2012: A Year in Retrospect

2012 was quite the eventful year for gaming. A year of the touch screen, with the launch of 3 touch screen based consoles being released in its borders, with Sony adding the PS Vita to update the gap in the market the PSP had left with the Vita' s innovative new rear touch screen, while Nintendo super-sized their last year handheld offering, the 3DS, with its “No Glasses 3D” technology to give birth to the 3DS XL. Finally there was the launch of the first true home console of the 8^th generation, the Wii U from Nintendo, with the first touch screen tablet based controller. Now the following list of games isn't a 'Best of” or a 'What to Play', It is simply the list of video games I experienced throughout the year and how I felt about them. Trust me, there are some shockers of games in here that I didn't play for more then a week. And then there are others that will stay in my memories for years to come. So without further hesitation, let us delve into the year that was, 2012.

 Jackie Estecado (Digital Extreme, 2K Games)

The first game to warrant my attention and start off my gaming year in February was The Darkness II, having the reigns been taken from previous developer Starbreeze Studios, the new dev team at Digital Extremes gave Jackie Estacado a Cel Shaded makeover in this continuation of a mobsters nightmare. The reduction in Darklings and increase in executions was in my opinion a good direction for gameplay along with the games self proclaimed “Quad-Wielding” mechanic which gave the game an unparalleled flow for combat and carnage. An overlooked classic for the story based shooter.

A week later, my first foray into the Xbox Live Arcade for the year happened and this was time was well spent with the cartoon zany batman shooter, Gotham City Imposters, made by Condemned creators Monolith Productions. This game was also an unappreciated gem, meaning that the general gaming community missed out on enjoying the crazy, fast-paced antics of grapple hooks, capes and batarangs. Although glitchy and empty at times, the game felt like a challenger to Team Fortress 2 for the arcade multiplayer madness it brought to the table.

March brought along my most highly anticipated game going into the year, a juggernaut that had gathered more and more fans along with each instalment, Mass Effect 3. Released on the 6^th, from legendary developers Bioware, this game consumed my life for nearly 48 hours straight. Ending controversy aside, the game itself was a spectacular culmination of four years work in story building, character development and player choices. Having followed this game series since its inception in 2008, I was grateful for Bioware's dedication to story and options for the player. Now let's stop here before I go Red, Blue, Green in the face.

(Left to Right)
Garrus Vakarian, Commander Shepard, Liara T'soni
(Bioware, EA)

At the end of March I thought I'd try a bit of Capcom's Resident Evil series with Operation Raccoon City, except for the fact I found it to be one of the most unplayable games I'd ever experienced. Terrible aiming, bullet wasting foes and other hassles wore my patience thin. I promptly returned it to the store instead leaving with a different Capcom classic, The Devil May Cry HD Collection. Nostalgia overlooked as it was my first time experiencing these games, they were still enjoyable for the extreme combat the series created and is renowned for. (Look for a DMC Review in the upcoming weeks)

Mid-April came my next XBLA game for the year, RedLynx's Trials Evolution. The balance bike game was a smash success on the arcade front, proving to be a big hit at localized gaming events with friends. Just don't expect to have free time with your Xbox and TV any time soon after showing your friends.

May brought the most successful PC game since WoW onto the Xbox 360. This is of course Minecraft, the indie juggernaut originally from Swedish developer Notch and his team at Mojang. Having split-screen built into the game as well as adding the knowledge of how to assemble items using materials gathered and creating a tutorial world made the game accessible to the console audience. There's not much more that needs to be added to this game, since every person and their posed pet cat on the internet knows about the fame of Minecraft. If you don't know about Minecraft, how the hell did you find this blog.

In mid-may came the third installment in a series of games over a decade old from a well respected developer famed for story telling. Unfortunately I lack the quality pc to play Diablo 3 so I'm surprisingly talking about Rockstar's Max Payne 3 instead. Bullet Time behold, the game's narrative took Max to the brink and back in order to redeem himself from the life he lived. Solid multiplayer was also in the mix of this 3^rd person shooter. 

Captain Walker and his Delta Force Team
(Spec Ops: The Line, Yager Development, 2K Games)

June brought along the surprise of the year with Spec Ops the Line, the first real military shooter, to force the player to think about their actions and why it is we play shooters. Not likely will this game be remembered gameplay, but unparalleled in story telling, Yager Development outdid themselves with the narrative in creating a modern Heart of Darkness set in a ruined Dubai, instead of the original setting of the African Congo or Apocalypse Now's deep jungle in Vietnam

August 14^th gave driving on the left hand side its time to shine, with True Crime Hong Ko...I mean Sleeping Dogs. I'm going to be honest, Grand Theft Auto always could have used reduced gunplay in return for Kung Fu takedowns. Sleeping Dogs was at times the most fun I had gaming this year.

Artwork by Tyler Stout
(United Front Games, Square Enix)

August also brought the local release of the 3DS XL, the first Nintendo product I bought since my Gamecube a decade earlier. Along with it I acquired New Super Mario Bros 2. The game itself can be described with a single word. Meh. Nothing to revolutionise the time old formula of run to the right and touch the top of the flag. I will mention however, the easiness to gain a ridiculous amount of lives due to the new focus on coin collecting. By world 4-1, I had accumulated over 60 lives.

One thing about 2012 that will stick to my memory was that it was the year of the enigmatic villain. With four different franchises releasing sequels, having lacked a good villain in the past, they all wanted and needed a face for the player to hate this time around. The first of these four villains for the year was Handsome Jack, Borderlands 2's stand out star. Borderlands 2 was the epitome of comedic, co-op gaming for 2012, with the writing of Anthony Burch (Destructoid, RevRants, HeyAshWhatchaPlayin) standing out in Gearbox Studios latest success. Just be prepared if you were a dedicated Mordecai player in the original game. It gets a bit dark. I think my roommate and co-op partner developed a personal vendetta against Jack for his actions.

Handsome Jack and the New Vault Hunters
Acquired from http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/255/d/f/starring_handsome_jack_by_dreaming_myth-d5egdo0.jpg
(Gearbox Software, 2K Games)

Nintendo and GameFreak proved they new numbers existed with Pokemon Black and White Versions 2. Same with Mario, a proven formula has no need to change. Not saying I'm not eagerly anticipating the 3D sprites that are to come this year with Pokemon X and Y. Black and White Version's 2 however gave us Genesect, or as I call him, The Megatron of Pokemon. One Purple Badass.

October began the Christmas cavalcade for games, with the best new IP of the year Dishonored, party game sensation Just Dance 4 and the best reboot of the year XCOM Enemy Unknown all being released on the 9^th of October. All three were great examples of their genres, be it Stealth, Strategy or Dancing like an idiot.

A Sectoid from X-Com Enemy Unknown
(Firaxis Games, 2K Games)

Corvo Attano, Dishonored Protagonist
(Arkane Studios, Bethesda Studios) 

Arkane Studio’s Dishonored was set in a dystopian alternate reality where the plague turned the living into infected freaks, and whales were harvested for power. The inspirations of Half Life 2's City 17's presence were felt in the games setting of Dunwall, as well as certain parts of Bioshock's Rapture for the vibe of the residents in particular sections of the town. None the less, it is always good to see new Intellectual Property be successful in the market.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown, was a reboot of the 90's series XCOM also know as UFO: Enemy Unknown, a renowned strategy game of memorable difficulty. Strategy juggernauts Firaxis took the reigns of the reboot and did their magic, making the game easier and more accessible for modern audiences, while also leaving in the hardest of difficulty for the aged veteran gamers.

Just Dance 4 has 2 songs featuring Nicki Minaj. Also Skrillex. That's all the explanation I'm giving you. Don't ask me why or how. Just play the damn game. With good humoured friends. And Drinks. Alcoholic Drinks. Memories will be made. That's Just Dance's and my own guarantee.

Later in October came another treasure trove of big AAA releases for the year all on the 30^th. The first of these was the first non Ezio Assassins Creed for the decade in Assassins Creed III. I personally enjoyed the new setting and characters of AC3 but found it still a bit endearing and repetitive at times. But you know, pirate ship battles and bear fighting with QTE's. That's kind of cool. (Except not the best bear fighting released by Ubisoft for the year.) The people at Ubisoft continue to show how good they are at the business.

The smoking with the essence of Burnout, Criterion developed Need For Speed : Most Wanted was my main racing experience for the year. I personally didn't grow up on the Need For Speed franchise, but instead with Criterion's original baby Burnout. I had however in the past play the original Most Wanted. This game did not feel like it, but I think that it being different is better then being the same.

Finally THQ's WWE 13 allowed players to play through what I believe to be the best era in wrestling history, The Attitude Era which turned the tide of the Monday Night Wars. The games manages over 70 built in Superstars, Divas and Legends for you to beat the snot out of each other with. Also two versions of The Rock. Pre and Post Hollywood! 

My condolences go out to THQ, in it's current bankruptcy misfortunes.

Cortana
(Halo 4, 343 Studios, Microsoft)

Early November brought the Xbox 360's most anticipated exclusive game Halo 4. 343 Studios have taken the reigns from Bungie with grace and both utilised a great foe from the novels for Halo fans to remember (The Didact), they also brought the relationship between the Master Chief and Cortana to the front of the narrative in a beautiful fashion showing that the Spartan is emotionally damaged and that Cortana is the real reason he's lasted as long as he has. Truly the beginning of a great new trilogy.

November also brought along another Mario game on the 3DS, Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Unlike NSMB2 however Paper Mario was DIFFERENT and that made it more memorable and enjoyable. Sticker combat may not be the future but at least its a change. This however was my first Paper Mario so I'm gonna have to go find a copy of Thousand Year Door to see what is supposedly the best of the series.

Raul Menedez
(CoD Black Ops 2, Treyarch, Activision)

Next came what everyone was expecting another Call of Duty, Treyarch's turn again since we were on an even numbered year with Black Ops 2. What I didn't expect going into this game was a stand-out villain in Raul Menedez representing the oppressed side of society. The campaign held one of the best levels in Call of Duty history since the first Modern Warfare, with the mission Karma holding a close place to my heart for years to come. The addition of your choices affecting the outcome of the story was also a nice change to the game itself.

On November 30^th the Wii U was released locally in Australia. I've had the chance to play three games on the console so far. Nintendo Land is the Wii Sports of the Wii U, a collection of mini games that highlight the tablets multiple functions. The competitive multiplayer games are by far the most fun. Next game I tried was New Super Mario Bros U, Playing this game normally has little to no difference from any of the other NSMB games, however the multiplayer function with the tablet user being able to aid or fell other players made the game much more interesting. Especially when a friend decides to start playing favourites with a toad and killing off Mario and Luigi. Finally Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed surprised me by using a dynamic version of Diddy Kong Racings three vehicular types. Combat while racing is not too complex and but still frantic enough to create shouts of joy or anger. Also 5 player multiplayer on all of these games, except you know, who has 4 friends over to play the video games these days? Oh wait, school children.

Finally Far Cry 3 was released at the beginning of December setting Far Cry 2 minus the bad features (Malaria, Degrading Weapons, Unlimited Enemy Spawns) in the environment of Far Cry 1. Also secondary villain, Vaas was the final great villain of the year. “Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is?” Any game that gives you a wing-suit to use at free will however, deserves all the praise it can handle, so Thank you Far Cry 3, for giving us the tools to cause all the mayhem we wish in your tropical oasis. But seriously, don't fuck with bears.

And so the year came to the end, with little new IP but some solid sequels and reboots to give a relatively good year for gaming.

If I had to give you 7 games to play to experience some of the best selections of the year I would have to say my list would be (in no particular order)

1. Spec Ops : The Line
2. Halo 4
3. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
4. Trials Evolution
5. Dishonored
6. Far Cry 3
7. Mass Effect 3

Now to look forward to 2013, my first year where I will be playing games for a different reason then just fun. I hope to be able to give any readers a good idea on what I feel about games. I'll be giving a release on my anticipations of 2013 in the upcoming weeks. Until then, keep your fingers on the triggers.

-Brett