to get sucked into playing for 2-3 hours at a time. And despite its simple premise, it takes a lot of time and practice to “master” each class making it clear the game is very skill based. It’s hard for a beginner to go against an expert player with 100+ games under their belt but the more you play/learn, the better you become.

Overall I’m really enjoying my time with SpyParty. The concept is unique and provides a much different style of gameplay than what is currently out there. The game has a solid starting foundation and I would even go so far as to say the game, as it is right now, is well worth the $15 admittance fee despite the limited graphics and game options.  The great thing is there are a lot of different directions this game can. I can only expect it to improve between now and its release in the future.

SpyParty is currently in a closed beta, but you can sign up and get on the waiting list to be invited (Hecker is now sending out 100′s of invite each week and plans to increase the number of invites as time goes on). The game is playable on both Windows and Mac based computers. As of right now, SpyParty’s beta is in the style of MineCraft where to be in the beta, you will have to pay $15 BUT this also means you will get the game for free once it is released (along with a few other possible goodies…emphasis on the possible). You can sign up for the beta here:

SpyParty Early-Access Beta-Sign Up

I’ll be sure to keep posting more pics and hopefully some more videos of my beta experience.

End Game credits breakdown each person's actions making an interesting story after each game.

What is Confrontation?

For those not familiar, and I was one, Confrontation is a tabletop miniatures game, set in the land of Aarklash.  Campaign players will control a group of Griffins, known as the Army of Light.  During the Rag’narok, the Griffin have been warring against the Scorpion, Alchemists of Dirz who perform the most obscene scientific experiments on the unwilling, mutating or killing them.  Tired of the war, Griffin has decided to send a team of it’s best warriors into Scorpion territory to learn it’s secrets and attempt to sabotage the war from within Scorpion territory.  Of course, your mission won’t be simple, or devoid of complications from the appearances of the Wolfen of the Wolves or the Orcs of the Jackal.  You are chosen to lead this group, you will decide if it succeeds and ends the war, or fails and allows Scorpion to have the advantage.  Will you be able to save Aarklash,  or will your shortcomings condemn it?

Out Think and Out Fight When Out Manned

Our preview build had a tutorial level and two game levels.  The Griffin are powerful warriors, mages and tacticians.  There are formidable ranged opponents, well-armored and their mages study the school of fire.  Gameplay combat takes it’s elements from the likes of Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age : Origins.  You view the game isometrically, able to pause combat to direct your squads attack—an element that you will not be able to progress without utilizing.  Just like a WoW raid, your battles in Confrontation will succeed when you blend typical tank, ranged and support classes.  Pausing combat, flanking enemies with your melee fighters and supporting with buff spells and ranged attacks pays big dividends in both small and large, drawn out confrontations.  Some characters even have both ranged and melee weapons to switch from to help out in narrow corridor fights where not all characters may be able to reach your attackers.  Whether it’s in the desert, or the dark, perilous labs of the Scorpion, the confrontations will be frequent and hard-fought.  As you gain team members, you will have the ability to change up your squad before missions.  Choose carefully, and make sure to keep a balance of up front melee and ranged support classes.  It’s easy to be tempted by taking a four tank squad into battle, and that may get you a fair ways in, but it’ll never go the distance.  As your characters progress and gain experience, they will gain new abilities and skills.  This gives you not only more options in battle, but more effective choices to disable your enemies and buff your allies so that you can manage the ebs and flows of a battle instead of trying to make every encounter a one hit kill.

Will You Choose Confrontation?

From what we played of Confrontation, it was pretty impressive.  The graphics were really sharp and the tactical combat worked very well.  Even with the more limited number of team members in the preview, tactics were varied.  The different spells and abilities gave some good varied choices between offensive and support options, giving the player the chance to give a heavy full on attack up front and the use of support options to stay the course of the battle, or a balance of support with varied offensive spells to lengthen the stamina of the team and the duration of the conflict with minimal team injuries and casualties.  The mage had a Stun and Fire Cage spell that would offer the ability to nullify one or more attackers and give you some breathing room to focus your attacks on the remaining troops.  Sadly, only the Griffin will be available in the single player campaign, with 12 team members to choose from to customize your squad.  Multiplayer, however, will give you the opportunity to not only see if your squad has what it takes to take on human opponents, but the chance to play as the Jackal, Scorpion or the Wolf.  Confrontation looks to be a strong new entry in the tactical-RPG genre.  With a deep well of lore to draw from, I’d be very surprised if we don’t see and add-on or two for Confrontation sometime post-release.  Blood Bowl earned itself two additional iterations, with many more teams and races available, so I would expect Confrontation will see a similar proliferation of content, provided it sells well after it’s 4/5/2012 release date.  For more information on the game and it’s lore, check out the Confrontation Homepage.  It’s a good place to research the story and the factions, to help prepare you to enlist in the Rag’narok and fight to protect Aarklash.

The Demon Hunter

Those who call themselves demon hunters are not a people or a nation. They owe allegiance to no king. They are but a remnant – an echo – of those who’ve lost their lives to hellspawn. When their homes are burnt and their families butchered by demons, most newly scarred refugees give up on living – but a few bury their dead, band together, and swear vengeance.

I love the description Blizzard gives this class!  The Demon Hunter is basically Hugh Jackman’s Van Helsing shrunk down and plunged into a dungeon crawler.  They rain death from afar with crossbows, and use traps and evade maneuvers to keep their enemies at a distance.  The Demon Hunter doesn’t have the diverse skill tree as some other character classes, but agile moves, traps, varied arrow shots and bolas insure that you will have tons of fun with this ranged class.  Sadly, I forgot to include a demo of the Bola skill in the video posted, but take a look at the ricochet shots and traps that the Demon Hunter can wield.  If you want more information on the class, check out the info page on the Diablo III site here.

The Witch Doctor

Only a select few men and women among the umbaru tribes can ascend to the hallowed role of witch doctor, for they must possess both a history of battle and a talent for communing with spirits. The latter ability belongs solely to those born with the touch of the Unformed Land – the invisible realm where the umbaru believe the spirits of the dead dwell once they have left Sanctuary behind.

The Witch Doctor is not at all a class that I expected to enjoy.  I usually favor the ranged likes of classes like the Demon Hunter, and I’m not much for the caster/summoner type.  That all changed with the Witch Doctor.  In some ways similar to the Demon Hunter, the Witch Doctor can use traps and ranged weapons, like his blow gun, but then adds summons into the mix for an amazing combination.  You can use his traps to slow and bottleneck groups of enemies, while your summons occupy a handful and you are then free to handle to scraps.  I found the skill tree to be much more diverse and attractive; there’s something for everyone and a few different strategies to be achieved with different skill combinations.  Again, the full description of the Witch Doctor and his vodoo bag of tricks can be found on the Diablo III site here.

 Dungeons With WiFi?!

Not to neglect the other character classes int he game–the Wizard, the Monk and the Barbarian–but I just wanted to pay a little extra attention to the Witch Doctor and Demon Hunter, as I particularly liked their characters and playstyles.  In the meantime, let’s talk about this constant internet required for Diablo III!  Because the characters are persistent from single-player to the PvP and PvE areas of the game, and because there will be a real money auction house for in game items, Diablo III will require a constant internet connection.  Developers will tell you that this will be no worse than what any garden variety MMO requires to run in the background, but I would argue that not all of us have that kind of access(shocking, I know).  From my home connection, the Diablo III Beta is completely crippled, meaning that I cannot enjoy a single-player experience from the comfort of my own home.  You can compare the responsiveness of my video below to that of the Witch Doctor in the video above.  For some odd reason, the lag is much more exaggerated in actual gameplay and somewhat smoother in the video capture.  Either way you cut it, there is a noticeable lag for attacking, casting and moving/equipping inventory items, as well as for transitioning to new areas.  The combat lag really takes a toll on your gameplay, as the video will show.  On top of that, there are framerate issues that will stutter and push your character back to previous points on the path they were traveling.  It’s a shame to have things go in this direction, especially since the Beta has really gotten me interested in the game, but we’ll have to see how the final product works.

Brass Tacks

All of this being said, I can say that the Beta was an overall success.  I was more on the Torchlight II side of the fence with these two upcoming releases, and I wasn’t sure Diablo III would be my cup of tea.  The Beta certainly changed that opinion, giving me two classes that I would definitely play through with, and that’s prior to me getting more hands on with the Monk class.  The Beta follows a few channels of one of the game’s main story arcs.  Within that section, you get quite a few dungeons and areas to explore and a few levels to bump your character up with.   There is also a co-op portion, that I did not get to try out.  Though, if I enjoyed the single-player portion, I can only imagine how much more satisfying it is rolling with a party of friends.  I am excited for the overall game, but hesitant on the required internet connection.  It’s a daunting thought to pay $60 for a game that I cannot play at home, even in Single-player mode.  I understand the reasonings behind that choice, but it may compromise my support of the title.  That said, if connection is not an issue for you, Beta codes are being given out all over the place, snatch one up and I have no doubts that you will be very impressed with what Blizzard has been working on!

There is only one problem with trying to review this game, however: I am currently 42 hours into it, and I am probably not even half way through the main quest.

No, that is not an overstatement. The side quests, faction quests and various just fun things I can do in this game have kept me busy, and while the temptation is there to just power through so I can review it, I do not think I would truly be doing the game justice if I did that.

This leaves me with a bit of an issue, however. As I am sure most of you already know, Mass Effect 3 is coming out Tuesday, and when it does, Amalur is going to play a bit of a back seat for a while. While I have every intention of beating this game, ME3  will be my main focus for a while. I did toy with the idea of writing a review even though I did not finish the game, but I do not think that is the right thing to do with an RPG. At the same time, I needed to write something.

So, if you are wondering just what Kingdoms of Amalur is all about, read on.

Choose Your Destiny

Welcome to Amalur, a realm where everyone is controlled by Fate. Destiny is everything. The threads of Fate are unchanging, and the Fateweavers have the ability, or curse depending upon whom you ask, to read those threads and tell people’s futures, specifically their deaths. It is all set in stone, and nothing can be done about it. At least, that is how things used to be.

The Fae, immortals who when killed are reborn again through something called The Great Cycle, have changed. The Winter Court has been taken over by a group of radicals known as the Tuatha, and their goal is to wipe the mortal races off the face of Amalur. The Summer Court has been reluctant to take action against its cousins, and though the mortals are holding their own, they are losing numbers where the Tuatha are not. All looks lost.

That’s when you die.

That’s right; for those of you who have not paid any attention to the game, you start out as a character who has died at the hands of the Tuatha. You are brought to life by the by the power of the Well of Souls, a creation of the gnome scientist Fomurous Hughes. You soon find out that you are not bound by fate. Your destiny is in your own hands. On top of that, you have the power to change the fates of those around you, something which could very well make you the most important person in all of Amalur. Tuatha will hunt you, others will try to use you, but in the end only you can decide whether you will use this awesome power to save Amalur or destroy it.

Chakrams are great weapons to use when fighting multiple enemies…or trying to feel like Xena.

Sounds like a pretty in depth plot, right? You do not know the half of it. Salvatore reportedly wrote over 1000 years of back history for the game, and his time and care with the story shows. You want to know why I have spent so much time playing the game and left so much of the main quest unfinished? A big part is because much of the same time and effort which was put into the main story was put into the faction and side missions. Sure, there are a few of your typical fetch quests, but there are many more which have uncommon depth. Take the faction missions for the House of Ballads, which is not only a fascinating story in and of itself but gives you tremendous insight into the Fae. Then there are missions like the one I just finished (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD). A merchant sent me to find word of his daughter. She was trying to lead a group of refuges to rebuild a town destroyed years earlier by the war, and he has not heard from her for a while. I went to the town just to find out it had been attacked by Tuatha raiders. The only survivor seemed to think the daughter had been captured by them, so I mounted a rescue, only to find she was actually trying to close down the access points the Tuatha were using to get to the area. I teamed up with her to do that, and only after that task was completed that she was willing to go home. What was supposed to be a simple rescue mission became a whole lot more, and this simple story managed to fit into the main story rather nicely. You are fortunate if a few side missions in most RPGs connect back to the main quest. In this game, it appears many of them do. (END SPOILERS)

So up to this point, the story had been great. What about the gameplay?

THIS Is How You Do Combat

If you have been looking for an action RPG with a phenomenal combat system, look no further than Kingdoms of Amalur. The combat is fairly simple at face value: assign one weapon to your primary and one to secondary. Then assign four abilities/spells which can be activated by the face buttons while holding down the R Trigger (360 controls). Add the ability to dodge at the press of a button and a shield to block, and you have your basic elements. In fact, in it’s simplest form, the combat almost resembles that of Fable II. You can even switch your attacks among primary, secondary and magic on the fly.

That is only scratching the surface, however. Unlike Fable or most any RPG for that matter, you are not limited by the type of weapons you can make primary versus those you can make secondary. Want to carry both a long sword and a sorcerer’s staff? Feel free. Have two sets of really nice daggers which you cannot decide between? Equip them both. While having two different sets of daggers equipped will limit the range of attacks you can make, the fact the game gives you this option sets it apart from so many others in the genre. The choice is yours.

There are the skills you can unlock for your individual weapons. The three I am specializing in right now are daggers, bows and chakrams. I have the ability to charge up attacks on all three, with very different results: a dash attack with the daggers which can be repeated up to 5 times, a charged shot with the bow which does a whole lot more damage than an arrow normally does and a spinning attack with my two chakrams which will hit everyone around me. Then there are the delayed attacks and unlockables like the charge shot I can fire with the bow from a shield blocking position which rains arrows on my foes.

So you see the depth in the weapons, but it is also there in your abilities as well. One trick I like to do right now is stun enemies with my shock charged chakrams and then tag them with a flame burning spell I use. Tag up to 5 enemies, hold down the fire attack and next thing you know you are serving enemy flambe. Then I will isolate the most powerful one and start laying into it with my daggers, killing it off quickly while the others recover. The combat in this game is just fluid. I have yet to play an Action RPG where it is more satisfying. How you fight is truly your choice, and many people will choose completely different ways to dispatch the same group of enemies.

Then there is Reckoning Mode. You earn fate in combat by killing enemies and by using your various unlocked skills. Fill up your fate meter, and you can shift into Reckoning, a mode where you move faster and do a whole lot more damage to the enemy. Once you have reduced an enemy to the point of death in this mode, you can Fate Shift them, weaving the threads of fate into a tangible force execution style and taking you out of Reckoning. If multiple enemies have been brought to that death state, they will all be killed when you Fate Shift one, and you can gain serious bonus experience for taking enemies out this way. This really helps give you an added edge when heavily outnumbered or fighting the various bosses.

Reckoning Mode really tips the scales in your favor. Yeah, he's dead.

Your choices are not limited to just combat. Don’t want to specialize in just magic, might or finesse? Spread you ability points among the three as you see fit, unlocking “Destinies” (character classes) with different bonuses. Wishing you were better at a particular skill? Temporarily boost your abilities by using potions you find throughout the world, or build up your alchemy skill and create your own from harvested reagents. Use sagecrafting to create gems which can greatly enhance your weapons and armor. Get your blacksmithing skill up high enough, and you can even use those gems in the creation of weapons. I am at the point in the game where many of the items I create are better than the ones I can find or buy, and that makes crafting a blast.

The Complete Package

So, the gameplay and story of Kingdoms of Amalur are excellent, but that is not all there is to this game. 38 Studios and Big Huge Games have crafted a world that feels vibrant. While at first glance the graphics will seem very similar to MMOs like World of Warcraft, there will be several occasions where you will want to just gaze in wonder at the game. Combat animations are smooth. Vistas and landscapes are breath-taking. The first time I walked into the Fae Gardens of Ysa, I was in complete awe of this other world the artists had created. The Fae are radically different from the mortal races, and nowhere have I been made more aware of that than Ysa. While I have seem some graphical glitches and the character animations during conversations are not always the best, the graphics are extremely impressive.

If there is one thing I could point out as a detraction from the game, it is the side conversations. While the main conversations you have with characters are generally interesting and enlightening, ask a character who they are or about the area around them, and you will often get very bland responses. Many times, I selected one of these conversation trees in the game only to find myself skipping past it cause it was not that interesting.

There is so much more of Kingdoms of Amalur I could discuss, but this should give you an idea of whether or not you would like the game. If you ask me if the game is worth your time and money, I would say overwhelmingly yes. There are only two things which you may want to consider. The first is this is a long game, as my 42 hours with not much main quest completed shows. The second is it will be just as good a few months from now as it is now, so if you are even a little hesitant, it may be worth waiting. I personally think it is an early contender for game of the year, but with no multiplayer contingent, it is not a game which needs to be played immediately.

As I mentioned earlier, I have every intention of beating Kingdoms of Amalur. When that happens, I will write my official review. Until then, I hope my impressions of the game have helped you decide whether or not you think it is worth buying.

A Pirate’s Tale

If you are new to the world of Risen, you’ve picked a great time to jump in!  The close of the first game has seen the release of the Titans and the dawning of the Age of Destruction.  As a Lieutenant of the Inquisition, you receive the call to check in with your commanding officer.  The opening is not quite colorful and cheery as our hero attempts to drown his sorrows and the burning homefront of the Inquisition, Caldera, in a few bottles of rum.  With Caldera under attack by one of the Titans, your commanding officer relays rumors to you of a pirate weapon that could possible take down the mighty Titan and get Caldera back on it’s feet, turning the tides in the Inquisition’s favor and restoring hope for humanity.  Ah!  But there is always a catch!  First, you must earn the trust of the pirates, and to do that you must join them!  Your leader swiftly discharges you and shuns you from the ranks of the Inquisition, to aid you in your secret mission, and sends you off to an open world of piratey adventure and booty chasing! (oh c’mon, you knew there’d be a few puns!).

Setting Sail

Collecting your first crew member, Patty, the daughter of the infamous Steel Beard, you set sail to the island of Tacarigua.  From here on out, the world is your oyster.  There are multiple islands to explore, many quests to take on and nothing but your thirst for adventure to guide you.  Risen 2 gives you the option to choose how to shape your character in both stats and alignment.  Leveling up takes a sidestep from the normal RPG fare by allowing you to boost your stats in a few key categories and then unlocking skills within those groupings.  For example, you can boost your overall sword skills and then purchase or learn skills within that tree.  In this sense, you don’t get a particular level of your character, you simply earn fame by killing monsters and completing quests, and trade that in for a higher level on a particular skill tree.  Combat is handled with parries and attacks for melee, with a handful of dirty tricks and, hopefully, a firearm as a backup.  You can choose to fight dirty and throw sand in your opponents eyes, or learn the ways of the natives and use voodoo to subdue anyone who stands in your path.  All of this takes place in a gorgeous new engine crafted for the game and the visuals are just stunning.  The game has day/night cycles and weather patterns, and quests that will hinge on those opportune times of day to complete them.  Unlike other games in it’s genre, the NPC AI in Risen 2 is especially interesting.  Venture into a barracks that you are not welcome in, and the NPC’s will rush in and order you out–refuse and you’ll find yourself at the business end of their muskets!  This only furthers the deep risk/reward consequence and morality system of looting too much and getting caught, or pinching pennies to avoid jeopardizing the alignments that you have.  The NPC’s have their own daily routines and are crafted to avoid the “carbon copy” appearances that can be common to many games in the genre.  Overall it seems that Piranha Bytes has gone through some great lengths to address some of the concerns with the original Risen and infuse a great deal of new elements into Risen 2 to make it a whole new experience.

No Pullin’ Me Peg Leg

I promise, no more PR speak, I know that you are all anxious to get our thoughts on the game without the pomp and circumstance.  We had a chance to tackle a very lengthy preview build of the PC version of the game, which will be using Steamworks as it’s only DRM.  Now, I must admit, when I heard that this was not the final build of the game, I had already braced myself for some glitching and bugs and some possible rough waters.  To lay that to rest, the build we checked out was nothing but smooth sailing, not just technically but also visually.  The game’s engine looks fantastic; lighting effects, water effects, all of it is simply stunning.  The controls were a snap to learn, whether you prefer the traditional mouse and keyboard or a gamepad, either one is intuitive and easy to pick up and play.  The quests and the options they presented were very interesting.  Complete a quest for someone on the island and give them their share, or pocket some of the gold for yourself, tough choice!  The story was very interesting and offered enough branching pathways and side-quests to keep you busy for a short port to port hop or a long cruise on open waters.  All of it seems to blend together in a wonderfully crafted work that we cannot wait to fully explore later this year.    If Risen 2 has not been on your radar (or would that be sonar?) then you may well be missing out on what looks to be a great sleeper hit for 2012!  The full game will release on April 24, in North America and April 27, in Europe for PC, XBOX 360 and PS3.

10. Darkspore

After Spore : Galactic Adventures left a horrible bad taste in my mouth, I was really hesitant to try out anything in the Spore lineup.  Still, the idea of taking the insane customization of Spore‘s Creature Creator and melding it with an isometric dungeon crawler, a la Torchlight, was just too tempting to resist.  Thankfully, the end result was simply wonderful.  I had a blast in my time with Darkspore, it’s an insanely good loot dangling action-RPG.  Couple that with the charming characters and the plethora of customization options and Darkspore is an easy ‘A’.  I’m still waiting to have a lull to go back into it and do some more questing and unlocking.

9. Shogun 2

The Total War franchise has always provided the best tactical military strategy elements and innovations available, so Shogun 2 had a pretty high standard to live up to.  The game delivers on all fronts, taking everything the first iteration did in 2000, adding innovations from the years since and applying a high polish.  New units, like the monks and ninjas, have added more depth to the strategy, the graphics are simply gorgeous and the battle system brings in everything Empire and Napolean improved upon, including naval battles.  From the moment I fired up the demo, I was in love with Shogun 2.  Since it’s release, it’s added more units and content, via DLC, and is still on the verge of a stand-alone campaign release.  Creative Assembly knocked it out of the park with Shogun 2.

8. Orcs Must Die!

Here at number 8 is the first of four Indie titles in my top 10.  Sure, this year’s triple A games were good, but the Indie titles seemed to really soar this year, and this late year release is the perfect example of that-Orcs Must Die!  OMD! is what I like to call a genocidal tower defense game.  Playing as an archmage, you are tasked with using a variety of traps and spells to keep the orcs from crossing the rift into the human’s world.  Spikes, spring boards, swinging maces, arrow walls and many more come together in a macabre symphony of death, destruction and defense.  Progressing difficulty, variety in strategy and tactics and competitive leaderboards give an already fantastic game a dash of high replay value.  It still amazes me that OMD is a $15 Indie title and not a higher priced, big budget release.  It took a stale genre and made it fresh, and that’s why it’s in my Top 10 list for 2011.

7 . Alice : The Madness Returns

I would imagine I am one of the minority in holding Alice 2 in such high regard, but the game did two standout things for me.  First, the game was a smash hit with my wife, which is a hard sell.  She was hooked by the setting, the story, the combat and would not let me play it without her.  Since she’s definitely not a gamer, this definitely makes the game better, and I have to say that playing through as a team definitely made the game more enjoyable.  The second reason I enjoyed Alice 2 was just the overall stellar implementation of the game.  Remaking a Quake-engine game and making it relevant for today is harder than we give it credit for.  In addition, it was the setting and immersion of the original Alice that made it memorable, raising the bar that much higher for the sequel.  Wonderland was as much a character as Rapture is in the Bioshock universe-fail to nail that feel, and the game will slink miserably down the rabbit hole.  The graphics were fantastic, the voice acting was just as good, if not better, than the original and the story was well integrated.  I definitely felt that the last level fell apart and the story ‘twist’ was a bit too obvious, but either way it didn’t stop Alice from being one of the most memorable experiences I had in 2011.

6. Beat Hazard: Ultra

Here we go, we haven’t even hit the Top 5 and we’re at our second Indie title!  What Orcs Must Die! did to liven up the tower defense genre is easily compared to what the Beat Hazard : Ultra addition did to make the original Beat Hazard an even better experience.  Beat Hazard was a fantastic mix of Asteroids and a rhythm game, incorporating your music library in the level design and enemy mix.  Still, after a while dust grew on Beat Hazard and the inevitable “been there done that” mentality settled in.  Then BH creator Steve Hunt stepped in and covered BH with a fresh dose of awesomesauce.  The Ultra addition adds the ability to play online, it adds a complete perk system, with new weapons and upgrades, tons of new enemies and bosses and the fantastic new ‘Boss Rush’ mode.  In addition, the leaderboards were tailored to incorporate the new modes and features, resulting in a gritty battle for the top spot between our staff and the Just Press Start staff, earlier this year.  You can still play the original BH, without all of the additions, but be warned!  You will never go back!  Beat Hazard : Ultra makes the original game almost unrecognizeable, improving on what was good and adding a wealth of new content and that’s why it earns a spot on my list.  Find us on Steam and see if your scores stack up, we’re still playing!

5. Bastion

What can I say about Bastion that hasn’t been said already?  The graphics are clean and bright, the gameplay is easily addictive, hearkening back to the heydey of Zelda, and the story is just jaw-dropping.  Again, like OMD and BH:U, Bastion is an amazing value for it’s price and seems to break away from the stigma of an Indie title and standing shoulder to shoulder with many big budget releases.  The level up system, the gameplay and combat, the unique announcer feature that never seems to lose it’s luster-Bastion is just a magnificent experience that should be on every gamer’s playlist.  Supergiant games even improved on that already great formula by adding a Chrome version and a free DLC add-on, giving the player a new, less difficult game mode(that my kids adore), a new challenging arena and a score-attack mode.  I won’t waste time mincing words, Bastion is simply the full package and completely worth adding to anyone’s GOTY list.

4. Terraria

Let the Indie hit parade march on through!  The final Indie title on my list sits here, at number 4.  Terraria is a game that I thought I had no interest in-I thought it looked like a gimped, 2D version of Minecraft, and had little to offer in the area of gameplay.  I could not have been more wrong-I’ve logged more hours in Terraria than anything else this year, including Skyrim.  The game begins with a bare minimum of equipment and slowly introduces crafting, deeper action-RPG elements and a loot system that just never seems to grow old.  The result is a game that is just as layered as the terrain within it, peeling back each layer exposes another facet of the game you had not been exposed to before.  The gameplay itself is a mirror of the digging and exploration that it features.  If there wasn’t enough to do in the initial release, the game’s 1.1 version added a myriad of new content, items and enemies-including some new bosses-for the player to keep busy with.  The best part about character creation in Terraria is that when you have exhausted a world to the point of being barren, you can load up you character’s inventory with the best gear you have and import him into a new world.  This makes the ‘New Game Plus’ style feature seem even more interesting than some other titles have(with the exception of Bastion, of course!).  With all the time I’ve sunk into Terraria, I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface, it’s a fantastic game that I’m glad I didn’t miss(especially served with a side of humble pie).

3. Dead Island

Speaking of eating humble pie!  Dead Island was another game that I talked down all year and man was I wrong.  I didn’t want another zombie game, I didn’t have faith in the combat or action-RPG mechanics and I certainly didn’t think the game would be nearly as compelling as it’s initial teaser trailer.  The final product proved me wrong on all counts!  I would say the combat is better with the scarcity of firearms and ammo, the leveling system is more in-depth than I’d have imagined and the compelling story moments are most certainly there.  Dead Island shines in moments when it can take the unlikely scenario of a zombie outbreak on a resort island and manages to humanize it and immerse you in the terrible calamities that would arise between husband and spouse, parent and child and many other social dynamics.  The modified weapons are a smash hit(pun intended).  If I had one criticism, it would be that the game can get pretty tough, as a single-player only experience, and the language is a bit over the top.  Other than that, Dead Island is another fantastic hit that I’m so glad I didn’t talk myself out of.  It’s easily the biggest surprise of 2011 for me, making it my #3 GOTY.

2. Red Orchestra 2 : Heroes of Stalingrad

If you listen to the podcast, you’ve heard me wax poetic about Heroes of Stalingrad.  The game takes the controversial stance of allowing players to be immersed on the Nazi side of World War II-and does so very tastefully.  The tactics and ballistics are unparalleled, making battles really feel as they should.  Battles feel less like a military shooter/paintball match and more like your every move and strategy count.  RO2 makes battlefield mechanics gritty and either punishing or rewarding, depending on how well you adapt to them.  The single-player was streamlined, basically a compilation of the multiplayer missions spiced up with original letters and anecdotes from veterans on both the Russian and German sides of the war.  While the absence of a story was definitely noticed, the between mission content really helped immerse you in the role of “just an average joe following orders”.  The multiplayer stands out as fantastic, everything that made the single-player campaign fun was now complicated with human opponents and teammates, a simplified level-up and squad-role system and I was hooked.  Tripwire plans on adding some co-op and DLC pretty soon, so Red Orchestra will be on my playlist for months to come.  There is something about the chug of a bolt action rifle that keeps me satisfied with RO2-I still have not ventured into the more modern Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3.  Red Orchestra 2 : Heroes of Stalingrad reclaims the glory of what a PC exclusive shooter should be, it’s a new look on a tired genre(WWII FPS) and it a shoe-in for the Number 2 spot here on my list!

1.  Skyrim

Last but not least is Skyrim.  Now I know some have chosen to leave Skyrim out because of bugs and glitches, some haven’t played it, and some still don’t decree it worthy of a GOTY award.  I understand all of those points, but for me, this was the clear winner.  I was not a huge fan of Oblivion, I had a devil of a time trying to get into the story and understand the leveling system.  Sadly, it’s a game I’ve never finished.  Understandably so, I had my doubts about Skyrim.  Sure the press footage looked great, but doesn’t it always?  Yes the ideas, dragons and new mechanics sounded great, but, don’t they always?  Then the reports of game crashes, bug, glitches and lost saves started surfacing and things didn’t look good.  Like a dragon swooping in from above, Skyrim dominated my playlist when I fired it up-and it was surprisingly bug free.  I’ve had the occasional crash, but they are certainly few and far between-especially since I’ve steered clear of mods, as of yet.  I’ve not encountered any broken quests, and the hours I’ve sunk into it have been incredibly satisfying.  The amount of content and directions to take your character is still overwhelming, but Skyrim does a fantastic job of breaking it down and letting you take on as much or as little as you please.  Certainly hats off to Bethesda with Skyrim, it was a tough call, but it’s managed to edge everything else out for my coveted Game Of The Year for 2011!

Honorable mentions :

There are definitely some other great games that 2011 saw, and just didn’t make the cut for the Top 10 list.  Either I enjoyed the previous 10 more or I just didn’t get to finish them and factor them in, but either way these deserve a mention.  Nuclear Dawn, Batman Arkham City, Dead Space 2, Crysis 2, The Witcher 2 : Assassins of Kings, Deus Ex : Human Revolution, Magicka, Red Faction : Armageddon, Anomaly : Warzone Earth, Frozen Synapse, Jamestown and Dungeons of Dredmor.  Each of those was a lot of fun, and maybe I just didn’t finish them or couldn’t fit them into ly list, but they are all worth a look!  Crysis 2, Witcher 2, Deus Ex, Red Faction and the Indie titles all fall under the ‘unfinished’ category-which is a shame because they are all solid games.  Dead Space 2 and Arkham City are definitely strong games, but I found my already mentioned Top 10 to be more compelling.  I struggled a bit with Arkham City, I don’t hold it in as high regard as many do.  Dead Space 2 was a fantastic experience, much improved from the already great first game, in both graphics and gameplay, but I just couldn’t squeeze it in above my other games.  Nuclear Dawn is a fantastic take on a hybrid FPS/RTS competitive multiplayer game that I really wish I had more time to spend on, but it is definitely worth a look!  That’s all I have, I’m hoping to catch up on some missed 2011 gaming moments in this early portion of the year, then it’s on to the awesomeness in store for us here in 2012!

So here we are. It’s the second month of 2012, and I finally feel I am ready to weigh in on the games I would consider to be my top ten of 2011. As I list each game, I will also list the moment or moments which grabbed my attention, helping each game make its way onto the list.

Shall we get this party started?

10. Two Worlds II

The first Two Worlds game was pretty much panned universally by critics. It was not that it showed no promise; many reviewers said there was some substance there, but the game was just too clunky to really enjoy. Many people were surprised when a sequel was announced, and many reviewers once again did not like it. Some of us really did enjoy it, however.

The Moment: After getting off the island in the early part, my character soon learned to use alchemy. Finding the various ingredients for potions, whether they be plants or parts of the various beats I killed, became a bit of an obsession, and many times the potions I made turned the tide in battle.

9. Lord of the Rings: War in the North

This game kind of snuck up on me. I had not heard a lot about it, but with the coupons I had earned at Kmart, I was in a position to get this game on the cheap, and that was when I started to research it. Three player coop in a story which runs parallel to the quest to destroy The One Ring? Count me in. Snowblind has created a great game in War in the North  which, while it has its faults, manages to bring players into the realms of Middle Earth unlike just about any which have come before it.

The Moment: In the midst of the first battle, I achieved what the game calls hero mode, allowing my character to move faster and do more damage. It was then Eradan, the Ranger I was controlling, shouted “You face a Dunedian now!” That was all it took for the Lord of the Rings fan in me to be hooked.

8. Runespell: Overture

The first indie game to make my list, Runespell attempted to do something which I always find intriguing: meld two completely separate genres into one. Puzzle Quest did that with match three puzzle and RPG. Runespell blends a poker-like game with role playing. The better the poker hands you can create, the more damage you do to your opponent.

The Moment: From the very beginning, it is clear this is not some slapped together game. The graphics and sound started to grab me initially, but it was easy to learn but difficult to master strategy of building and playing your hands at the right time while using the various allies and spells you quire to gain the upper hand which has kept me coming back for more.

7. Saints Row the Third

The first Saints Row tried a little too hard to be like Grand Theft Auto. The second got a little further away from that formula, trading in the realism for over the top obnoxiousness. Saints Row the Third throws all sense of realism out the window, and it will have you doing everything from using airborne drones to attack the National Guard to using the Sonic Hammer to destroy everything in your path. Then there is the “Whored Mode” (their name for it, not mine), a round by round battle mode where each round will give you something different to deal with, from being drunk to being about half the size of your opponents.

The Moment: The Bank robbery in the beginning was crazy. The battle on the cargo jet was ridiculous. Jumping out of the plane, shooting enemies in the air as you drop down to rescue your fellow Saint, cutting your parachute, flying all the way back through said cargo plane, grabbing another chute and shooting enemies while you rescue said Saint a second time? That’s what I call over the top. Oh, and did I mention that’s the game’s INTRO?

6. Beat Hazard Ultra

Those of you who have been listening to the podcast for a while know many of us have a special place in our hearts for Beat Hazard. When Cold Beam Games announced the new Ultra expansion for the game, my first thought was it would be good to see a little more added to the it, as the first version did get old after a while. Little did I know that the perks and new modes of Ultra were going to breathe more than just new life into an old game; they were going to make Beat Hazard even more addicting than it already was.

The Moment: Like many games, Beat Hazard Ultra has leaderboards. You can sort these leaderboards so they only show your Steam friends. The competition among a few of us from this site, Fellowship of Gamers and Just Press Start got so intense, we were creating folders and moving music into it to try and outdo each others Boss Rush scores. I’m still upset that John holds that record, but I am closing in on some of his others.

5. Achron

One of the great things about indie developers is they are willing to try things big companies would never consider, like building an RPG around Poker or developing a twin-stick shooter which creates its levels based on your music. Of all the indie games I played this year, however, none of them did anything quite as revolutionary as Achron. A realtime strategy game with a time travel mechanic seems insane, but Hazardous Software was able to do just that through the creation of its Resequence engine. This game really does have a serious barrier of entry, but if you stick with it, it will stick with you.

The Moment: I was playing through the campaign, and the story seemed a little ho-hum to me. At the same time, I was really struggling with the time travel mechanic. I spent some time in the forums, figured out what I needed to do for one particular mission, and then suddenly found myself wanting more. Both the story and the game had me hooked.

4. Battlefield 3

This game had me excited from the first time I saw the previews. While there is no doubt the single player game is lackluster at best, DICE has built such a strong multiplayer experience that Battlefield 3 still makes it into my top games of the year. There is nothing like joining a squad of your friends and running roughshod over your opponents using team tactics, specialist and whatever vehicles you can grab. This game has managed to just about perfect the modern warfare style multiplayer shooter, so much so that when asked if I could only have picked up one game from last year, I chose this one.

The Moment: Okay, I was already hooked by this time, but two events really stand out in the games I have played: John crashing his jet into a tank and Dez jumping out of his helicopter cause someone yelled “C4!” Dez, you are NEVER going to live that one down.

3. Gears of War 3

Those of you who listened to our Top 5 of 2011 Podcast have probably already realized Beat Hazard Ultra, Achron and Battlefield 3 have all been pushed back one spot on this list. Now you know why. Having finally had a chance to play through the campaign in Gears of War 3 I found myself in a bit of a quandary; I was not sure where to list it. After all, I had really enjoyed playing Battlefield 3 online, but this game not only continued the tradition of great coop play, it added improved multiplayer, Beats Mode and a story that wrapped up things up rather nicely. There were even some very touching emotional scenes in the story, one in particular which took me totally by surprise. In the end, I had to rate Gears of War 3 higher as it is a complete game.

The Moment: I was already getting hooked, but the end of Chapter 3 was when I knew Epic had really put some time and thought into the story. I will not tell you what happens as I do not want to spoil anything, other than to say that is where the slower instrumental version of “Mad World” used in the first Gears trailer makes its return. The moment is powerful.

2. Portal 2

You would think by now I would know better than to doubt Valve. When they announced Portal 2 was going to be a full $60 dollar title, I remember being very skeptical this was going to work. After playing about half-way through the campaign, my skepticism was replaced by shear delight as I realized the masters had done it again. Portal 2 is quite honestly the most polished experience I have played all year, and playing through the coop with John is a multiplayer experience which was only topped by Battlefield 3. Add to all of that the humor that Valve seems to be able to interject so naturally, and you have easily one of the best games of the year, and one that was worth every penny.

The Moment: While I was enjoying the first half of the campaign, it was staring to feel a little bit like I had done all of this before. A major event occurs about half way through, however, and everything changed. I once again found that sense of wonder which had been so evident in the first Portal.

 1. Game of the Year 2011 – Batman: Arkham City

No one is more surprised by this than I am. Though I liked Arkham Asylum, I did not think quite as highly of it as many people did, due at least in part to the horrible boss battle with the Joker. I was not even originally planning on picking up Arkham City on release week till Kmart offered a deal I could not pass up. Heck, when I tried to start playing it, the Catwoman DLC did not install properly, so I did not even necessarily start the game the way the Rocksteady had intended. Maybe that was for the best, as it did not take long for me to get hooked, and I found the Catwoman segments to be less than stellar. I remember people stating Arkham Asylum really made them feel like they were Batman. Arkham City felt so much more so to me. You really could come up with multiple ways to deal with enemies, and there was not a single bad boss battle in the entire game. A fantastic storyline, a fighting system that allows you to deal fluidly with multiple enemies and an ending that left my jaw on the floor made Batman Arkham City the most memorable experience I had gaming last year.

The Moment: You start the game off as Bruce Wayne, having to fight your way out of captivity and escape to the rooftops of Arkham City before you even first get the Batsuit. That alone grabbed me, and the game never let go.

While 2011 may not have been the best overall year for gaming, there were many very strong titles, especially towards the end of the year. There is very little time to sit back and reminisce, however, as the first big titles of 2012 are already starting to drop. As we have said many times on the podcast, it is a great time to be a gamer.

When determining my top 10 games I like to look back at all the releases and see which games I had the most fun with. I’m not necessarily looking at graphics, sound, or gameplay but those factors do play a big part in my overall memory of the game. A game like Uncharted 3, which didn’t make my list, is pure beauty but honestly the game wasn’t all that fun to me and it didn’t do anything new with the franchise. Same goes for Gears of War 3. Great game, but I had that “been there done that” vibe with it.  I’m finding more and more I want to have fun playing games and don’t want the game to feel like a chore. This may be why I’ve found myself switching more games to “easy” than keeping them on their normal difficulty. Games should be fun and for me this is a big part. This is how I determined my top 10 games of 2011 and my overall Game of the Year. Enjoy!

10. Infamous 2

I really enjoyed the original Infamous and felt like Sucker Punch provided a great sequel with great polish. I do however think they will need to change the environment and game greatly if they plan to make a third one. Overall InFamous 2 was a great solid sequel.

9. Where’s My Water?

This game is my iPhone Game of the Year. I think the reason I keep going back to it is because it’s not too difficult. Sometimes when an iPhone game get’s too hard (with the exception being Trainyard) it gets too time consuming and then I just get bored of it. I’d rather devote my gaming time to a console game than an iPhone game. Where’s My Water is perfect in short bites and is constantly adding new level-packs which makes me keep coming back to it over and over again. I love this game.

8. Rage

I know a lot of people hated on Rage but I actually enjoyed it a lot. Even though it didn’t do anything new with the post-apocalyptic genre it was still fun. It was one of the best, if not the best looking game I played this year.

7. Bastion

I’d been following Bastion even before it was announced for XBLA because I was intrigued by the art style. It turns out the gameplay is great too! Bastion is a simple beautiful RPG and this years best XBLA title.

6. Killzone 3

I was not a huge fan of Killzone 2, mostly because it made me motion-sick and it looked really grey and bland but Killzone 3 changes that. This game looks and plays amazingly. It even works great with the PS Move which is impressive. I will never forget battling the MAWLR which for me wins “most epic gaming moment of 2011.”

5. Renegade Ops

This game came out first on XBLA but I decided to wait until it was released on PC purely for the better graphics. I’m very glad I waited because this game is beautiful. Renegade Ops is best played with a friend but is still worth the purchase even if you will be playing it alone. I played through the expansion pack as well and it was a great addition. If you like twin-stick shooters as do I then buy this game.

4. Portal 2

Portal 2 is a masterpiece in cooperative gameplay and has a truly solid single-player campaign. I loved the game because it gave me a Dharma Initiative (LOST) sort of vibe in that you never know what secrets lie behind Aperture Science. Portal 2 was a great sequel but I think that’s as far as Valve needs to go with the franchise.

3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I was not a big fan of Oblivion so I went into Skyrim a little skeptical. I can reaffirm the haters that this game rules. Skyrim is epic in every way possible and it’s fun too. I wish that I could have spent more time with it as it is a huge game. I was only able to complete the main campaign. Either way, the game is great. I’m excited to see what they take away from this game and incorporate into Fallout 4.

2. Crysis 2

I guess you could say this is my “First Person Shooter” of the Year. It’s sad that many have forgotten Crysis 2 being that it was released so early in the year but I have not. This game had a stellar campaign and brought fresh new elements to it’s online multiplayer. It’s hard to keep me interested in online competitive shooters but Crysis 2 switched it up enough to do just that. I really enjoyed this game and at one point during the year I thought it was going to be my game of the year.

1. Game of the Year 2011 – Rayman: Origins

Like I said in my intro I like my games to be fun. Rayman Origins is the epitome of fun. First off, the art style is amazing. This is the kind of art that makes my heart melt. I hope more developers take advantage of the Ubi Art tools in the future or hopefully we’ll see a sequel. The controls are perfect. They are tight and not floaty at all. I never felt hindered by crappy controls in any way. Seriously I don’t see how they could make them better. The last thing I want to hit on is the sound. I’m not a stickler for great sound but the music and sound effects in Rayman fit it perfectly. The music really adds a lot to the vibe of the game. I had the best experience playing this game with 3 other people as I felt it was too difficult to complete alone. All-in-all Rayman Origins is just plain fun but it also perfects the three main components of a game: graphics, controls, and sound. Even though I’ve already put close to 40 hours into the game I still want to go back for more.

So there you have it. My top 10 games of 2011. I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store.

*Apologies for the humming sound throughout the episode!

Fish Food – Episode #50

EDG Podcast Ep. #138

MUSIC

Intro – “Carol of the Bells” by August Burns Red

Break – “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” by Mannheim Steamroller

Outro – “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” by Phillips, Craig and Dean

TIMESTAMPS

Weeks in Review – 4:05

Overrated Games of 2011 – 34:07

Overlooked Games of 2011 – 1:21:42

Twitter – 2:19:12

Christmas and other distractions – 2:19:46

Tim Time – 2:31:30