The Nerd Agenda's Top 11 Games of 2012!

So it's the end of the year 2012, looking back at it all I can say is that it was an overall mixed year. We had the Vita and the Wii U being released, we had indie games becoming more mainstream than ever before, Kickstarter became a way for upstarts to gather funding for their games but at the same time we are in one of the longest game console cycles in history and we lost several fine studios who will all be truly missed.

Now I have seen several Top Ten Lists everywhere on the interwebs so I decided to be slightly (ever so) by listing my Top 11 games. Now the simple rule is that any game released in 2012 was eligible to be on my list and it had to be a game where I invested several hours in. So with that in mind I thought long and hard about what my games would be and I am finally comfortable with my current list.

More after the jump





Number 11:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Now this is a game you didn't expect to see did you? Released in February 2012 KOA: Reckoning became renown for its brilliant combat system and rich lore. Sure the boss fights were super easy and the story was average at best but the fact remains that it is a truly solid game. The aforementioned combat system is to this day one of the most fluid third person hack and slash systems ever devised. It was so easy to combine your physical attacks with your magical attacks into one combination and in addition to this the game gives the player the freedom on how his/her character plays out whether it be warrior or mage or a rogue or any combination of the three, the game never punishes the player from experimenting with their desired build.

The lore of KOA is so rich and colorful, everything from the Amalur to the different factions felt unique and so fleshed out that you crave for more. However 38 Studios and Big Huge Games(the entities responsible for the game) both were shut down following an extremely public conflict with the state of Rhode Island. I shall miss the world of Amalur and dread knowing that I will more than likely never see her again but I will always treasure the moments I had with her, everything from my fights in the House of Valor to my romp with the Travelers.

Number 10:
Hitman: Absolution

Hitman to me is one of my favourite franchises ever and it occupies a special place in my heart but do not get me wrong, I acknowledge several faults but at the same one cannot deny what it does right.

Absolution's storyline is perhaps the most personal of the franchise, 47 is now on the run from the Agency, his handler Diana is now dead and he is charged with the protection of a girl named Victoria who for whatever reason is wanted by everybody. 47 shows great care for Victoria which culminates in a heart touching scene when 47 relates his pain and trauma to the young girl and promises her that she will not go through the same hardships as he did. Out of all the games in the franchise it is in this game where I grew to care for 47 not because he's the player character but for his humanity as well. Absolution is also brilliantly acted all round, the villains of the game especially do their very best to make you hate them.

Gameplay in Absolution is the element that has divided the fans but in all honesty it still remains true to the franchise by giving the player a certain level of freedom in how they finish off a level. Now granted there are some stages within the game that are linear but in all honesty this does not detract from the overall package. The game does not have a traditional multiplayer to speak of but it does have a Contracts mode which is simply a score attack mode.

Number 9: 
Torchlight II

I love dungeon crawlers, there is something about slaying demons with magic, guns and brute force that makes it so fun to play. Released in September the game quickly became renown for its art style and very solid gameplay mechanics. The game allows you to choose from four classes each with its own strengths and weaknesses and in addition to this you can bring a pet to aide you in your fight against the hordes of goblins, spiders and magical beings that will stand in your way. I for one chose the Outlander because he has guns...things do not get sweeter than shooting a giant spider in the face with a pair of pistols. Another plus is having a pet at your side and this is not some stupid creature that will sit around idly it will actively help the player in the dispatching of their enemies. The gameplay mechanic is itself is very fluid which in this sort of game is a massive plus point.

The main strength of this game is its brilliant simplicity, all you need to know is that you are a hero facing off against thousands of creatures wanting to end you, granted it might get repetitive. Another thing to love about this game is its co-op mechanic which is solid to say the least, up to six friends can join in on the adventure at hand.

Number 8:
Mass Effect 3

Now cool your jets guys, I know all of you raged on the ending for treating the franchise with great dishonor but that does not detract from the fact that the game was an insanely fun romp through space. The story of Mass Effect 3(aside from its ending) was solid dealing with elements such as self sacrifice, friendship, love and the struggle against the inevitable. Throughout the game I felt helpless knowing that the Reapers were always a step ahead of me and I felt a great deal of sadness seeing one of my comrades sacrifice themselves for the greater good, it was these moments in the game that I treasure deeply.

The gameplay mechanics of Mass Effect 3 felt real solid, everything from the fast paced combat system to the aggressive AI made the game very fun to play. There was the multiplayer aspect as well but that is just a simple horde mode which can be fun but I really wished Bioware gave us the choice to co-op with our friends in the main campaign. The last thing that needs to be pointed is its soundtrack which is beautiful and is capable of bringing you down to tears when paired with the scene at hand. I loved this game and even with its lousy ending I felt that Mass Effect 3 provided me with many hours of fun that cannot be taken away from me.

and a sample of the brilliant soundtrack:

Number 7:
Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 had one of the best storylines of 2012, here Max is a shadow of man he used to be fully embracing the bottle and the pill as if they were his best friends. Yet despite Max falling from grace you can tell that under the smell of alcohol and bushy beard he still retains some shred of decency and honor. The game's setting of Sao Paulo, Brazil was the perfect choice since it just adds not only to the overall charm of the game but to Max's character as well. The city itself is full of corruption and evil and everywhere Max went it felt as if he was alone in the world and despite all this he retains the will and conviction to get the job done. In many ways despite the aforementioned faults of Max he might be the most noble man in the entirety of Sao Paulo.

The gameplay of Max Payne 3 is so smooth and so fluid that you just beg for your next encounter with the baddies. The slow mo action is a real treat, I loved how I could dive on top of a flight of stairs, firing my two pistols at the face of an enemy repeatedly and then it will all end in me crashing down on the top of his now lifeless body. The AI of Max Payne 3 is decent to a point and it can be a pain to bring down an enemy since a player needs to use of the magazine to bring most enemies down. Max Payne 3 also has a multiplayer which surprisingly is very rich, you have your standard deathmatch modes but also objective and co-op based modes as well.

Number 6:
Halo 4

Let's get this out of the way first, I have played Halo from the very beginning of the franchise, no I am not a fanboy by any means but when I say I love this game please understand I love it out of being a gamer and not some punk who sees Halo as the second coming. Halo 4's strength is not in one element alone but its complete package, its storyline discusses that of friendship and self sacrifice which makes it an overall more personal storyline which has been lacking in all the previous Halo games. Cortana rather than taking the role of a personal assistant as she has done for a while is now a main character and one which is tormented by rampancy (basically old age for AI), it breaks my heart whenever I see her fall deeper into her abyss and in the end of it all it broke my heart. Master Chief is more well rounded this time because rather than seeing him as an unstoppable force we see him as more human than ever before and his friendship with Cortana is at the core of this humanity.

The gameplay is very solid so much so that it has replaced Halo:Reach as my favorite Halo, everything from the gun mechanic to the level design to the AI seems so well made. If you read my reviews then you will understand how much I care about enemy AI and Halo 4's is one of the best, they will flank you and force you into cover. Playing this game on Legendary solo will be difficult but not unfair, players are encouraged to stop and think on their next move which is something that has been missing in many modern shooters.

Halo 4's multiplayer is solid and continues on with the franchise's solid performance, there are several modes to choose from, my personal favourite of which is an infection based mode. In addition to competitive multiplayer there is also a cooperative mode as well where you and your friends can take on the hordes of enemies together as a team.

Number 5:
Journey

Journey is a downright beautiful game in every way, its soundtrack, art style and gameplay is in many ways a thrilling experience. However if one were to look for a true blood platformer you might as well look elsewhere. This is not a platformer in the traditional sense nor is it really a game in that sense either. Journey is more of an active art piece or a living experience, please do not by any means take this as insult against it as a game think more of it as a new way of how we play our games. Journey's gameplay is extended in its co-op which is very entertaining, new and in some ways reminds me of  a journey (go figure) where two best friends help each overcome obstacles.

The game's soundtrack is also spectacular, moving across the sand dunes while listening to a lovely song is perhaps one of the greatest memories I have of the game. I know that this entry will ruffle some feathers but it is perhaps one of the best examples of how a game can be so different and be brilliant at the same time which is an attitude that many game makers need to adopt.

and an example of the soundtrack:

Number 4: 
XCOM Enemy Unknown

This game came out nowhere for me, I had only recently picked it up but let me tell you something...it was love at first sight. The game's setting is simple enough, aliens have invaded and the world responds by sending in a global task force to counter the threat, it's basically GI Joe with aliens. The game itself is like a breath of fresh air, it has to be nearly a decade since I have played a strategy game of any sort. The mechanics are simple enough to pick up, all you need to know is that you have a squad, this squad can have different abilities and loadouts depending how that character was "raised" throughout your playthrough. But know this, if you as a player treat this game without respect you will be penalized heavily, for example if you decided to go in with guns blazing the game will toss you into the corner and beat you down and this holds especially true if you crank up the difficulty.

The best way to play this game is to think on every move before you make it, ask yourself questions like "Do I split my forces across the map or do I keep them together?" or "Shall I put my sniper high up above the battlefield or do I keep him on the ground in support of the rest of the team?". These sort of questions is the very purpose of this game, to make you care for your squad and to use the best of their abilities in different situations.

Your squad will gain experience, they will grow into specific specializations like support, sniper or assault classes and will obtain special abilities based on these specializations. The game also boasts the mechanic of permanent death where once a character dies he/she will be forever be gone from the game. This all culminates in you caring for your squad especially your veterans, a single loss of veteran would weigh heavily on your heart considering the fact that you and him have been there since he was a rookie in the ranks. I for one visited the so-called Memorial Wall in the game where the fallen are honored whenever one of my squad gets killed in battle. The reason why I chose this game is that despite the influx of first person shooters there can be a game where the player is treated with respect when it comes to their intelligence, there can be a game where the main mechanic is not aiming down the sights at an enemy  and that there can be game where the player grows to care for their onscreen counterparts as if they were his kin.

Number 3: 
Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 has several things going for it, tonnes of guns, a brilliant antagonist, witty writing, funny characters, solid combat mechanics and wonderful voice acting. I must have spent close to 50 hours in different builds exploring the world of Pandora and every single minute felt great especially considering I did most of my adventuring with my friends. Borderlands 2 is one of those games that you want to take your time with, explore every crevasse, shoot every gun and kill every bad guy.

I played this game for its co-op mode and it does not disappoint at all, I loved the fact that the game is able to scale itself up according to the skill and the number of players currently in the game. Things do not get better than raiding a base full of robots with a bunch of guns and your buddies in tow.

In addition to all this the game mechanics are solid, I enjoyed shooting the several variants of guns the game offers because each one does react differently and it just makes you want to find, trade and buy all the guns just to see what they are capable of. The combat can get hectic whether it be against the robots of Hyperion or the fauna of Pandora each enemy will attack differently and this will force the player (or players) to constantly switch tactics on the fly which just adds to the overall challenge. This is a game that just begs to be played, so set aside the whole day, get a bunch of your friends and just get ready for a lead filled romp through Pandora.

Number 2:
Far Cry 3

I had very little hope for Far Cry 3 when I first saw it, I disliked how it looked and how it played but now that I have played it all I can say is that this is one of my personal favorite games ever. All you need to know is that the game gives the player a very great deal of independence in how they want to take on the missions and tasks within the game whether it be through stealth or pure unbridled brute force. I loved the fact that I could take down an entire enemy base with just bow and arrow only to refresh a previous save to take down the base again with a rocket launcher and machine gun. The game's freedom is just one thing I love about this game.

The characters of the game are so rich, so brilliantly acted and so well thought out that it feels like you are watching a really well written action flick. The characters Vaas and Dr Alec Earnheardt are the golden acts among the solid cast, Vaas is your insane pirate who will kill a man just because he looked at him differently while Dr Earnheardt despite being a drug addict is perhaps one of the kindest characters you would ever meet in the game. In addition to the drug addiction the game is not afraid to take on sensitive topics such as rape, kidnapping and mass killings and it does in a way that fits within the game's storyline.

The mechanics of the game are very well tuned, enemies have decent intelligence, gun mechanics are solid, there are several gameplay modes such as Outpost Capture and Path of the Hunter quests and a solid campaign and multiplayer. The only gripe I had was with the co-op mode which is one of the worst I have ever seen in a game, everything that made the game great in the single player mode got thrown out in the co-op. Nonetheless the game is brilliant, you could spend hours just exploring the island's secrets or just cause chaos all around the island...like setting fire to marijuana farm.

The Nerd Agenda's Game of the Year 2012:
Dishonored

This game gets so many things right from its lore to its character cast to its mechanics and to its overall mechanics. Dishonored takes place in a plague infected city known as Dunwall, you are framed for the murder of the Empress and now you are on the path of pure and unbridled revenge. But that's where things get interesting, Dishonored has a very unique twist on morality within gameplay and while murdering folk by the pile is not discouraged neither is using non lethal means of dispatching your enemies or avoiding conflict entirely because the game clearly states the more people you kill within the game the more bodies there will be on the streets which will then result in more rats which in turn will increase the spread of the plague within the city. There are some parts within the game where targets have to be killed but even then many of them can be killed without the player directly killing the said targets. This whole morality system challenges the player because as always going the non lethal route tends to be more challenging than using brute force but in the end when you complete a level using nothing more than your wits feels so rewarding because of the fact that the game like Far Cry 3 allows the player to experiment with their tactics. The players can teleport themselves across the rooftop and then retreat to the dark alleys thus preventing them from being seen and in turn avoiding direct conflict or a player can knock hostiles out with a chokehold and hiding their bodies in a dumpster which will then result in less active enemies on the map but will still retain the zero deaths the player aims for or a player can berserk and stab his way to objective, neither one of these methods will punish the player in anyway and will encourage multiple playthroughs of the same mission.

The storyline in Dishonored is dark and depressing, you can tell that throughout the game the plague ravaging the city is taking a toll on her citizens we see piles of bodies being thrown into the ocean and sewers, we see rats ripping people's skins off their bodies, the houses where the plague has entered is blocked from the outside thus trapping the folk inside to a very slow and sure death. The police force of Dunwall meant to be the protectors of the citizenry are nothing more than thugs, throwing their people into a deeper pit of pure misery. But despite all this death and impending doom the upper class of Dunwall are seen as living very comfortable lives free from the plague and fully embracing decadence and debauchery, it is these concepts of survival, mass death and economic inequality that make the game's story so rich since it drives the player to right the wrongs that have befallen the people and the ability of the player to roam the city freely helps with conveying of this message since they can see first hand the hell the city of Dunwall has become.

The gameplay of Dishonored is brilliant, the player has access to several powers such as blink (short range teleportation), rat summoning, time bending and possession. These powers in conjunction with the sword and gun mechanics make combat in Dishonored solid and more importantly exciting, experimentation with different combinations is encouraged within the game. One of the more "stylized" kills I performed involved me summoning a legion of rats to consume my enemies and before reinforcements could arrive I possessed one of the rats which allowed me to escape undetected. Enemy AI is also decent, they will attempt to flank and overrun you but since most of the combat within the game takes place within melee range the concept of cover seems secondary to the enemy AI. On an individual level the AI( depending on the type of enemy) can range from simple task to somewhat cumbersome since many are capable combatants but are easily outsmarted by a player whom uses their creativity in conjunction with the aforementioned powers.

I loved Dishonored to the point that I was relieved that Bethesda will be fleshing it out into a full franchise. Everything about it seems so well made and so fresh that playing that no matter how many times I replayed a level it felt as if I was tackling an entirely new level. Dishonored is a rare game, one that treats the player with respect in terms of freedom given to them, the lore they are treated to and the challenges they face throughout the game and because of all this it fully deserves the Nerd Agenda Game of the Year 2012 Award.

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