Note: There may or may not be spoilers discussed, so yeah, considered yourself warned.
Best Visuals
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
 |
| Man, this game is pretty. |
Polish developer CD Projekt's epic RPG sequel shows what can be accomplished when the full potential of modern powerful PC's are put to use. From everything to the lush environments to the jaw-dropping lighting effects, as well as some the most detailed faces we have seen in a game, The Witcher 2 is something to behold, which is especially impressive considering it only uses DX9 and not DX11. Of course with these crazy visuals come pretty high system requirements, but if your PC can handle it, you owe it to yourself to try it out, because the gameplay is not too shabby either.
Runner(s) Up: Battlefield 3, Trine 2, Rayman: Origins, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Runner(s) Up: Battlefield 3, Trine 2, Rayman: Origins, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Best "Wait, that came out this year?" Game
Dead Space 2
Yup, this game came out in 2011. Although it was released all the way back in January, Visceral Games' survival-horror sequel is still one of the better games to come out in a year that was crowded with AAA titles, and is probably the scariest to boot.
Runner(s) Up: LittleBigPlanet 2, Mortal Kombat, Magicka
Most Disappointing Game
Bulletstorm
I had high hopes for this game changing shooters for the better and getting the gaming industry out of the military shooter rut it is currently in. Even after I played the demo I thought it could be a pretty solid, fun game. It was once I got my hands on a final copy and the novelty of the killshots wore off that I realized that this game was just a jumble of repetitive encounters and bad dick jokes. Although I did not care for this game all that much, it's a shame it most likely will not be getting a sequel, because the idea of an over-the-top score based shooter is still awesome, and I think with a second try People Can Fly could really nail it, especially if they expanded on the severely lacking co-op and multiplayer.
Runner(s) Up: Dragon Age 2, Homefront
"There Weren't Any Categories That This Game Won But I Really
Enjoyed It So I'll Give It This Award" Award
Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception
While it didn't quite take me by surprise and floor me the same way Uncharted 2 did, Nathan Drake's 3rd adventure is just as solid as its predecessor and a ton of fun. The multiplayer is vastly improved as well to go along with the always stellar single player experience, and the co-op is supposed to be very fun as well, although I have not played any of it. As you can tell, I really liked this game, and I felt it needed some sort of recognition, even although it did not win any of our other awards.
Game of the Year 2011
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
What can I say about Skyrim that has not already been said countless times? This is an easy choice for us here at Plug and Play, as it is the game that we put the most collective time into. Bethesda has come as close as they can with today's technology to perfecting the type of RPG that they set out to make, and with the next wave of consoles on the horizon and PC's seemingly already ahead of those pieces of hardware, it is super exciting to see what they do with their next game. For more about Skyrim, check out our full review and second opinions.
Runner(s) Up: Portal 2, Bastion
That does it for this year's PnP Game of the Year Awards! Feel free to argue with us and even shoot us angry emails about how we left out your favorite games. Also be on the lookout for our Gaming New Years Resolutions later in the week. There is a lot of exciting content coming to Plug and Play in the coming year, and rumors have it some of that will be video content, so be on the lookout!
