2011 Review Team Game of the Year Awards: Overall Game of the Year 2011

[Gauss]

As 2011 comes to a close the Review Team took a look back at all the great games of 2011 and decided to bring PS3Trophies.com our selection for:

Overall Game of the Year 2011

This award looks at the overall package a game presents to the player, as well as the overall impact the game had on the gaming community. Each member of the RT voted on a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place game and the results below were based on the results of each members' votes. Eligible titles were released between 12/1/2010 and 12/1/2011.

1st Place:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, one of the most impactful and wonderfully crafted experiences in gaming yet. It featues a rich and well developed environment that is all but unmatched in the gaming industry. Couple that with a story that deals with complex issues with an overall tone and plot built to highlight this, and you have one of the few games in history to actually treat gaming like a truly artistic median for storytelling, while being mainstream enough to bring attention to this fact.

Deus Ex is no one trick pony though, this story is built on a foundation of strongly varied and deep gameplay that allows the player to solve problems in truly unique ways, not just along the pre-described good and evil paths.

2nd Place:

Portal 2

A true masterpiece, this game has left a benchmark that's yet to be reached in my mind. Portal 2 looks great, has a funny and connectable story and a great co-op mode. A lot of time can be lost in this game really easily and even after 100%ing the game I could easily go back and do the same again.

3rd Place:

Mass Effect 2

The story is amazing, especially with the ability to import saves (look forward to that in ME3, Playstation users!), and gameplay is fun whether it's the deeper RPG experience of the first game, or the more streamlined combat-oriented title that the second one is. In addition to those two already important elements, ME2's technical achievements are staggering. The general gameplay graphics are quite good and the cutscenes are fabulous, with excellent textures, natural movements and wonderful lighting. The music is also second to none - I've played a great many games across a great many platforms in my short time, and fully knowing how controversial this will sound I say it's the best music put forth in any game yet.

4th Place:

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim sets you in a fantastical and huge world full of wonder, that will take you hundreds of hours to explore. While the main quests are great in itself, the true thing that sets Skyrim apart from other games is it's addicting and fun gameplay, and it's insanely vast world. While it certainly has it's problems when it comes to the technical side of the game, Skyrim is still one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played, and the only game I've experience that can make 6 hours worth of playtime go by within the blink of an eye.

[Gauss]

Deus Ex ran away with this title, this was the largest margin between first and second place of any award presented by the RT this year.

Portal 2 was a clear #2, having a pretty big lead over ME2 in 3rd place.

From that point backward it was very close, ME2 barely beat Skyrim who barely beat Dead Space 2 (5th place). UC3 and Batman: Arkham City were tied for 6th place, barely behind Dead Space 2.

[Digitalman123]

Arkham City was a masterpiece, but Portal 2 is a very deserving title.

[Denaratuck]

Finally ME2 on a list, I can now happily bring 2011 to a close. However, I still have Deus Ex sitting here and I need to get to it so I can't agree or disagree with its placement.

[Cpt-Redding]

I loved all the top three and totally agree getting Skyrim for Christmas aswell I hope

[Ramon3110]

Deus Ex overall I agree these were the GOTY of 2011 I'm a diehard ND fan but UC3 wasn't that good at all tbh

[DilBurger]

Ahhhh Mass Effect 2 was one of the best gaming eperieces I had this year. Its what got me hooked on playing higher difficulty levels. Im looking at picking up Deus Ex and Skyrim in the new year, and I know I'm going to get memorable games from both.

[njdog102]

I really need to consider checking into Deus Ex. I've never played any of the games in the series but the way you guys talk about the game has me interested.

[Kerwan_Ratchet]

I just got Dues Ex and so far I'd have to disagree with the position, but that may change.

I don't think neither Portal nor Mass Effect 2 desvered a place at all, but I agree with Skyrim. Still, it's a pity not to see Arkham City or DS2 on the list.

[Nagflar]

I just got Dues Ex and so far I'd have to disagree with the position, but that may change.

I don't think neither Portal nor Mass Effect 2 desvered a place at all, but I agree with Skyrim. Still, it's a pity not to see Arkham City or DS2 on the list.

Well, it's a high-brow game, so I'm not surprised .

Same can be said for Portal 2 and ME2.

[Kerwan_Ratchet]

Same can be said for Portal 2 and ME2.

Not really.

[DaveyHasselhoff]

I don't think neither Portal nor Mass Effect 2 desvered a place at all, but I agree with Skyrim. Still, it's a pity not to see Arkham City or DS2 on the list.

Im gonna have to agree with Kerwan...why the hell would a shitty ass game like Mass Effect 2 deserve a spot

[Nagflar]

Not really.

You're right, it can only be said for Portal 2.

[Kerwan_Ratchet]

You're right, it can only be said for Portal 2.

Maybe so, but it had a short campaign, mediocre story and inconsistent design. I personally didn't enjoy it as much as everyone else did but it's still a fantastic game.

[Nagflar]

Maybe so, but it had a short campaign, mediocre story and inconsistent design.

Yeah, sure, and Akrham City is 2001: A Space Odyssey and Skyrim deserves a Lifetime Techincal Achievement award.

[Kerwan_Ratchet]

Yeah, sure, and Akrham City is 2001: A Space Odyssey and Skyrim deserves a Lifetime Techincal Achievement award.

And Portal 2 has a story that blows you away does it?

I personally think that Skyrim didn't do badly in the techinical department for it's content and size. You can't compare it to a game with no glitches or techinical hiccups but is long a few hours long.

[Denaratuck]

I just got Dues Ex and so far I'd have to disagree with the position, but that may change.

I don't think neither Portal nor Mass Effect 2 desvered a place at all, but I agree with Skyrim. Still, it's a pity not to see Arkham City or DS2 on the list.

Saying that Portal 2 and ME2 doesn't deserve a spot on the list is absurd. Tell me why they don't deserve a spot on the list?

And Portal 2 has a story that blows you away does it?

Finishing Portal 2 gives you a feeling of accomplishment and happiness that very few other games can provide. In fact, the only other time I can recall feeling that good about finishing a game and watching the credits role was when I beat the first Mass Effect on the 360. The levels, dialogue, and situations you're placed in really separate these games from others and are experiences.

[JackAttack]

Maybe so, but it had a short campaign, mediocre story and inconsistent design. I personally didn't enjoy it as much as everyone else did but it's still a fantastic game.

In my opinion, Portal 2 actually had a pretty good story, which was capped off by a truly epic ending. However, I think you have to take into context the specific writing that went into it to truly appreciate it. I mean, every other line is a funny joke or an attempt at humor. Maybe the overall story wasn't up to snuff for you, but you do have to think about how funny the dialogue was for characters such as Wheately and GLaDOS.

I mean, when you look at a game such as Batman: Arkham City, I think for fans of the actual comics, the game is pretty much heaven on Earth. With that said, the problem I had with Arkham City is that there were too many villains that the main objective and goal was cluttered. You had to save the city from one villain, and then do the same for another. I would've liked to have seen less villains who had more prominent roles. Dead Space 2's story was actually very meh, in my opinion, it was the character development that really made that game so great. I mean hell, the first six chapters of the game were spent running around to find some girl who then ends up being totally 100% pointless to the story. However, Isaac's internal struggle was one that was worth licking your lips over.

Still, I would say that both DS2 and Arkham City were some of the best games to come out this year, but I personally agree with all of the games on this list, with the exception of Mass Effect 2 which I have yet to have gotten my hands on.

[Nagflar]

And Portal 2 has a story that blows you away does it?

I personally think that Skyrim didn't do badly in the techinical department for it's content and size. You can't compare it to a game with no glitches or techinical hiccups but is long a few hours long.

If we compare it to Batman, yes. If we compared it to a decent story, yes. If we compare it to Uncharted's, no, because they are equally great. Portal 2's story is very well written, full of memorable moments and dialogues. Batman (for example), on the other side, has dialogues and moments that aren't as memorable and whose longevity will be based on how long it takes to release a sequel. As soon as a sequel comes up, you'll completely forget about that certain fight with Mr. Freeze, just like you forget about the fight against Bane in the first one.

It didn't do that badly? Damn, did you take a look at this list? And the fact that it's unexpected which ones you'll suffer from and that some are even exclusive to whether you're playing on the PC or on the 360 makes it even worse.

Yes you can compare it, why? Because those few hours you spend playing Portal 2 are few hours of a game that's polished so much to prove it deserved such a long development cycle and that went through intense testing so it wouldn't suffer from anything. It proves ho much Valve worries about releasing a good game that not only lives off from the hype but from the gameplay and everything related to it.

Bethesda, on the other side, loves to release a game without caring about how it performs, to the point that your experiences varies greatly from that of your dog and that of your neighbor. Worse of all, it's had a development cycle as long as Portal 2 and with a development team that's bigger than Portal 2's, which is just unacceptable, no matter how many hours you can full around the game and how many lines of dialogues have been recorded for it. This results in a game that's living from the hype train and the fanbase, plus whoever falls for the propaganda and the "Arrow to the knee" jokes, and which at the end, doesn't deserve any long-lasting recognition because it treats their fans like cattle, much like the Nintendo Wii.

No matter how much you try to hide behind the "It's massive, so it can have technical issues" wall, the fact that there are other games as massive (GTAIV, Just Cause 2) and that they aren't infested with bugs/glitches as severely as Skyrim is, is inexcusable from any developer.

[Kerwan_Ratchet]

Saying that Portal 2 and ME2 doesn't deserve a spot on the list is absurd. Tell me why they don't deserve a spot on the list?

As I said I didn't really enjoy the games as much as everyone did does, and I honestly feel that Mass Effect 2 is dramatically overrated. But that's just my opinion in the end.

I mean, when you look at a game such as Batman: Arkham City, I think for fans of the actual comics, the game is pretty much heaven on Earth. With that said, the problem I had with Arkham City is that there were too many villains that the main objective and goal was cluttered. You had to save the city from one villain, and then do the same for another. I would've liked to have seen less villains who had more prominent roles. Dead Space 2's story was actually very meh, in my opinion, it was the character development that really made that game so great. I mean hell, the first six chapters of the game were spent running around to find some girl who then ends up being totally 100% pointless to the story. However, Isaac's internal struggle was one that was worth licking your lips over.

I wasn't a fan of the comic books and I enjoyed Batman throughly. I didn't feel that there were too many villians, and if anything I wish there were more. The point was that the objective was cluttered; you could be side-tracked and investigate other missions and such.

I agree that the story in DS2 was average, but you don't play a game such as that for the story; you play it for the gore, thrills and gameplay, which I did. I didn't even play attention to the story, I was figuring out which weapons could rip the necromorphs apart the fatest. The overrall confusion, thrills and carnage is what captured my attention.

If we compare it to Batman, yes. If we compared it to a decent story, yes. If we compare it to Uncharted's, no, because they are equally great. Portal 2's story is very well written, full of memorable moments and dialogues. Batman (for example), on the other side, has dialogues and moments that aren't as memorable and whose longevity will be based on how long it takes to release a sequel. As soon as a sequel comes up, you'll completely forget about that certain fight with Mr. Freeze, just like you forget about the fight against Bane in the first one.

Yes you can compare it, why? Because those few hours you spend playing Portal 2 are few hours of a game that's polished so much to prove it deserved such a long development cycle and that went through intense testing so it wouldn't suffer from anything. It proves ho much Valve worries about releasing a good game that not only lives off from the hype but from the gameplay and everything related to it.

I couldn't disagree more. I felt that Portal 2's story was half-baked and forgettable. The whole point of the game was puzzle solving, not fighting against an emotionally confused robot. Batman's story kept you on your toes and you had no idea who would turn up next or what twists would come along. Half the point of the game is unlocking the secrets of the city and those who dwell inside of it. Not bashing egomaniac thugs up and saving the day.
Portal 2 was fun at first but dragged on and got reptitive to the point that I don't want to have anything to do with it. Besides the online there's no replay value whatsoever and I felt I wasted my money.

Then again this is just my opinion. I'm not saying you have to agree (which you won't) nor am I saying it's completely false. I'm just stating my thoughts and giving my opinion, which is the whole point of this forum.