BioShock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, The Witcher, Crysis, and The Orange Box. That murderers' row of games, among others, made 2007 my own personal best year ever in gaming. The writing in BioShock and its setting in the underwater city of Rapture were among the very finest I'd ever seen in a videogame. CoD 4 pushed the shooter genre forward like no FPS before it with the introduction RPG elements and killstreaks. The Witcher proved that hardcore RPGs are alive and well. Crysis became the benchmark for rig building. And The Orange Box delivered a package of games that will likely never be matched. Collectively, they made 2007 my instant response when asked to name gaming's best year.
And then 2011 happened. To borrow and tweak a line from the 5th Ward's finest, damn it feels good to be a gamer. Here's why these past 12 months have edged out 2007 to become my new personal best year EVAR(!) in videogames.
Batman: Arkham City
Confession: I'm not a fan of Rocksteady's character model for Bats. The you-can-still-see-the-steroid-needle-sticking-in-his-fat-biceps muscles are too much. And I'm in the camp that says Batman's eyes should always be glowing white slits. That aside, man do I gush with fanboy glee every time I dive bomb into a gang of criminals and unleash the Dark Knight. The simple, intuitive attack and counter controls are, to me, one of the biggest steps forward in action gaming ever. And the way Batman moves, dives, punches, and kicks is a ballet of violence reminiscent of artist Dennis O'Neil's brilliant work on the Batman comics in the 1970s.
Way back in 2001, I wrote a script for a kung-fu-movie-inspired videogame in which blocking would be as big an aspect as attacking, with your character actually moving to defend individual attacks and not simply standing rigid with legs apart and one arm raised in the classic, ridiculous videogame block stance. Who knew it would take nearly a decade for a developer to finally pull something like that off. Batman: Arkham Asylum introduced the new standard in action game melee fighting, and with its double and triple counters and takedowns, Batman: Arkham City perfected it. It's one of those rare, amazing games that I'm just as comfortable watching as playing, and it continued to raise the bar for superhero videogames.
Battlefield 3
Frostbite 2 gave the first-person shooter genre a much-needed shove forward. But the stunning visuals the new game engine delivered are only half of the equation in the formula that makes Battlefield 3 great. DICE went the extra mile with the audio in BF3, delivering true-to-life sound that will have your neighbors ducking for cover if you're heavy handed with the volume dial. We've heard the term "interactive entertainment experience" used a number of times to describe various videogames, but for me, Battlefield 3 was the first game to truly earn that label with its eye-and-ear-popping audio and visual package. Fighting as part of a squad to take and then defend an objective as buildings crumble and gunfire thunders all around you is an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride. This is the new standard in multiplayer FPS games.
Portal 2
This is easily the best-written videogame I've ever played. I'll be using Cave Johnson's line about buying tattered hats and beard dirt for years. From GLaDOS to Wheatley to Cave, Valve gave a unique voice to its characters that made Portal 2 a laugh-out-loud, don't-stop-playing-until-it's-over experience. Writing in videogames has reached, and in many ways surpassed, Hollywood levels in recent years, thanks in large part to BioShock's leap forward, but with Portal 2, Valve set the bar at a lofty new height. In the process, the studio delivered what is best described as a love letter to videogames. Curtain, salt, and asbestos, indeed. Hands-down my 2011 game of the year. That is until...
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
As a kid, I dreampt of a career writing and penciling comics, and I would pore over fantasy and sci-fi art books for inspiration, becoming lost in the worlds created by the likes of Frank Frazetta and Larry Elmore. Playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim makes me feel like I've been transported into those beautiful, dangerous works of art, creating one of the most immersive experiences I've ever had in gaming. Skyrim's many dungeons in particular, with their crumbling statues, narrow, root-infested corridors, and grand, majestic halls, are incredible labyrinths of ancient mystery. They truly feel like they were created in a long-forgotten age, and exploring them fills me with a childlike sense of wonder. Skyrim isn't a game, it's a gateway into a living fantasy universe.
On a personal note, 2011 was also a huge year of change for me. As many of you know, major moves took place here at GameSpy with the site's return to its roots in PC gaming (hooray!) and the departures of Will Tuttle and Ryan Scott (you guys are missed). Bennett Ring had a cup of coffee as the site's editor in chief, and the reins were handed to our current EIC Dan Stapleton in December (the right man for the job). As any of you working folks will understand, having four different bosses in the span of six months isn't good for the old stress levels. And right smack dab in the middle of all these work changes, my girlfriend and I also bought our first house. Our apartment lease was up before we could move into our new place, and we had to spend a month living with my future mother in law. I believe my life classified as a sitcom in the month of September.
Through it all, though, these games were there, providing a much-needed outlet into amazing fictional worlds. Whether I was laughing out loud at Wheatley's doltish remarks, fighting to take an objective with friends in Battlefield 3 as the bullets whizzed by, marveling at Batman -- The Batman -- coming to digital life, or becoming completely immersed in Bethesda's land of gaming wonder, I was frequently reminded why I fell in love with videogames some 30-odd-years ago. Thanks to all of the enormously talented people that created 2011's incredible lineup (a lineup that includes many more great games -- Deus Ex: Human Revolution, The Witcher 2, Shogun 2, Red Orchestra 2, L.A. Noire -- than I could squeeze into this piece). I can't wait to see what you come up with in 2012 -- you've got your work cut out if you hope to top 2011.
Can't resist saying it one more time: damn it feels good to be a gamer.
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