Yes, it’s that time of year again – Where every gaming website and podcast tell you the games you should have been enjoying this year, so why should Frugal Gaming be any different?! It also serves as a gentle introduction to our new writing team to give you a flavour of their gaming tastes.
Feel free to take part in the poll here to vote for your favourite game and please leave any comments below …
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Shaun Kellett (Staff Writer)
I was going to write something witty here, but then I took an ... (I think you all know the rest!)
Skyrim:
I was swaying for a little, since I haven’t invested nearly as many hours into Skyrim as I should, but in the end it has to be up here. Bethesda have poured a lot of love into this game and it’s obvious right from the start. While many games can feel half finished with tacked on multiplayer, Skyrim has the potential to draw your attention for hundreds of hours. Bethesda have crafted a beautifully detailed word to explore and written an almost countless number quests within it. Before long you’ll be wandering mountain paths and crossing great planes; soaking in the gorgeous environments as you embark on your heroic deeds. You’re also given the choice of who you want to be in this world. No longer are you restricted to ‘class’ types and skill sets, you can play the way you want to play and improve your character as you go; there’s such a huge variety open to you. Skyrim is quite possibly the definition of a true ‘adventure’ game and it sets the benchmark for all future RPGs for both this gen and the next.
Bastion:
My second choice is Bastion. While only being an XBLA game, I think Bastion really makes the grade. While at first glance Bastion can seem like a small package it really shows the power that smaller studios are capable of. There’s a rich and emotional tale here told superbly by the gravelly toned voice of the Narrator. He comments on almost everything, from your choice of weapons, to the beautiful hand drawn scenery around you and this adds an almost unbelievable amount to the style of game. It’s impossible not to be thrown by just how detailed the world is and how much charm the game possesses. Everything works well together and nothing feels out of place. Whether its through the ground springing to life as you move forward, or the interesting history you discover along the way, you always feel like the hero assembling the scattered pieces of a broken world and never once does Bastion break this immersion. Bastion is a testament to artistic direction and story telling created by a level of focus rarely seen in the industry these days.
Honourable Mentions:
Batman: Arkham City - It did everything a sequel is meant to; it was bigger than the original and made many improvements while keeping the same tone and unmistakable style. I completed it twice in one weekend, absolutely loved it, and for a short while it was going to be my Game of the Year. However, Rocksteady so far seem content with extra costumes and skins which do little to aid my one main gripe with Batman, its length.
I’d also like to mention Minecraft and Terraria, both of which launched full versions this year. When it comes to value for money you’d be hard pressed to find better examples. Both offer such a different form of gameplay to anything else currently on the market and are an essential purchase for those wanting variety in their gaming.
Disappointments:
My biggest let down this year was Dragon Age 2. While still a passable game in its own right it fell vastly short of the usual Bioware mark and almost became a chore to play. If it hadn’t been for the colourful characters I might not even have managed to fight my way to the end.
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Thomas Edwards (Staff Writer)
Science is Fun!
Portal 2:
Portal 2 is a puzzle game with jokes, and it is most indubitably my game of the year. Every time I pick up a controller, I make a wish that what I see I will not have seen before. I wish for delight, shock, and exhilaration; a wish fulfilled all too rarely. Portal 2, for anyone who had played the original 3 hour masterpiece, engendered brain-cooking levels of expectation for its sequel; never had I looked forward so much to anything. I wanted to feel that extraordinary sense of agency and power over my environment, in which every test required you to think just enough to make you feel like a genius, and in which the level design alone could raise a laugh. And then there was the script. Portal 2 delivered in ways I could never have fully expected, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed myself so much in the company of any videogame and its characters. A massive win from start to finish.
Where is my Heart?:
This PSN Mini oddly, shares some common ground with Portal, it being essentially an environmental puzzle game in which the objective is to reach the exit. But it has, once again, some truly innovative game mechanics and characters that, despite their 8bit design are just as memorable as any of the iconic figures of years gone by. As you help the three characters work together to manipulate their environment in the most ingenious of ways, this low-res 2D game just cannot but charm the hell out of you, and most definitely deserves inclusion in a list of the best games of the year. If you have a PSP or a PS3 and do not have a heart of stone, do yourself a favour, it’ll make you smile.
Honourable Mentions:
Dark Souls – Hardcore gamers don’t play CoD, sublime adventuring from a time when we didn’t expect to complete a game.
Uncharted 3 – Scenes of action that are now burned in to my memory forever. Utterly droolworthy.
Disappointments:
Nintendo in general – If you’re going to make unique hardware that is not up to current-gen specs, support it properly, then you might not have to slash the price.
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Daniel Davies (Staff Writer)
This game is completely bonkers
Saints Row The Third:
There is nowhere I enjoy spending my time more than a big world full of attitude and humour delivered by a developer who knows how to have a good time. Studios, in my eyes, often forget one universal truth; their games are just meant to be fun. Despite not being the most beautiful game, or the most technically impressive, Saints Row The Third has, without doubt, been the most out and out fun I’ve had gaming this year. Whether I’m souping up my ride, increasing my sex appeal at the plastic surgeons or running around guns blazing as I take turf back from other gangs, I’ll have a smile on my face and be laughing with joy. The game screams attitude and I promise you’ll want to show off this game to anyone that visits you while you’re playing it. With player customisation at its very heart, Saints Row The Third really does tick all my boxes and is a worthy winner of my personal GOTY title.
Skyrim:
I admit though, it was a bit of a last minute steal from Skyrim, which was a worthy contender, but had a terrible rollout full of bugs that just kept getting worse. The game was huge, beautiful and most importantly offered players the ultimate in freedom to choose. It sucked away 3 entire days of my life in the first 5 days after release as I stopped only for food and sleep. The dungeons, each masterfully drawn, demonstrate the depth of this game, and the variety in quests, in particular the factions, is immense; but what price have we paid for the size of this game? Since my 3 days stint I’ve not been able to play; bugs have gotten the better of it, and I cannot give a GOTY title to a game that I cannot even play fully.
Honourable Mentions:
There are some other games worth checking out too. In a year with the latter half being the strongest, special mention should be made of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, which injected new life in to an increasingly “samey” franchise. I also had a lot of fun earlier in the year with Driver San Francisco and recommend checking out Dirt 3 if you want the current best in class off-road racer.
Disappointments:
But, with the sun setting on 2011, I feel one nagging issue hanging over me, stopping me from moving easily on to 2012. There’s one last topic of contention to put to bed. Dragon Age 2. Whether you loved or loathed it, you cannot deny it deviated massively from the expectations set by Origins. For me, it was shambles; poorly delivered, scattered story set in a limited range of cut and paste dungeons. And with that said, roll on 2012!
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Ben Robinson (Editor)
Like Zelda, but a bit more arty-farty
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP:
2011 has been crammed full of some real quality titles, but once the post release jubilation has died down which titles have left a lasting impression? Not too many for me …
Above all, the one game that has really stood out for me was Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. You heard me right, an iPhone game! I’m a big lover of pixel art and plinky-plonky music, so this retro themed adventure game really ticked all the boxes. It may be argued that this is more a piece of art than an actual game, but for me it takes advantage of the iPhone and iPad control schemes superbly and delivers a beautiful and memorable experience.
Little Big Planet 2:
At this time of year it’s also very easy to forget the games that came out towards the beginning of 2011; and Little Big Planet 2 is a prime example. This game improves on the original in just about every way: with greater storytelling and level variation it really is a joy to play. The limited checkpoints made the original much more frustrating than it should have been; and the improvements in this department make the game much more accessible, especially for the younger gamer.
Honourable Mentions:
Special mentions go to Skyrim, Shadows of the Damned and Killzone 3. Even after 80 hours, I don’t think I could come anywhere near to saying I’ve finished Skyrim. Phenominal, vast, but not without its faults. It may be extremely crude but Shadows of the Damned put a huge grin on my face while playing it. Killzone 3 gets here because it’s been a long standing favourite on the Frugal Sunday Game Night: an awesome, friendly and very welcoming community 
Disappointments:
On to the bad … El Shaddai - Ascension of The Metatron was a huge letdown. Maybe I was expecting too much after seeing the stunning visual design of the game; but under the surface, the game failed to deliver in every single aspect. I’ve also been disappointed by the Nintendo 3DS: Besides personally suffering from multiple hardware faults, the 3D effect feels like a cheap gimmick and it only feels like a marginal step up from the DS. There has been a late flurry of quality games however, so I have hope that things will continue to improve in 2012.
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Nory (Site Admin / Retired Podcasting Legend)
Dave was hard at work developing the new flavour of Iron Bru
Skyrim:
Sheer unadulterated brilliance which felt like playing Oblivion with a fresh pair of eyes. This is what gaming is all about. It’s a shame the sheer breadth and scope of the game has in some cases highlighted the hardware limitations of the current generation of consoles and what they can handle.
Uncharted 3:
Whacked it on easy and blasted through it. Gets bigger and bolder every year, really is something Microsoft should be looking at emulating.
Disappointments:
Battlefield 3 - Almost made me take a hiatus from gaming. Frustrating, lacking in quality maps and generally poor in all but appearance for me. The big selling point for BFBC2 was the massive differentiation from COD. Now all COD needs is better graphics and a “spawn on team mate” option in the objective gametypes and it’s almost the same game. Only COD is infinitely more fun to play.
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Well done if you’ve reached the end!
Don’t agree with any of these picks? Feel free to leave a comment below and vote for your favourite game here.
