Top 10 Games of 2012 - ExtremeGamer's Blog

ExtremeGamer's Blog

Top 10 Games of 2012

Posted on November 15, 2012 at 08:39 AM.

(9)

The last holiday season before the end of a console cycle is usually some of the best gaming you'll have all generation. The developers have figured out the systems and know how to squeeze every ounce of power out of them. The games look, feel, and play better than they ever have..until we have to reboot them all 10 months or so after. So without worrying about what's to come, we have so many high quality titles releasing this holiday, and the entire year of 2012 overall. Without further delay, this is my personal top 10 games of 2012;

1. Halo 4
2. The Walking Dead
3. Spec Ops: The Line
4. WWE '13
5. Sleeping Dogs
6. Forza Horizon
7. Lego Batman 2
8. Sniper Elite V2
9. XCom
10. Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Honorable mentions go to Need for Speed Most Wanted, NBA 2K13 and Avengers: Battle for Earth.

I know that Assassin's Creed III, Madden NFL 13, and a few others are left off, but they weren't good enough to crack my list for various reasons.

The top 5-6 games on my list flip flopped all over the place. If going by whole package, single player, mutli-player, and features, then I had to go with Halo 4 at top as my GOTY. WWE '13 was a close second with how feature rich that package is with story, gameplay, and depth. Going on a single player story alone, nothing gripped me like Walking Dead and Spec Ops The Line this year. Not even this year though, maybe in all my years of gaming have I been so emotionally drained after every episode of Walking Dead. My play through of Spec Ops wrecked me due to so many twists and turns. Spec Ops proved that single player games are still alive, and that game was fantastic in every sense of the word. Almost pains me to even put it as low as 3.

Forza is the best racing game I've played since Gran Turismo 2. Sleeping Dogs out GTA'ed GTA, here's hoping this trend continues and Rockstar was watching/playing. Makes me that much more excited to play GTA V now that we've seen other open world games show off what they can do. Lego Batman 2 was my co-op game of the year, had so much fun playing through the game with my son. Just an absolute blast from start to finish. Sniper Elite, XCom, and Black Ops 2 round out my top 10. Sniper Elite was a fresh take on the WW2 genre which has died, while XCom, a remake which took risks and deserves to be rewarded. I went back and forth on Most Wanted or Black Ops 2 for my 10th game, and Black Ops 2 narrowly won out due to how deep it is, compared to how shallow Most Wanted is overall.

It was a great, great year in gaming. Agree/disagree, what's your top games of this year?

Comments

# 1 Devmcdonnell @ Nov 15

I'm loving that you gave The Walking Dead the credit it deserves. This game has flown somewhat under the radar being a DLC and the fact that it is a point and click style of game. Telltale Games is doing a fantastic job with TWD franchise and amidst a collection of disappointments this year, The Walking Dead delivers. I haven't gotten my hands on Halo 4 yet but plan to. One game conspicuously missing is Batman Arkham City. I had a blast with this game, and the developers really took what was great in Arkham Asylum and expanded upon it with Arkham City. This game really should be in any top ten of the year list. Lastly, I was just curious as to why you felt that Assasin's Creed III was not worthy enough of your list. This is another game that I haven't gotten my mitts on yet but plan to very shortly. The AC franchise is one that became repetitive to me even in the first game but this installment looks to be one that would invigorate the franchise. Why did it not crack the list?

# 2 ExtremeGamer @ Nov 15

Batman Arkham City came out in 2011, and I played through and beat it in 2011. I would have given it at least top 3 of last year off the top of my head.

# 3 Devmcdonnell @ Nov 15

Woops, my fault you are right, it was released late 2011. What about ACIII?

# 4 ExtremeGamer @ Nov 15

I briefly covered it in the blog, but AC3 did nothing for me at all, I was bored and couldn't get into it. I know I'm an oddball there.

# 5 Valdarez @ Nov 16

Wasn't too long ago you were claiming Sleeping Dogs was GotY. Can give feedback on most of the games there as they are shooters, which I rarely play, but Lego Batman 2 and XCom over Assassins Creed III? That's a hard sale for this gamer. Then again, Assassins Creed is one of my favorite series on this generation of consoles. No other series has weaved such an intricate story nor interwoven it with historically accurate aspects so well. I will agree that it took awhile to get into, could explain why, but I might give some major spoilers depending on how far you got into the game.

Don't quite understand the fascination folks have with the Walking Dead game either, but perhaps that's because I've never watched the TV series so I can't quite enjoy it at the same level as those who've followed it?

Anyhow, interesting list there EG.

# 6 Devmcdonnell @ Nov 16

I don't think your an oddball at all. Like i said in my earlier comment, i got tired of Assassin's Creed before I even finished the first game. I remember being so excited for it to come out, and following all the online videos and developer interviews and when i first got my hands on it, it was amazing; But as the campaign wore on, it became more and more repetitive and stale. The other two were no different, and by the end of the second one I washed my hands of the franchise. Then i saw the commercial for ACIII and was completely blown away. I love the concept of the Revolutionary War and the naval battles ect. It just seems like a new twist on a stale franchise so I was excited to give it a shot. However, from what I'm gathering from your comments, it's just as stale and repetitive as ACI.

# 7 Cod @ Nov 17

Borderlands 2? Its easily my GOTY.

# 8 tril @ Nov 17

only thing I can say about your list is that, I dont have any of these games. the only game sI purchase this past year was

MAdden 12/13
NBA 2k12/13
MLB THE SHOW 12
MLB 2k12