We're working on our own BGN Game of the Year review, which encompasses two busy gamers' perspectives on 2011's best title. But we'd like to hear more voices on the topic (even after the big "reveal," which should arrive within the next week).
This is also our first community-sourced post culled from the new Forums. We hope to do more of these, but for now we'll kick it off with this excellent pick from sharks2k:
I have to go with Saints Row The Third. It's a surprisingly fun game. Good game play. A sense of humor (even if it is often silly or juvenile). It's not too hard on normal. Relatively easy achievements (I got 1000/1000). Lots of customization, or just use defaults. Different voices lead to different dialogue often. The choices you make (albeit only 3 or 4 times) affect the bonuses, items, scenarios you find.
Busy gamer points: It can be played for any amount of time. As many saves as you want. Difficulty can be changed any time. Just make sure kids are out.
goodbyetonight offers her favorite:
I haven't played too many of the games released in 2011 yet unfortunately, but my pick would have to be Dead Space 2. The first was one of my favorite games ever and the second somehow managed to exceed it. Better gameplay, better characterization (especially giving Isaac a voice) and a ton of creepy and epic moments.
James adds this perspective:
I'd be lying to myself if I didn't say Skyrim, but 2011 was a great year for games and I didn't have enough time/money to get some of the AAA titles of last year (Dark Souls, Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Skyward Sword and plenty others) so my opinion might be skewed. Of what I did play however, Skyrim was definitely the best!
loocas is on the fence:
I honestly can't choose.
Dragon Age 2 for its ambition; it took guts to focus the story on just the characters the way they did, limited to one major locale and largely ignoring the Blight going on in the rest of the world. It took guts to tell the mage/templar story, with its sharp overtones. And it paid off, despite the game's cut corners.
Portal 2 for its perfection. It's so delightful, yet deep and meaningful, and feels like a Pixar movie. Might be one of the most genuinely funny games ever. The gameplay felt appropriately challenging; not as tough as Portal 1 and very welcoming to less experienced gamers.
We found more picks stuck in the approval queue! Alvarox offers a pair of unexpected choices:
If playing a game for a long time is any indication of it's brilliance then Lego Pirates of the Caribbean is my game of the year hands down, as my daughter loves to play co-op. As for me, I would pick Resident Evil 4 HD. Again (sighs, played it on GC, PS2, Wii and now XBOX 360, still not tired of it).
Have a Game of the Year pick? Post it to the forums! Give good reasons and we'll continue to add highlights here. Include your Twitter name if you want a link to your Twitter profile.
