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Posted By AngryJoe about 1 year, 4 months ago
Angry Joe’s Top 10 BEST Games of 2011!,
Angry Joe’s Top 10 Best Games of 2011!
These are Angry Joe’s Top 10 BEST Games of 2011! Check his list out and see how your own compares!
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Most of the games on the list I haven’t played, I but certainly agree with everything you said about Skyrim. I feel part of the hate it gets could be partially due to The Elder Scrolls seeing popularity closer to CoD level. A lot of gamers have really annoying hipster tendencies. I’m not going to act like that’s the only reason, of course. Bugs are a constant complaint from people who don’t seem to understand anything about bug fixing. That, and apparently it is really buggy on PS3. It could be, but I don’t have a PS3 so I have no idea. Other than that, all I’ve heard is people say stupid things like “The story is bad, combat is bad” but don’t provide a single thing to back up their argument, making it really frustrating to try and argue and reason with these people.
1. Skyrim
2. Mortal Kombat
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
4. NBA 2k12
Even though it was for 2010 5. Red Dead Redemption
beast video top 10 aver angry joe on motel kombat i will battle you to the death angry joe hop i ll see you their xbox or sp3 i do love the getar love the sound and love how he play hop i can do that
Great list, though I still have to play many of those games, I just have to agree on the number 1 spot! Skyrim is simply THE best RPG of the last year and one of the best ever made. And there are several reasons:
1. Every part of the game was thought through and brought to a high standard, be it graphics, sound, quests or design.
2. For a game of that size and complexity, there were stunningly few bugs. (PC version here)
3. The way people talk about this game: They don’t talk about, how great this game is and its graphics or sound or game play alone, they talk about what they experienced, what they found, which treasures, hidden places or quests they unveiled. What possibilities they took and where this led them.
4. Some guy above me said, he didn’t care for the characters and all you do, is leveling up. I really doubt it, though. You do care. Often enough I find myself struggling to find a way to not kill people, though the quest demands it.
My list for 2011:
1. Skyrim
2. Mass Effect 2 (though not as good as ME1)
3. LA Noire
4. Limbo
Yeah, I didn’t get to play that much last year. But I’m better now.
Greetz, Cazy
LoL? Really? That is probably the worst MOBA on the market. Play some HoN or DotA 2, man. Sub in Dark Souls at slot 2 and just leave LoL off it and you have a much more realistic list, although I suppose a lot of the drooling public casual gamers enjoy LoL because of how simple it is.
10-mw3 9-mortal kombat 8-halo anniversary 7-dead space 2 6-gears of war 3 5-deus ex human revelations 4-la noir 3-batman arkham city 2-skyrim 1-saints row 3
Not very happy that Saints Row 3 did not make number 1 on this list, eh David?
Well do not worry, it is number 1 on Angry Joe’s other list, the “Top 10 most disappointing games of 2011″
Oh Joe, Look I love you man, I love Skyrim, I love Elder Scrolls, Hell I’ve been a Bethesda fanboy ever since Daggerfall. But “Skyrim finally gives the Elder Scrolls the mainstream attention it deserves?”
Joe, every time Bethesda announces a new Elder Scrolls game the wheels of the hype machine start turning. It’s been that way since Morrowind, when Bethesda jumped on the console bandwagon. And, by no small coincidence, when Zenimax came into the picture, especially when you consider Zenimax has Hollywood moguls like Jerry Bruickheimer sitting on its board of directors.
Granted Bethesda may not be like one of the leviathans that are EA and Activision, but they’re hardly a small fish struggling out of a basement office to stay afloat anymore, hell they bought the whole building they work out of now.
They are one of those corporations you like to make pot shoots at, and have been for over 10 years. Fact there been some allegations made that they have used very corporate commander tactics of late.
In short, Skyrim is good, but I wouldn’t say its Bethesda’s shooting star to stardom, they’ve been riding that star for quite some time now.
… It’s tough to take Angry Joe seriously sometimes. Not only is League of Legends somehow on this list, but Dominion? I was under the impression that mode was terrible. I only play on Summoner’s Rift when I LoL. Ugh. Whatever. I’m taking a top 10 list too seriously.
YOU know they could do a young superman game like small ville so by the end of the game you got the cape and the outfit as well as all the powers
This list was really good. Except for the last 2 entries… Honestly Joe, Skyrim Isn’t game of the year, It deserves a place at this list, but It is not the best. And League of Legends as nr 2? That is the easiest game of this generation, there are better Moba titles out there than this shit.
Really? Would your game of the year be some obscure RPG that is the abomination of RPGs? Would it be Arkham City? Do you think beating people up for hours is worthy of game of the year material? You think your own opinion is valued more highly than the maker of the list. “Like, come on man, Skyrim shouldn’t be on this list because I don’t like it.” What would you call game of the year? I can’t wait to hear this. What will it be, linear piece of crap game, or linear RPG game? Sorry you don’t appreciate Skyrim like many others do, but for you to just say it shouldn’t be on the list because you didn’t enjoy it as much as him is moronic.
TL;DR Your opinion doesn’t rule over his, you’re a moron.
Geisha Joe will haunt my nightmares even more tham Ballerina Joe…
LoL as #2? Hell yeah!
Nice to see a reviewer giving the game some credit. Easily the greatest free-to-play of all time. I can’t wait until Joe hits 30 so I can destroy him in Dominion. You’re almost there Joe.
Too bad LoL came out in 2009. Biggest fail I’ve ever seen.
I find it so funny that the glithiest game released all year is the one that wins game of the year or best of 2011. Games this glitchy should not be game of the year.
I haven’t had any major problems with glitches. Heck, I had more problems with glitches from Red Dead than I have so far from Skyrim. And Red Dead is a shorter game.
The closest thing to a glitch I’ve had to deal with was my follower disappearing unexpectedly a couple of times and not turning up for a long time. But I figured out that was because of my habit of taking shortcuts over rocky landscapes or across rivers, and my sidekick not liking those kinds of terrain.
I say that, by the way, not to completely discount the technical issues PS3 players are having – a game this hyped should have fewer technical difficulties at release. It is, however, to point out that this is not the experience of all players.
Actually I’ve encountered the PS3 bug once in the entire time I played it, but it eventually went away and had not bothered me since. Actually, the PS3 version of Oblivion is still far buggier and I have encountered far worse.
Glitches can be fixed. What matters is the content. In a huge game like this are glitches pretty normal.
point made
Hear hear!
Bethesda may not make perfect games, but they certainly do make huge ones. What they miss in stability – which, let’s face it, really affects the PS3 players more so than other platforms – they more than make up for in content.
There is one other complaint I have: in a few places, the voice acting needs definite improvement. For one thing, the Argonian males definitely needed more raspy, hissy sounding voices. I thought the Khajiit and Argonian voices from Oblivion were spot-on (but the beggar voices horribly inconsistent – Gee, that sickly old beggar’s voice sounds way healthier when I actually converse with him).
I won’t comment on the PS3 issue since I own Skyrim on the Xbox 360, but I can say I don’t fault them for most bugs. Like you said, they make huge games. What other games can you compare to it that have a similar amount of content but way less bugs? And who says Argonian males need a different voice? You don’t get to decide how they sound. And to be fair, the russian-y voices they had in Oblivion matched their appearance, it wouldn’t in Skyrim. I think the voice acting is fine in most cases, sometimes it’s actually fun when the voices sound the same. Would “STOP! You violated the law!” from Oblivion sound as good if it were said by a different voice actor?
Yeah, but a lot of them still aren’t fixed and a lot of the PS3 copies are having that awful frame rate issue.
Little bugs are fine, game breaking ones that still aren’t fixed? Yeah, there’s no reason anyone should be taking up arms to defend that.
So if the content is buggy but there’s a lot of it, that’s ok? I feel like a lot of people use this excuse for bethesda games a lot. Sure there are plenty of bugs and some game breaking ones, BUT THERE’S SO MUCH STUFF.
Look people, the reason everyone forgives the bugs in skyrim is because of one simple rule: Leveling up feels good. It’s not because of the story or characters. How can you care about anything when everyone you talk to is a wooden puppet (looks and depth). It’s not the reason you come back to the game. You don’t care what happens to anyone else in the game. The reason you go back to it is to reach the next level and find out what power you’re going to get. Honestly, when you run into a person who doesn’t give you some kind of quest, do you care? No, because they’re not helping you get any new powers. All the glitches in the world don’t matter until they prevent me from leveling up.
I know it probably sounds like I’m slamming the game (and I am slightly), but I’m just trying to make a point. The reason people like skyrim is because of leveling. It’s the same reason people like mmo’s.
Now take portal 2. It has practically no glitches whatsoever (I’m sure if you really tried you could find one). The game is pretty much a straight shot from start to finish. Why did people keep playing it? Because of the story and characters. Are the puzzles fun to solve? Yeah they’re alright, but the reason you’re solving them isn’t just for the sake of solving them, it’s to see what happens next in the story.
Is a buggy game with lots to do better than a near perfectly tuned, average length game? For me it’s not. Portal 2 is my GOTY with Arkham City coming in second.
Uh, yeah. You might see more bugs in a game with a lot of content as opposed to something like Call of Duty. Do realize how stupid your post is? And please don’t try and speak for everyone when you say why people forgive the bugs, you have no idea what you’re talking about. I forgive the small amount of bugs I’ve seen because of the amount of content. You want to make a game with a ridiculous number of variables going into the chance of a bug occuring, and make it 99% bug free like CoD, be my guest. Just because you don’t care about anything except “Makin’ yer character real good” in an RPG, doesn’t mean everyone else does.
“Glitchiest game of the Year”?
I have seen far worse. Again I ask, 1. Why are you surprised? Games this big, with THIS MUCH content are prone to glitches, all of them. I never expected a flawless game, besides most of the glitches I’ve seen are patched now. 2. There were no “game breaking” glitches like in say Fallout: NV (But I did still like that game) 3. Through my 180 hours I froze twice… 4. Since when have glitches stopped a game from being good? Some of the best video games in history suffer from bad glitches
L.A.Noire was one of the most gripping games i have ever plaid.
How most Scottish of you.
Scottish?
“Plaid” (pronounced “plad”) instead of “played”. As in the Scottish tartan patterns.
Sorry Joe but this is more of a top 9 as LoL is not really a game of 2011 plus You missed of way better games then LoL.. really disappointed in your top 10 list mainly because of lol…
I’m with you. I don’t see how anyone can do a Top 10 Games of 2011 without playing any PS3 games. So many exclusives on PS3 in 2011 and to not include them is a huge fail.
On one hand, I can see your point: a lot of great games made specifically for this console.
But on the other hand, console exclusivity does mean that fewer people will actually have access to it. My thought: if they want an exclusive title to be GotY, they shouldn’t make it an exclusive title.
Bottom line: an exclusive title on a system I don’t have doesn’t do me any good, so why should I care?
He does not own a PS3 if I recall correctly. Thus, he can not rate PS3 exclusive games…
-Sonic Generations but only for the early levels. Just childhood mixed with crack. Delicious crack.
-Skyrim. Be more fun if Argonian vampires didn’t have dorkfish teeth.
-Batman: Yeah it was a fun game but the ending just bummed me out so I don’t feel like playing it.
-Pokemon Black and White were fun games but it took ages just to level everything unless you farmed for Audinos.
-Minecraft: Nothing really needs saying about that.
-Dragon age 2 but only as a guilty pleasure. It’s such a soap opera now that I get a giggle from it even if I know it’s a bad sequel. Good game but not a great sequel.
-Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Another game where I knew things were wrong with it but it’s such a blast to play with friends online. Online players on live? Not so much.
- I can’t recall. Did Aliens Vs Predator come out this year or last year? My memory has been on the fritz lately. If so then it’s on the list too because I love those monsters.
I played a lot of games but I only wanted to mention the ones I enjoyed. Wish I could add Saints Row 3 to the list but it was such a disappointment. I mostly just stuck to Warcraft so my list is weak.
Yeah, I got to admit: the ending to Arkham City was depressing. So much death, and very little actually resolved. But honestly, that’s Batman at his finest. Just look at some of the most popular Batman works: The Killing Joke, Under the Red Hood, Mask of the Phantasm, The Dark Knight film – there’s always a deep emotional impact in most of the best Batman works.
Also, it is customary in trilogies for the hero(es) to be at their lowest point at the end of the second installment. It’s the pattern Nolan is following in the films. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an Arkham 3 that ends on a much more triumphant note.
“-Skyrim. Be more fun if Argonian vampires didn’t have dorkfish teeth.”
You do realize you’re the biggest nitpicker in the universe, right?
Nice that Deus Ex was included on this list as others have somehow denied it its place in the top games of the year.
I know that Serious Sam 3 probably would not have beaten Shogun but I am still baffled as to how so many people didn’t acknowledge how great it was. Blistered Thumbs didn’t even give it a review.
Forgot to Mention Deus EX HR in my list.Loved it though i havent bought the DLC pack yet.
Deus Ex: HR was a disappointment at best and a terrible game at the worst. The story glazed over major characters and events, the chinese antagonist comes out of nowhere, disappears, then is the final boss (wtf?), the boss fights are ass, the energy cell system is poorly designed, the characters are either poorly fleshed out (Malik is the only character I ever cared about at all) or not at all (everyone else), the gameplay heavily favors stealth over anything else, there are Augs that no literally nothing, Adams character varies from being competent to being a f**king moron, and the endings are the biggest cop-out, bullshit, non-confrontational, lazy, unsatisfying, and pointless endings I have ever had the misfortune of seeing.
The game is not good, and I have no idea who the game go as much praise as it did, much less make anyone’s 10 ten list.
Good bye….
Realm of The Mad God
Hyper Princess Pitch
The Binding of Isaac
and the full release of Minecraft of this year
the world may never know you existed
Fuck, how in the hell i forgot about Bastion in my list??
Actually, i just noticed that there is 5 thumps up and -6 thumps down on my list. What are you all exactly agreeing or disagreeing off? Its because the site has a strict code to not play indie or MMO or something that i am not aware off?? or you are just pressing bottoms without thinking?
Nice list, Joe. I’m also glad you haven’t forgotten about L.A. Noire, which would probably be my personal number one for the year. Hope to see your most anticipated of 2012 soon! My most anticipated is probably Mass Effect 3, and Bioshock Infinite!
Cool list.
But i’m still waiting for your most anticipated games of 2012. I don’t research games much, so when your list comes out I’m sure i’ll be able to experience anticipation for more then the 3 games I know of right now.
Halo 4
Rainbow 6 Patriots
And the South Park game.
(anticipation levels not necessarily in that order)
My top 10 is:
10. Back to the Future: The Game
9. Assassins Creed: Revelations
8. The Binding of Isaac
7. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
6. Mario Kart 7
5. Super Mario 3D Land
4. Batman Arkham City
3. Portal 2
2. The Ender Scrolls V: Skyrim
1. The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
10. inFAMOUS 2
9. DEUS EX Human Revolution
8. Catherine
7. Saints Row The Third
6. Resistance 3
5. MORTAL KOMBAT
4. Batman Arkham City
3. BATTLEFIELD 3
2. PORTAL 2
1. The Elder Scrolls V SKYRIM
*raises hand*
Joe you have heard of Dota correct? it came first and i believe you are obligated to play it. currently the Beta is out and im sure with your celeb you can snag a beta key…and if you can get a second one id love to have it
also dont forget HoN joe…although its basically a dota clone there are some differences now…its also free to play
No job so only played a few games,thanfully they were all good
Skyrim
KOF VIII
Dark Souls
Mortal Kombat
And that’s it..
My game of the year is InFamous 2.
I had so many hours out of that game. It’s the ultimate super hero simulator for me. Batman AC comes REALLY close thou and it is indeed a great game.
10. Yakuza 4
9. Saints Row the Third
8. Sonic Generations
7. Corpse Party
6. Infamous 2
5. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
4. Portal 2
3. Disgaea 4
2. Skyrim
1. Dark Souls
My top ten.
So… Uncharted 3 didn’t make your list Joe? I gotta admit, that surprised the hell out of me.
It’s often difficult to play a game you don’t have the console for.
And I’m supposed to know everything about Joe’s console collection because….?
…because it’s important to know which games he can and can’t review. You guys want your PS3 games so badly? Go see Sage’s stuff.
Skyrim…. where did that 200 hours go? I could have like… learned another language or something… You know, other than Draconian. <_<
I have honestly never understood why people call Skyrim’s setting “generic”, are there really that many Varangian-stylized RPG games out there? Where are they? Can anyone tell me where I can find them? Seriously, I have never seen another one in my life.
The world is very bland and generic to me because it lacks characters with character. It’s all just so… meh… It feels like it’s made by people who don’t give a damn.
You clearly don’t know the history of these games do you?
I haven’t seen more love and care put into a game since the old days of Final Fantasy.
Give me crap if you want but you are just flat out dead wrong about the game being “meh”.
Oblivion blinded me with color and beauty, Morrowind intrigued me with it’s vibrant story and attention to history, Daggerfall engrossed me in a world bigger than any video game to date, and Skyrim gave me all of that while still bringing something fresh to the table.
You want a game by people who don’t give a damn? Look no further than EVERY GENERIC SHOOTER EVER MADE!
Maybe thye think it lacks the “persona”, you know?
It has it’s elfs and humans in their typical fantasy enviroment. I know it’s overly simplified and there is depth in the lore. But still, for example, I don’t even remember most of the names of the characters anymore.
But yeah, I enjoyed it for couple of dozen hours. Was a good game. But I wish they would improve the melee combat bit more in the next game.
exactly, all these people talking shit about skyrim can’t even point to a game who does it better. What are they going to say, dungeons and dragons? Last time i checked, those games were so horrid that they didnt even hit market shelves. I say let them rot with their sand boxed dragon age and fable games. Ill stick with skyrim.
Dungeons and Dragons? Which computer game do you mean, there’s a lot based on it. And yes, real D&D, with pen and paper, is better than any CRPG can ever be.
Better worlds with more character are in The Witcher and Gothic, for example and IMO. And Fable and Dragon Age can go to hell.
The witcher is not a sandbox rpg. And yes, D and D pc games.
Doesn’t matter since we’re talking about the game world. And all D&D PC games are so horrible that they don’t hit store shelves? Are you drunk?
Okay I loved the shit out of Skyrim, I haven’t played Dark Souls, but I think we can say Skyrim is one of the greatest RPGs of our time.
That beings said Arkham City is better. Now it’s pointless to compare an RPG to a Batman game, but playing Skyrim I had major complaints, things that constantly bothered me, bugs, repetitive textures and at time I felt like it just needed more testing. Arkham City on the other hand works. It always works, it always looks great and my complaints are only minor, it’s just a better made game.
10. Saints Row the Third
9. Pokemon Black & White
8. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
7. Sonic Generations
6. L.A Noire
5. Batman: Arkham City
4. LittleBigPlanet 2
3. inFamous 2
2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
1. Dark Souls
My little top 10 of the year list. :3
Not a bad list you got there.
My top10 is:
1. The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
2. Arkham City
3. Catherine
4. Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition
5. Witcher 2
6. Deux Ex Human Machine
7. Alice Madness Returns
8. Portal 2
9. Dragon Age 2
10. Pokemon Black & White
Hooray for buggy, gimmick-ridden, utterly generic and badly written fantasy! Only the masters of this genre, Bethesda, could’ve pulled that one off!
EDIT: Of course Skyrim is the best entry in the series yet. But Bethesda at the very least needs to learn to test their shit. They apparently never did it! TES1 always runs too fast and has a horrid UI. TES2 is _unbeatable_ without using cheats _constantly_. So yeah, TES5 is a huge leap forward, only occasionally being unwinnable. Bonus video: http://www.pixelships.com/adg/ep0066.html
I am also not impressed by Skyrim, liked the previous two better. How about you?
I tried to get into Morrowind multiple times but always got lost. I blame the bad quest log. But it’s probably my favourite TES game. Oblivion is horrid. Mechanics are weird and unintuitive (creatures level up?!?) and the story… you go to hell and beat up some Demons at level 3 or something. Just… no. I know, people say “fuck the main quest, just go exploring!” But I couldn’t do that either. The voice acting and animations are so off-putting and the whole world seems oddly lifeless and way too “game-like” to me. GTA/Red Dead does this kind of gameplay way, way better.
Some games I want I haven’t played yet (Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the latest Layton game), others I don’t care about to begin with no matter the quality (I tend to net get into Zelda games as much as I’d like to and, having tried to like them, I just can’t stand the Elder Scrolls games at all, fantastic they may be, I just hate them, they are the definition of boring to me) and lastly, this is going by how much fun I had, not on length, not on how revolutionizing and new it is, not on anything like that, because I just tend to like short games that amaze me more than lots of content I think is uninteresting and I prefer a game that’s just like the one before it over a totally original piece of shit.
That said, I’d pick my games of the year as follows:
10.Stacking (my downloadable game of the year)
9.Mortal Kombat
8.DC Universe Online (I normally hate MMOs…maybe that’s why I enjoyed, i could play through the story an my own and then just..stop, more or less)
7.Pokemon Black/White
6.Dragon Age 2 (I know the flaws and I don’t care, I finished it two times, am still playing and put about 150 hours into this game, I’m enjoying it a great deal, so leave me be)
5.Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
4 and 3.Batman: Arkham City and Super Mario 3D Land (I can’t devide here)
2.Portal 2
1.the PS3 release of Mass Effect 2 (just the chance to finally play Mass Effect made my entire year)
Glad to see some more love for Stacking. It is an awesome game, one of Double Fine’s best. And before Bastion came out , it was my choice for downloadable of the year.
I can’t care less about elder Scroll serie… seriously, lack of direction in the story telling, boring word, no one convinced me Skyrim was different
…all of which is typical in an open world RPG…?
Awesome list, Joe! I always love these top ten of the year videos.
I will also post my top seven. I can’t really do ten because I really haven’t played that many games this year because of college. ^^; Some games that I’ve been meaning to play are Uncharted 3 (Which I’ll be starting tomorrow.), Batman: Arkham City, Bastion, and Deus Ex.
7.) Pokemon Black & White Version: Yes, I know that the Pokemon games have remained basically unchanged ever since the beginning, but I can’t help but to get addicted to them, and Black and White were no exceptions. The version I played was Black, and like the other Pokemon games before this I had a lot of fun developing my team and fighting everyone I encountered. I do have some problems with the game, like the contests were a let down, the triple fighting mechanic really wasn’t used that often, and the game is, of course, basically the same as any other Pokemon game, but I love it anyway.
6.) Rayman Origins: The main reason that I got this game was for the style alone. I immediately fell in love with the wacky cartoon style of the game and just had to get it. I’ll admit that I haven’t played it a whole lot just yet, but out of what I’ve played so far it’s been a ton of fun, especially with another player. The animation is amazing, and everything looks extremely colorful, beautiful, and crazy! Rayman Origins was a very fun co-op plat former game that I will for surely play more in the future.
5.) Assassins Creed: Revelations: I just finished playing this game a couple hours ago, and I had a lot of fun playing this game. I’m a huge Assassins Creed fan, and I was squealing with joy as I put the game CD into the PS3. Now that I’m done playing it, I will admit that there were some aspects that I was a bit disappointed on. Like how this game was basically Assassins Creed: Brotherhood except with bombs. I also really didn’t like the Desmond mind puzzle things. Those just felt so out of place in the game and felt really awkward to play. So I never bothered with those. However, despite the flaws, it still has the good stuff from Brotherhood, and I still couldn’t help but to enjoy it.
4.) Dragon Age II: I do not believe that Dragon Age II was better than Dragon Age Origins, but I still had a blast playing it. I absolutely love the improved combat system in the game. Watching my rogue kick ass in Dragon Age II was much more entertaining than watching my rogue slowly walk around in Origins. The game does have other flaws, like I don’t like how they changed the talking to basically “Nice” “Bad” and “Sarcastic.” I also really wished that they didn’t reuse the same levels over and over and over and over and over again. The character creation was great though (besides the fact that you could only be human and no origin story) and I do like the other characters in the game. When Dragon Age 3 comes out, I hope they combine the good stuff in both games. Like have the Dragon Age II style of fighting, but the Origins style of talking.
3.) Catherine: Catherine is a very, very fun puzzle game that I highly enjoyed. The first time I heard of this game was when Spoony was doing a Livestream of Catherine. It looked really awesome, so I quickly went to Gamestop and purchased it. And boy was I glad I did. This game was very challenging, but that’s what I want in a puzzle game. I want to be challenged in this kind of game.
I really liked the story as well. It does have some weirdness to it, but I didn’t mind. I thought this game was very neat and very original, and next time I play this I’m going to step up the difficulty to the highest it can go!
2.) Portal 2: This is VERY close to making number one for me. I absolutely loved Portal 2. The humor was brilliant. The characters were brilliant. The puzzles were brilliant. Just about everything in this game is brilliant! I always feel joy whenever GLaDOS yells insults at me. (GLaDOS is also my favorite video game character of all time.) I laugh at Wheatley’s stupidity, and I gear up my brain for the portal puzzles. The co-op is also just marvelous. Actually, the co-op is one of the best co-op experiences I’ve ever had! (Although it is better when both players have never played the co-op.) Overall, Portal 2 is an excellent game that I have played multiple times and will play multiple times more in the future.
1.) Skryim: Yep, I’m joining the crowd on this one! I was very tempted to put Portal 2 as my number one, but I’ve been so obsessed with Skyrim that I had to put it on top. Skryim is purely fantastic. Like you said, I love how you can encounter quests or treasures just by venturing around the lands of Skyrim, even when you’re in mid-quest. I remember when I was going to start a quest when a wood elf comes running towards me babbling nonsense, and soon I was talking with Sheogorath himself! The character creation system is also brilliant. Any game with a good character creation system immediately gets five points for me, and Skyrim’s is top notch. There’s also a looooooooooooooooooot of looting stuff, which I love to do!
Yes, the game has flaws, like how Skryim does have many glitches (some funny, like a person walking around halfway in the ground, or super annoying, like loosing a newly crafted glass dagger in the wall) but I’m willing to overlook these flaws. The size if this game is also gigantic. I’ve played this game for over 80 hours, and I have yet to finished the main quest nor explore half the lands. I defiantly feel like I got more than my moneys worth when I bought this game. I would consider Skryim my new favorite RPG of all time.
That is my top seven list! I’m hoping to play the other games of 2011 over the rest of my winter break, so the list would probably change then, but for now this is what my list looks like!
Also, do you plan on making a top 10 worst of 2011? I’d be curious to see what you thought was the bottom of the barrel of this year.
I’ve played only 2 games from Joe’s Top10 :/
I haven’t played enough to make a Top10 to begin with because the last two would be something average so I’ll just go with at Top5 of my own:
#5 Batman: Arkham City
#4 Crysis 2
#3 Dead Space 2
#2 Gears of War 3
#1 Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Crysis 2 is a pathetic shadow of its former PC benchmarking glory.
…last I checked, the only thing that Crysis 1 had going for it was it’s pretty graphics…..and that’s it.
Ok, number 1 was sort of predictable. That’s not a bad thing btw
I didn’t play much games this year, but I would pick Portal 2 as my number one, smart, simple, and refreshing. As for LOL – I played a lot of it this year, but I stopped, because it’s simply too time consuming. It’s really easy to become a no-life, and if you’re not playing it for professional reasons (pro gaming or reviewing) it really makes you miss on life. It’s great but you have to be careful. Plus the fact I didn’t like is that when you are new to the game, you basically have to prepare for a ton of abuse from other players that consider themselves pro, or at least more pro than you.
Have a great 2012 Joe.
A shocking lack of Portal 2 on this list. Did you just miss out that game entirely? It would be in the top 4 for sure if you did play it.
Are you going to do a Worst of 2011 list as well. I have concerns if you do, espicially if a certain 3 shows up on that list, even if you put it in tenth place. I’ll still say otherwise on your opinion on it. I’d probably put it ninth on my Best list of the year.
Not going to do a list here, much because I really didn’t play that many games this year.
Am I stating the obvious if I tell you that I am looking forward to the top 10 worst games of the year list? I might be a walking cliché here, but yeah, I am looking forward to it.
Why are you people bragging about minecraft? its a 2009 release
It gone full this year yea but its been played for 2 years now. Also i didnt get rly into Witcher 2 :p it might be a good game but i didnt play enuff of it to say it is (i hated the crap out of the 1rst one).
But ow well… since every one else is doing it ill guess ill post my own personal list
10.Alice: Madness Returns – Fun platforming game with stuning visuals
shame its so short
i got bored by the and end and just moved to other games
9.Warhammer 40k: Space Marine – Expected A LOT more from it, but it still is good fun
8.Portal 2 – Good game, didnt rly try out the multiplayer coz i had no interest in it
7.DC Universe Online – My cure from WoW :] im having hell of a lot of fun with it
6.Orcs Must Die – Fun arcadey style game
5.Magicka – Great game especialy in co-op with friends on skype (singleplayer is decent too)
4.Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Its a GREAT game!… but i never got to finishing it
3.The Binding of Isaac – Spent over 35 hours playing it ^^ do i need to say more?
2.The Elders Scrolls 5: Skyrim – An Rpg so good its stands up to all the best rpgs made over the years, in other words I LOVE IT!
Drum roll….
Nr.1. Terraria – My new game addiction
i play at least 2-3h every day with my friends (we killed the Wall of Flesh and now were gearing up to take down The Destroyer ^^)
Ps.Id put Dominion at one of the higher places but the problem is that i play LoL since 2009 and its just a new map/mod so i just cant :]
7: DC Universe Online? really? are you a ps3 owner?
this is one of the shortst mmo i ever seen, you are max lvl in no time, then you grind endless of the same stuff you just did to lvl up, wiith only a few new things to do, but as you need to do the every day, thier get boring fast.
Then finally you get to do new content, wich you then need to grind endless to do the next new one.
Now the story in lvling up was fun, but it only lasts so long.
Awesome Joe, thanks for giving a shoutout to 331erock, ive been following him for a while and he really deserves all the fame he can muster. What a talented guitarist.
On topic: Loved the review, agreed completey with every single choice. Although once you start playing leages a little more, youll start to notice a lot of balancing issues. I would scratched leagues and shifted everything up a notch and swapped metro 2133 at number 10 for me being that leagues is technically just DOTA and did not exactly come out this year.
Nice selection Joe especially with Skyrim. I only really disagree with you on the Witcher 2 as I felt that it was average or even below average ( excluding graphics ) but that may be because it is just not my thing. Other than that I probably would have a very similar list just different order.
Did you even play through the witcher 2??? Not only do you get COMPLETELY different campaigns depending on what choices you make, it has one of the most unique and satisfying combat systems around. Not only that, but the story is just as unique as its playstyle. The Witcher 2 is probably the most underrated game of the year if you ask me. Did I mention its probably one of the best looking games ive ever seen?
The Witcher 2 has nothing really big wrong with it’s besides it story which to me at least was just bland but other than that it was mostly just minor problems such as passable at best audio design/voice overs and not that many things to do besides main story which like I said I found kind of bland. And then there were the things that I just found annoying such as the the menu/inventory. Besides that there was also the fact that I did not like all of the characters( except for the dwarfs, the trolls and Saskia) Finally the only other thing I really really disliked was the way that the game portrayed “romance/love” scenes and plots but again probably just my own personal taste. So like I originally stated I did not think it a bad game just not a good one.
The Witcher comes from one of the best selling fantasy novels in poland. Sorry that the story is a little too complicated for the likes of such a simple minded audience. You say other than the story you did not like, it just had “minor problems”, well last time i checked, one minor issue does not ruin the entire game experience. Try actually playing through the game instead of just playing the first 15 minutes of it.
“I did not think it a bad game just not a good one.”
….Did you even read what you just wrote? You can’t be that stupid. That’s like saying no offense before you insult someone.
I agree, Witcher 2 was not as good as ppl like it to be, not for me, becouse I just felt like I was running in tunnels in a dungeon all the time, yes you may be outside, but you are still running in a tunnel.
I just felt like I coud not move around in the game.
Not to mention how hard is was to loot anything in this game!
Too bad this top 10 is “a crummy ass clip show” (like someone would have done a few years ago ^^), I’d love to see some new footage instead of the videos I’ve watched over and over (well, not that over). And for my part… No KOF’XIII (the return of the King!), no Rayman Origins, no Terraria… I was a bit disappointed to see that all the games were already reviewed, so there was not surprise at all. But hey, it’s somehow darn logical, too…
Joe, you’ve gotta play at least KOF’XIII, it’s certainly the best beat’em up since… KOF’00
Anyway, keep up the good work, and happy new year from fuckin’ France!
Joe, have you played Minecraft and Portal 2? I believe those two will definitely withstand the test of time better than some of the other games on your list. I hope that when Elder Scrolls VI comes out, Skyrim will not be forgotten, like an old Call of Duty.
Joe, I love ya man, you’re by far my favorite game reviewer on the internet.
But unfortunately, I’m also a man to detests clip shows. Don’t deny it Joe, this is just a friggin clip show.
I agree with most of your choices given the games you’ve reviewed this year. My own list would include stuff that I don’t believe you touched (Bastion, Uncharted 3, LittleBigPlanet 2, among others).
I don’t agree with counting LoL: Dominion as a 2011 release. In my mind to count as a new release a game update would have to substantially change the entire game, not just add a map/mode, no matter how much fun that mode is. If you want to say it’s a top 10 list of the best games you started playing in 2011 then I can totally understand it being here.
From the lists everyone is posting it looks like a lot of people wanted Dark Souls on there. Just take his Witcher 2 explanation and listen to it again, but mentally replace Witcher 2 with Dark Souls because what he was saying about Witcher 2 is what everyone who likes Dark Souls tells me. I played it through once and it wasn’t anything special. I preferred Demon’s Souls because it didn’t have nearly as many stupid parts to it like Dark Souls did. However, both those games weren’t nearly as good as my favorite RPGs (Dragon Age Origins and Skyrim are Gods)
I haven’t gotten to play too many of this year’s games so the lowest positions in my top 10 list are occupied by games that did not impress me too much but I found at least entertaining.
10) Sonic Generations
9) W40k Space Marine
8) Dead Space 2
7) Battlefield 3 (it would have probably scored higher if you didnt have to unlock the most basic equipment for every vehicle, and the upgrades for every weapon individually)
6) Jurassic Park: The Game
5) Deus Ex Human Revolution
4) Alice: Madness Returns
3) Minecraft
2) Portal 2
1) TESV: Skyrim
I think had I played stuff like Shogun 2 (Although i’m not big on real time strategy), Arkham City or Witcher 2 they would probably have scored pretty high on my list.
Agreed on #1. I’m level 31, and I still haven’t finished Act 1! I’ve been busy killing dragons, saving Winterhold, taking Whiterun for the Stormcloaks, and so much else! Nothing can top this game!
For my list, I would’ve added Portal 2, even though it had its “short” comings.
Holy crap, dude, you need to do the story! You played to level 30 and haven’t even had a taste of the coolest shout in the game!
I know tha it was originally released in 2004, but how about TF2? With it being free-to-play now, i spen more hours this year heaving rockets at mine carts full of bombs and whatnot, than any other game.
I still loved: Skyrim, L.A. Noire, SWTOR, Mario Kart 7, and Pokemon White/Black!
Twas a great year in gaming , THANKS JOE! for this lookback.
Definitely a nicely varied list of games, it certainly shows your love and time for the many gaming genres out there
I just really feel like stating my opinion. I love stating my yearly favorites.
10. Battlefield 3- Favorite FPS of the year… predictable I know
9. W40k Space Marines- Loved this game! A must buy for 40k fans!
8. Saints Row The 3rd- Despite Joe’s Review, I loved this game (not as good as 2, but oh well)
7. Metal Gear Solid HD collection- It’s kinda cheating, but I love MGS too much
6. L.A: Noire- Probably the best story driven game of the year (Not counting MGS)
5. Batman Arkham City- Never before has Batman been so “bat-ass” in a game… I’m sorry
4. The Witcher 2- I have a soft spot for good yet challenging RPGs… in fact wait for #2
3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution-… o.k I lied about L.A: Noire… still a good game
2. Dark Souls- The only game to match the amount of time I’ve spent on #1
1. Skyrim- Call me “Mr. Predictable”, but I’ve been a fan of the series since Daggerfall so eat me! Loved this game!
What, no Dark Souls? Common, man! The game’s freakin’ amazing! XD
ok i am going to sound like huge asshole for saying this but why do people feel the need to share their favorites list in the comments do you really think anyone cares
people just like stating their opinions. nothing to call out or get upset over. Sure maybe nobody cares, but they don’t have to, to read what you’re thinking. Also, if nobody cares about anyone else’s opinion than why watch Joe’s video? Clearly someone likes viewing others opinions.
My list is almost the same with Joe, excluding LA Noire , Ace Combat and LoL (for me a new mode doesn’t justify it as a 2011 release).
LA Noire is a good title but still it’s too linear and once you make the mistake of realizing that, the game is ruined (at least this is what happened in my case). I would love if my bad decisions or lackluster detective work got punished or changed the outcome of the story just like in Heavy Rain.
Ace Combat is fun but it get’s repetitive fast especially if you overuse the close quarters combat (or whatever they called in the game I forgot). Also the chopper missions drag for waaaaaaaaaay too long and they are boring as hell.
I see a lot of people mentioning DA II in their comments. For me DA II is quite bad and lazy but this can only be seen after the first playthrough. When I finished the game for the first time I was loving it, but then I started analyzing it. The characters are uninteresting, the level design is really bad, the graphics are mediocre at best, the story doesn’t have that epic scale that characterizes other RPGs (or even Origin) and the RPG element is really dumbed down.
1. Dark Souls
2. Super Mario 3D Land
3. Mario Kart 7
4. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
5. Pokemon White
6. Portal 2
7. Bulletstorm
8. Dragon Age 2
9. Dungeon Defenders
10. Orcs Must Die!
1. Dark Souls
2. Terraria
3. Dissidia 2
4. Uncharted 3
5. Patapon 3
6. Saints Row 3
7. Anno 2070
8. Arkham City
9. Skyrim
10. Mortal Kombat
Oh and an honourable mention to Nier, which I sadly only discovered this year. Easily my second place entry otherwise, and the best JRPG of all time.
i find it funny that 7 out of 10 of thses games are the strongest on PC
and 4 out of 10 are PC only games have angry joe turned into a PC gamer? :3
Watched the video, great stuff as always.
Did not play many games in 2011 as my hype for SWTOR killed my lust for other games, my list is as follows:
Gotta say, it wasn’t far from what i expected
I just don’t understand how LoL can be number 2, since it wasn’t released in 2011
1: Star Wars: The Old Republic – I had the HIGHEST expectations possible for this game. And never before have i experienced a game that actually lived up to a hype that massive. A beautiful OPEN WORLD, ONLINE BIOWARE RPG. nuff said.
2: LA Noire – This game is very impressive. Even though you gave it a 8/10 i on the other hand think it is just as good as RDR. But in its own beautiful way.
3: Witcher 2 – Does right what skyrim does wrong.
4: DA II – Not as good as it’s predicessor, and not worth a second playthrough for me, but the first playthrough was still pretty damn good!
5: Batman Arkham City
6: Skyrim – After playing about 70 hours of this game, i have to say that it was slightly underwhelming to me. It’s a great game with many improvements, sure. But improvement was needed one more place for this game to be higher on my list. The story. After playing Oblivion for about 300 hours, i pretty much got bored with the game and knew the formula pretty well. And the formula for Skyrim storytelling is the exact same thing as in oblivion, sure there are a lot of different stories, but the overall quality is pretty low imo. And this game being an RPG i expect quality storytelling, not quantity storytelling. Overall the stories are predictable (i was especially disappointed with the main quest), lack depth, lack interesting character relations and so on and so forth. The world is huge but pretty bland imo. Despite the many improvements the story is still what makes a good rpg. For me to like this game better it needed better stories, not more of them.
7: Space Marine
8: SR: The Third
9: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
10: Mortal Kombat
Skyrim fans be mad :p
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH GEISHA JOE AGAIN NOOOOOO
And “The Dragonborn comes” at the end made me smile.
Does LoL really count? that was released like 2yrs ago I know Dominion came out this year but isn’t it just a new mode and no SWTOR???
I think 2-3weeks of SWTOR is to little to put it on here for a mmo game, wich is wierd as it has won some game of the year awards.
I love SWTOR, but it shoud be seen as a 2012 game, becouse it is a mmo and you need time to actual play it and see if it is really that good.
Ah, Top 10 time. Okay, let’s do the rundown:
10.) El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
9.) Stacking
8.) Dragon Age II
7.) Infamous 2
6.) Radiant Historia
5.) Catherine
4.) Bastion
3.) Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
2.) Batman: Arkham City.
1.) Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
stacking’s great. and infamous 2 has been criminally been forgotten, but i guess with the hectic release schedule theres been a good deal of games being forgotten
1. Rayman Origins – Best looking game ever made
2. Skyrim – 100+hrs played already
3. Driver: San Francisco – FUN
4. Catherine – Hard as shit even on easy
5. Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Liked the atmosphere
6. Gears 3/Uncharted 3 – Same as previous games but still fun
7. Batman: Arkham City – Fun would of been higher if it didn’t fuck up my save
8. Super Mario 3D Land – 3DS Killer app
9. L.A. Noire – Something different and fun
10. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – More of the same but still fun
Hurray, someone has Rayman Origins on their list! that game’s so amazing! it’s tied with arkham city for my personal favorite game of the year
Fantastic list
Really glad you mentioned Ace Combat.
The only game I would have added is Gears of War 3.
However, we are the Dragonborn and RPG’s have a new standard to live up to now and I couldn’t be more excited
It’s private and I’m unable to watch.
HOWEVER, I’m almost certain that unless Joe went and bought a Wii this year, my game of the year isn’t on his list. I’ve yet to play Skyrim (I do now own it but my PS3 is in LA and I’m in London for Xmas) so I’m holding back on my judgement but for now the Top 5 Stands Thus:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
2. Batman: Arkham City
3. Mortal Kombat
4. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
5. Dragon Age II
Joe… Y U NO Use Blip… as usual ?!?
okay… the video now works even though it’s on YouTube… it was weird…
The video is private
I’m unable to watch
Fixed. Theres also a repeating audio clip ill need to remove, ill have that fixed in a few hours.
Thanks for the heads up!