Button pushers

A cheating boyfriend, a cute critter and the rest of the best games of 2011

Don’t misconstrue the overwhelming number of AAA console titles on this year’s best-of list as an indictment of the exploding indie movement or a feeble attempt to enforce tradition—just chalk it up as a coincidence. Case in point: I’ll direct you to a pair of locally designed Xbox Live Indie games: Shield the Beat and Wizorb, as two prime examples of how even with a small budget it’s possible to make a lasting impact. Also note: if your favourite game didn’t make the list, I may not have played it. I am but one man, after all.

8. There may not be a levee strong enough to save New Marais from the Beast in inFamous 2 (PS3/SCEA, Sucker Punch) but electrified superhero Cole MacGrath is a riverboat gambler worth betting on. The New Orleans doppelganger, a hearty gumbo of flood-afflicted shanties, French Quarter high-rises and industrial jungle gyms, has everything a memorable open world requires.

7. There’s a special place in Hell reserved for Dark Souls (PS3, X360/Namco Bandai, From), a dungeon-scouring role-player that demands nothing less than total perfection from anyone brash enough to accept the life and death challenge. As devilish as it is, the conventional role-playing elements are pure, direct and finely tuned. You’ll curse, you’ll scream, and you’ll die (often), but you won’t quit.

6. Build a better human in Eidos Montreal’s first game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, PS3, X360/Square Enix, Eidos Montreal), an ambitious, enigmatic stealth-action hybrid that foreshad­ows a frightening near-future to a peerless level of detail. It has its flaws, but it’s also an astonishingly rich and deep mixture of game styles with storytelling. Not bad for a rookie.

5. Bastion (XBLA, Steam/ Warner, Supergiant) pairs a brave youngster with a smooth-talking narrator in an old-time isometric action-RPG where weapons and booze are upgraded in the hopes of rebuilding Caelondia after a calamitous event. The innovative use of dynamic, ever-changing narration doesn’t just add colour to The Kid’s shard-collecting journey—it gives it purpose.

4. All the fellas trying to juggle their main squeeze with a little sugar on the side can breathe a sigh of relief that supernatural revenge for your misdeeds only happens in the world of Catherine (PS3, X360/Atlus). Like a modern version of Sisyphus, philandering oaf Vincent is condemned to strategically climb to the top of a collapsing Jenga tower in his dreams every night, a tense challenge for the play­er that mirrors the character’s waking nightmare.

3. Granted, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, PS3, X360/Bethesda) is more Fallout than Oblivion, and uploading the game’s often funny bugs onto YouTube has become a cottage industry, but really, Skyrim is more than just collecting produce and accepting every type of mission under the Nordic sun. Whatever diversions may sidetrack you from your main goal, just remember Skyrim is all about the dragons, stupid.

2. Space horror sequel Dead Space 2 (PC, PS3, X360/EA, Visceral), partially developed in Montreal, opens up the once claustrophobic, Necromorph-infested corridors of the original, and as a result transforms the series from a one-dimensional haunted house into a full-surround nightmare. Two specific jaw-dropping moments elevated this game to unforgettable status: re-aligning the solar array in Zero-G and operating the self-mutilating eye needle device.

1. Classic 2D platforming got far more than a mere makeover in Rayman Origins (PS3, X360, Wii/Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montpellier), a beautiful side-scrolling journey through the Glade of Dreams. It may look like cute critters roughhousing in an enchanted forest, but the adorable visuals are the mere sheep’s clothing on this tough-as-nails old-fashioned side-scrolling wolf. You’ll sweat, scream, cry, but mostly importantly you’ll be reminded there’s no substitute in gaming for a perfectly designed platformer. ■

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