Best Games of 2017

2017 was an interesting year for games. There weren't a lot of all time greats, and seemingly every game that got an audience to fall in love had a large group of detractors who could point to legitimate problems holding it back. Still, there were lots of good games. Some I didn't get a chance to play, some that I enjoyed quite a bit, and some that found their way onto this list.

Best of 2017

10. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Multi)


Resident Evil has existed for over twenty years now, and the series has had a long and inconsistent history. They really seem to nail it with every third numbered game, though. The original Resident Evil brought horror games to the mainstream, Resident Evil 4 is one of the best action games ever made, and Resident Evil 7 is the freshest the series has felt in years. After a few action-heavy games, they returned to a slower pace and scarier tone, and while the gameplay basics are a throwback to the series' roots, its horror influences and immersive setting bring those forward to the modern day. The game gets weaker as it goes on and focuses more on combat and the sillier aspects of the series' familiar storytelling concepts, but it's mostly a really strong game, right when they needed it.

9. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (Multi)


The third and possibly final Dishonored game, at least as far as this setting goes, is a satisfying conclusion to the series' broad story beats, and it brings some interesting tweaks to the gameplay formula. While the first two games star characters trying to return a status quo to a chaotic political landscape, Death of the Outsider is a more personal story about someone with less privilege, and her struggle and drive for revenge ties into the game's abandonment of direct action being an undesirable goal. The series has always allowed for violence, but it punishes it by making the world a nastier place to walk around in if you drop too many bodies. That's gone this time, and along with "contract" side missions that encourage different play styles, I found myself interacting with the world in ways I hadn't tried before in the series. Billy's set of powers is smaller than Corvo's or Emily's, but it's good enough for the game's shorter length, and the final mission aside, the level and quest design is as strong as the series has ever been. A great final note.

8. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4)


For my money, Naughty Dog is possibly the most reliable studio when it comes to releasing smart, beautiful, well-written, hand-crafted action adventures. The Lost Legacy started as an expansion for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, but it became big enough to release as a stand-alone title, and it's yet another satisfying entry in the series. It stars two previous supporting characters, Chloe and Nadine, as they explore the cities, jungles, and ancient temples of India searching for a priceless artifact. You get the expected mix of climbing, wandering, puzzle solving, and shooting, and a nice story with some really good character work. Two standout sections are a large open area you navigate with an off-road vehicle and an ending that combines a lot of elements from previous set pieces in the series into one breath-taking climactic sequence.

7. Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)


Horizon is an open-world game with stunning graphics, a unique combat system, a cool sci-fi setting, and a new main character that I ended up liking a lot. There were some things that bugged me about the game, but it was a strong beginning for a world that I hope I get to revisit in a sequel. It takes place in the far future, after our society has been destroyed and is being slowly rebuilt from scratch, while the humans have to deal with the problems of both large bands of bandits and huge, violent robots, often resembling extinct animals. Figuring out what the whole story is really about is a strong draw, and there are some interesting side stories as well. Experimenting with the different choices for weapons, ammunition and traps, learning what works against what sorts of enemies, is also a lot of fun. There are some small annoyances, but it's definitely worth a try.

6. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (Multi)


When Battlegrounds is working, it's one of the most thrilling multiplayer games I've ever played. You are dropped, alone or in a small group, onto a large island with 99 other people and nothing but a parachute and the clothes on your back. You have to look for resources - weapons, gear, armor, medical supplies. There is a force field slowly closing in on a single random point on the map, and if you're outside the circle, your health is constantly being drained. Certain places are getting hit by airstrikes. You might find yourself dropping right next to an enemy and frantically scrambling for something to defend yourself. Or you might get into a pitched urban firefight. Or a tense sniper battle across rolling hills. Or madly charging towards a safe point in a truck while the force field closes in on you. Unfortunately, you might also spend twenty minutes grabbing equipment before you get nailed by someone you didn't see, all that effort for nothing. That stinks. Luckily, it's only a minute or two before you're in your next match.

5. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Multi)


Wolfenstein II is an enjoyable, old school first person shooter where you generally sneak around, capping Nazi officers with a silenced pistol to avoid reinforcements, until you're spotted, when you pull out a machine gun in one hand and automatic shotgun in the other and blow away everything that moves with abandon, scooping up ammo, health kits, and bits of armor like a vacuum cleaner. It's fun enough, but the real draw, as with the last game, is the story. B.J. Blazkowicz is one of my favorite modern game protagonists, and his supporting cast is among the most diverse and compelling in the medium. Every story scene in the game is a treat. It might be touchingly considered or completely outrageously insane, but either way I'm completely drawn in. It's unfortunate that a video game taking place in an alternate reality where Nazis won WWII and are walking the streets of America is "relevant", but I love that it pulls no punches and walks a delicate tightrope with aplomb.

4. Nier: Automata (Multi)


When you first play Nier, you'll get a decent action RPG with a slick but shallow combat system, some cool customization options, some uneven anime voice acting and character designs, passable graphics, a great soundtrack, an an intriguing but vaguely unsatisfying narrative. Then the game asks you to play it again, and it starts to open up. You're repeating a lot of the same stuff, but with a new perspective and new revelations pushing you forward. Then you keep playing it, and if you're still along for the ride at this point, you're getting a truly unique game, where the flaws don't seem to matter as much and what they're doing with the combination of story and medium is one of the most memorable experiences you'll ever have. If that sounds interesting, you should play Nier.

3. Night in the Woods (Multi)


Despite starring anthropomorphic animals, Night in the Woods is one of the most relatable games I've ever played. You control Mae, a 20 year old college dropout returning to her hometown for the first time since leaving. She doesn't want to talk about why she dropped out. She doesn't know what she's going to do for money. Her relationships with her friends are different. Old businesses she liked have closed and been replaced with new ones. The feeling of not knowing what the hell you're doing with your life is one that I think lots of people understand, and Night in the Woods nails it. It's also very sharply written, funny and touching when it wants to be. It also has a cool look with a fun art style and really great work with colors. It also has another side to its story, a dark, scary side that works surprisingly well with the other stuff, which adds an edge to the narrative without taking it over. It was one of my favorite experiences with a game in 2017.

2. Prey (Multi)


I can only imagine how much I would love Prey if I liked the combat. Because everything else about the game, besides the long load times moving between areas and kind of a chunky pace near the end, is great. Talos I is a space station that has been taken over by strange, otherworldly aliens, and it's one of the best realized locations ever in a game. You have a lot of freedom to just explore its different levels and learn about its history. You always have a lot of options in how you approach your objectives. You might crawl through a vent, or hack a locked door, or find a keycard for that door in a room you didn't have to explore. You might use your "GLOO Cannon" to create a platform for you to jump through a window, or inject yourself with alien technology to take the shape of a small object and squeeze through a tight opening. You can be stealthy and sneak by enemies, or confidently wreck them with powered up weapons. The story is really fun too. You're never sure who's on your side or really telling the truth, you're not even sure you're being truthful to yourself, and the constant second guessing has a solid, logical payoff. Prey has everything I like about this kind of game, and for the most part, it succeeds at its goals. If only I liked the combat.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U/Switch)


I've been a fan of the Zelda series for a long time. I've enjoyed every game that I've played to at least some extent, but it's fair to say that the formula of long tutorial > enter dungeon > find item > kill boss > find next dungeon was wearing a little thin. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was a step in the right direction by giving you more freedom in how you acquired gear and choose where to go next, and Breath of the Wild takes that even further. It almost feels like they went back in time to the original game, and decided to focus on different elements to modernize it instead of the direction they've been taking for decades. Extended explanations, complex dungeons, and a set narrative path are all gone. Instead, after a short opening section where you acquire four magic powers of varying usefulness, you are thrust into a completely open Hyrule with a single objective (defeat Ganon, of course) and left to your own devices. There are hooks as far as major events you can pursue, but those feel more like suggestions than instructions. Link can climb almost anything and drift from place to place on a paraglider, two abilities that make getting anywhere you can see both possible and enjoyable. Instead of looking at a map screen to find points of interest, you actually spot them and mark them down yourself. It's different and exciting. You never know when you'll find a hidden shrine containing a clever puzzle or combat challenge, or a village full of people you can trade with or help out, or a camp of monsters you can terrorize or mess with, or the ruins of something that an old war left behind many years earlier. I wish the game had more traditional Zelda content. I really miss the big dungeons, and almost all of the side quests are not up to the standards of modern games. But the core experience of being in this world is too good for me to say it's not my game of the year.

Delayed Entry

This is the best game that wasn't released in 2017 but I didn't play until then.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

If there's one game from 2017 I regret not playing yet, it's Super Mario Odyssey. I absolutely would have, I just don't own a Switch yet. My year wasn't Mario free though, as I finally played the sequel to the Wii classic Super Mario Galaxy. Galaxy 2 is naturally less innovative than the first, being a direct sequel that introduces a few welcome elements but often relies on what was already cool about the game. Despite feeling very familiar, Galaxy 2 is a very fun game with dozens of entertaining levels and a few clever surprises.

Best Games of 2016

Normally I write these up starting the second Monday of the year. I took an extra week this year, and I think all the lists will be better as a result. In the world of video games in 2016 there were a couple trends, with possibly the most notable being the high number of good shooters. Battlefield, Gears of War, and Call of Duty all put out new games with fun campaigns, Superhot was a lot of fun, and Overwatch was a breakout multiplayer hit. More than half the games on my list take place from a first-person perspective. Not that there wasn't good stuff in other genres - if it was a standalone game instead of an expansion, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine probably would have made my top ten, and the creepy puzzle-platformer Inside just missed the cut.

Best of 2016

10. Hitman (Multi)


I enjoyed Hitman: Absolution as a more traditional stealth game, but there's no denying that it failed to uphold the Hitman legacy. IO Interactive went back to the drawing board and gave fans what they wanted: another Hitman game that's all about exploring interesting foreign locations, figuring out how the targets, civilians, guards, security systems, and environment work together, and using that knowledge to pull off clever assassinations. The game was released episodically, which gave players an opportunity to really scour the different areas and get more out of them than you would if it was all put out at the same time. Personally, I played this first "season" after it was all out, and I don't enjoy screwing around and trying around as much as many others seem to, but every mission was satisfying to figure out and accomplish, and I'd like to go back and try some of the opportunities I ignored the first time. Also, some stealth games are known for their funny incidental NPC dialogue, but few have ever done it as well as it is here.

9. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Multi)


Mankind Divided is the first Deus Ex game to star a returning protagonist. I kind of wonder why the developers are so attached to Adam Jensen, who has one of gaming's most ridiculous gravelly voices and not much of a personality. However, Eidos Montreal still knows how to craft a smart stealth-focused cyberpunk action RPG, and the continuing near-future conspiracy storyline is still fairly intriguing, even if Adam isn't. The game has a cool structure where you're primarily based in Prague, and you visit a few other locations but spent most of your time in the same few city blocks, juggling multiple responsibilities and helping unfortunate victims of the class divide that human augmentation causes. It's an open world in miniature, where the area is small but feels alive in believable because of the narrow focus. A few things hold it back, but for the most part it's a really solid game.

8. Titanfall 2 (Multi)


The original Titanfall was a fun multiplayer shooter, sort of a better-feeling Call of Duty with mechs. For the sequel, people were expecting a bit more, and Respawn delivered. based on their experience with the aforementioned Call of Duty series, I expected a short but forgettable campaign centered around a bunch of big firefights. What we got was indeed pretty short, but actually one of the more memorable shooter single-player modes in a while. The game is built around soldier Jack Cooper and his relationship with BT, the Titan he gets rushed into piloting in dire circumstances. They go on a journey together to reunite with the military force their part of, and along the way they develop a bond with some actual humor and emotional weight that was a delightful surprise. And a couple of those levels are real standouts, including one where you have to navigate an assembly line that's building these prefabricated structures around you and another that has you traveling between two different points in time. Other games on this list do some of this stuff better, but Titanfall 2 is still worth your time.

7. The Witness (Multi)


The Witness has a pretty classic adventure game setup. You wake up on a strange island, and the only way to get closer to understanding the situation is to solve a bunch of abstract puzzles. It's a bit different than other games in some very obvious ways though. The truths you uncover tend to be more of an all-encompassing philosophical kind, rather than simple explanations of who you are and why you're here, and more importantly, every single puzzle comes down to tracing a line from one end of a shape to another. You wouldn't expect this to stay interesting for a full game, but it's remarkable how many permutations on logic and intuition Jonathan Blow and his team were able to wring out of the simple concept. And with multiple layers of completion, you can reach a satisfactory conclusion to the game even if there's a certain type or two of puzzle that you just can't figure out. It's a deep game that can be explored for thirty minutes if you don't have much time, or hours and hours if you really get invested.

6. Firewatch (Multi)


Camp Santo is made up of sort of an indie game dream team - designers and writers from great games like The Walking Dead and Mark of the Ninja, the composer of Gone Home, wonderful artists from Double Fine and some great pieces you've probably seen online, whether they were properly attributed or ripped off. Their first game, Firewatch, is about a man who decides to become a fire lookout at a national park for a summer, who spends his time attending to his normal duties and chatting on the radio with his supervisor at the next lookout tower over. Those conversations are really the meat of the game, as you figure out what sort of relationship you have with her, and try to find a connection to help make sense of what you're feeling. There are some simple interactions involving navigating and maintaining your section of the park, and a story that dips its toes into some unexpected territory. If you can get into the right mindset for the game, it's a very pretty and relaxing experience, with the emotional depth you might expect from the pedigree.

5. Dishonored 2 (Multi)


Everything Dishonored did well, Dishonored 2 matches. It has a unique, interesting setting that is built effectively through art design and background information you can find. It has solid core stealth and action mechanics that are augmented through a clever magical power system where you pick and choose the abilities that complement the play style you're going after. It has wonderful level design, where you find yourself navigating intricate city blocks and private estates, with different sections patrolled by different factions who will react to you in specific ways, and a great sense of freedom despite the generally linear progression, thanks to multiple paths and beneficial optional objectives. Unfortunately, the original's biggest weakness - a fairly dull plot that's not helped by pointless celebrity voice acting that generally comes off as bored - was not corrected. Still, there's a lot to be said for games that do anything as well as what Dishonored 2 gets right, and its levels are more consistently brilliant that the first time.

4. The Last Guardian (PS4)


I'm a big fan of designer Fumito Ueda's two PS2 games, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. So when they announced a new game by the same team for the PS3, I waited happily for its release. And waited. And waited. Over the years, the game stopped showing up at events, and seemed like it might die without ever coming out. It finally reemerged on the PS4, and last year, it actually came out. When you play it, you can see why it took so long - the technology behind an AI-driven, very large and detailed animal that climbs around environments while you can climb over it at the same time seems extraordinarily complex, and the frame rate is pretty bad in intense moments despite the hardware upgrade and long development cycle. The achievement itself was worth it, though. Trico, the strange bird/cat/dog creature you spend the whole game interacting with, is an incredible success on both a technical and artistic level. Many players experienced a lot of frustration getting it to do what they want, which is too bad. But if the relationship works, like it did for me, it's enough to overcome a whole lot of niggles about the way it controls and other details that could have been handled better. It's possibly the most flawed game on the list, but also the most magical.

3. Dark Souls III (Multi)


It definitely feels like there's some Souls fatigue going around for many. These are long, stressful games, and this is the third of its type in three years, and fifth in eight. For my own part, I had a great time with it. The Weapon Arts bring a new dimension to combat, the game looks wonderful (as wonderful as demon-infested medieval ruins can look, anyway), and they've ironed out most of the kinks that make the series less inviting for new players. It's still tough - if you've never played one of these before, there's a boss ten minutes in who will probably kick your ass. I'd still rate it as a pretty good jumping on point. The level design is excellent, and consistent in a way From Software hasn't pulled off before - there isn't a single area or boss I'd dread revisiting on a second time through. Fans of the first Dark Souls will continue to lament that they haven't recaptured the idea of a fully interconnected world since, and it felt like there were a couple of easy opportunities for those kinds of connections that they missed or just ignored. But the individual levels are still masterfully put together, with plenty of links and secrets to find, and they're populated by enemies that are always fun to square off against. As someone who never deviates far from a typical melee weapon build, I had very little to complain about.

2. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)


It seems like Naughty Dog is held to a different standard than other developers. They need more of a reason to revisit a concept, more justification to make a sequel. A fourth Uncharted game? After they switched things up with The Last of Us, it better be worth it. Luckily, they took a lot of what they learned from my favorite game of 2013 and used it to revive Uncharted in really interesting ways. This is probably the last game starring Nathan Drake, but it's a hell of a send off. It begins by introducing Nate's brother Sam, an idea which seems kind of schlocky. But they take the time to justify his previously unmentioned existence, and use it to create a story about Nate being torn between the obligation he feels towards his brother, who he had left for dead, and his responsibility to his wife, who he promised to give up his dangerous lifestyle for. This seems really heavy for an action game about climbing on cliffs and shooting bad guys, and it is, but they really take the time to pace it out and make it work. You feel invested in the characters in a way you probably weren't before, and everything feels weightier and more meaningful. It's probably pretty easily the least violent game in the series, and it doesn't feel like anything is missing. Plus, the action is still great and the graphics are incredible. People have doubts about a sequel to The Last of Us as well, but I'm totally on board for whatever they do.

1. Doom (Multi)


I've never played a Doom game before, and I really wasn't that interested in the new one. And when I first tried it, I had a good time, but I wasn't blown away. Once I sat down and really played it through myself, I totally understood why people were raving, and started considering whether I should try playing the original. It's just incredibly fun from start to finish. The graphics are nice and functional, the music is terrific (I can hardly fathom that they originally intended to have no guitars), and the story keeps you moving and laughing at the protagonist's disdain for everything happening around him. But it's the simple act of playing it that makes it the game of the year. You move through scientific facilities on the surface of Mars and dark corners of Hell, exploring to find hidden upgrades and blasting demons. Your arsenal of weapons and abilities and the variety of monsters that you deal with slowly expand as you come to understand how they all work. By the end, you're leaping around arenas, managing your ammo, brutally ripping enemies in half to refill your health, carefully timing the use of a chainsaw or a powerup to turn the tide of a battle, and making mincemeat of any freak that would dare to try to stop you. Not every game should be like Doom, but Doom is everything a game should be.

Delayed Entry

This is the best game that wasn't released in 2016 but I didn't play until then.

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (3DS)

I'm not going to lie, I didn't play a lot of older games last year. The selection for this was pretty thin. DKCR is a very good platformer, though. The 3DS version gives the player extra health to make up for the somewhat troublesome controls (the analog slider is really no good) and shuffles some of the postgame, but it's otherwise the same as the Wii version. It has a nice art style, it's challenging but gives you plenty of opportunities to avoid having to start entire levels over, and it has some pretty clever boss fights. It's the definition of a solid game.

Best Games of 2011

Being employed for all of 2011 might not have been great for my free time, but it did allow me the freedom to try out pretty much any new game I was interested in, which worked out pretty well. I don't think I've ever managed to play this much new stuff around when it came out before. I haven't finished playing a couple of these games yet, which would normally mean they wouldn't make the list, but I feel I've played both of them enough to say about where they stand compared to the other stuff.

Best of 2011

10. L.A. Noire (Multi)


I don't look back on this as fondly as other games on the list, but a lot of that is probably reaction to all the horrible stuff we heard about the game's development and a bit of revisionist history. At its core, Noire is a very fun game that managed to mix adventure game-style mysteries with open world action effectively. The post-war Los Angeles setting was realized beautifully, the facial animation is pretty staggering, and the tale it weaves has all the elements of classic film noir. There are plenty of small issues, but the experience matches the ambition well.

9. Battlefield 3 (PC)


It's really too bad that beyond the graphics, sound design, and a few standout moments, the campaign of Battlefield 3 is otherwise so bland and fails to take advantage of what makes the franchise unique, because they could have helped make the game one of the best shooters in a long time. Instead, it's merely memorable as something that failed in its ambition to beat Call of Duty at its own game. The multiplayer saves it, though, combining all the best elements that they've found over the years into something addictive, rewarding, and very fun to play, whether you can maintain a decent kill ratio or not. And man, it really does look and sound fantastic.

8. Batman: Arkham City (Multi)


For an open-world game, Arkham City isn't that big, with a map that only takes a few minutes to get across even if you have to glide all the way around its weird shape, and not much to do beyond the main story besides collecting a whole ton of Riddler trophies. But the core gameplay they brought back from the last game is still so good, that actually playing it beats most open-world games on the market. The combat and stealth get a better chance to shine when there's more groups of goons to stumble across, and the more focused stuff once you get indoors is still a lot of fun. It would be hard to capture the thrill of being a super hero better than this.

7. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (PC)


The first game in the series had a lot of cool ideas, but it was ultimately a bit hamstrung by its nature as a sort of strange European RPG by a first-time developer. They used that experience very well though in crafting the sequel, a much better game that smooths over some of the rough edges well enough to let the good stuff underneath really shine. The game looks fantastic, with graphics that compliment the visual design and impress without being flashy, and the gameplay is a solid mix of discovering and learning about the game's world with a combat system that is tough but fun and rewarding. A really nice success story.

6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC)


Another surprisingly good sequel, Human Revolution learns from the mistakes of the last game that tried to follow up on the original classic and stays true to what was actually interesting about it while updating things that needed updating for the modern day. The game is not without significant flaws, notably in the design of the boss fights, but the core experience is so solid that it's hard not to get sucked into it. The game is really meaty, with plenty of interesting content and very little in the way of filler, giving you twenty solid hours of science fiction roleplaying and action and allowing for a variety of approaches to almost every situation. It's hard to really connect with the story, but the act of playing it is always compelling.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)


I feel like the Zelda series has gotten a raw deal from many gamers in the last few years, perhaps starting with some backlash there was towards Twilight Princess when it came out earlier in the Wii's existence. Some complaints about the way they've decreased freedom and increased the tedium are valid, but I think sometimes these people are looking for something that they're just not going to get from the series anymore, which has always been meant to be friendly to kids. Taking into account changing standards and some of those now-systemic flaws though, I think Skyward Sword is perhaps the best game in the series since Majora's Mask. After a slow opening, the game opens up, and there's a lot of fun to be found in its world. Trying to tell an origin story again makes for a pretty interesting narrative, the use of motion controls is better justified, and the dungeons are as fun as ever. It's not the game-changing Zelda people probably wanted, but what it is is a very fun and comfortable adventure.

4. Bastion (PC)


A lot of times I get really into smaller games like this despite the gameplay, because their stories and presentations are unique and enchanting. That's true here, but the actual game part is really good as well. Bastion is a short but satisfying action RPG that hooks you both with its myriad of fun weapons and powers and all the ways it has to enhance the whole experience, from the unique setting and art style to the wonderful soundtrack and the unforgettable narration. And it might just have the most affecting story of any game on this list.

3. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)


I find it odd that Uncharted seems to be held to a totally different narrative standard than other action games. Most of the time it's fine for a shooter or platformer to jump all over the world for very little reason, but since the characterization and voice acting in Uncharted is so good, people expect consistency in the plot too, and complain if a part of the game is only there because it's cool and certain threads get lost in the shuffle by the end. I understand hoping for a little more, it just seems unfair to me. Anyway, Uncharted 3 isn't the revelation that Uncharted 2 was because of course it isn't, but it still manages a fun mix of shooting, jumping, and puzzle solving, it's still funny and exciting, and its big moments are still staggering in their technical complexity and ability to impress. If it's Naughty Dog's last Uncharted game, it's a great note to go out on.

2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC)


I played Oblivion for well over one hundred hours and called it my favorite game of 2006, so you know when I say that Skyrim is better in almost every way, I must really think something of it. It again captures the joy of exploring and getting to know an immensely large world, but improves on pretty much everything about that experience. Skyrim is a land with an intriguing history and sense of culture, and it's absolutely filled to the brim with cool stuff to do. There are six major questlines all with their own little twists and wrinkles, and their stories are generally much more interesting than what you'd find in the earlier games. There's more side stuff to do, and the basic experience of finding a dungeon and then raiding it for all of its treasures is more fun and less repetitive. If there's one thing the game doesn't do as well, it's come up with individual quests that feel as special at certain memorable moments. But the overall feeling of playing the game for many, many hours is undeniably superior.

1. Portal 2 (Multi)


I said Portal 2 was my favorite game of this generation of hardware, and I stand by it. It's just the right length, with its story mode being a significant chunk of content lasting just the right length, and the co-op being a meaningful addition. The puzzles are just as mind-bending as before, relying less on reflexes and more on your ability to think through a problem, and having plenty of new tricks and elements to keep things fresh the whole time. The story is funny and intelligent, expertly told in ways both direct and indirect, with well-written dialogue being superbly delivered by the small voice cast and the environment being carefully crafted to tell you everything about Aperture you'd ever want to know without saying a word. It's just the best example of both good game design and good execution of that design on this list, and it's my favorite game of the year.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune managed to successfully blend together third person shooting and traversal-based platforming into something that was coherent and mostly fun to play, but it was the kind of thing where most people saw it as untapped potential. That potential was pretty much fully exploited in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which greatly improved the graphics, environmental sophistication, dynamism of the plot, and basically everything about the gameplay to be better, creating a unique and exciting shooter that could pull off large, spectacular events like few games even attempt. Really only the God of War series goes for the same concept of the environment changing around you like Uncharted does. It allows its shooting mechanics, which are a bit less solidly formed than some other games, to pass by without too much scrutiny, and makes just seeing what happens next as thrilling as actually playing the game. Uncharted 3 had a different goal - not to capitalize on potential, but to live up to a beloved classic. It's a goal that the game mostly succeeds at, though not without a couple bumps.

For better or worse, Drake's Deception is pretty much a second take on the same concept as the second game - let you play as a guy who trots all over the world, looking for clues, crossing dangerous gaps, shooting every bad guy in sight, and escaping from very dangerous and exciting predicaments. The story has a slightly different focus, feeling like the slightly darker sequel that series sometimes experience, but never veering too far from the lighthearted adventure tone we've gotten used to. A lot more time is spent developing the friendship between Nate and his mentor Sully, instead of leaning towards his romantic interests. It's just as well, since that part of the story plays out in pretty much the same way it did in the first two games. The plot even goes back in time on occasion, to show a much younger Nate, which provides a neat gameplay twist and some illuminating character development. The villain is also different this time, relying less on trying to beat Nate into submission and more on deceiving and outsmarting him. The cat and mouse is fun, though it falls by the sideline after a while.

In general, the last third of the game feels a bit rushed. It takes a more personal approach, showing the hardships and isolation he goes through, something we aren't really used to with this series, and I kind of missed the fun of him having his buddies around. It also results in the ending being undercooked, as we don't really fully learn what the villains are really up to or the meaning of certain plot elements. It's a bit disappointing to feel that way about the end of the game, but the benefit of the game not wearing out its welcome balances it out a bit. In the first two games I was definitely tired of the combat by the last couple chapters and ready for it to be over. That wasn't really the case here, as Uncharted 3, while having a couple annoying moments like every shooter ever made, managed to finish without it become a major burden. The changes to the gameplay from the second game are mostly small tweaks - Nate can now throw back grenades enemies toss at him, and it's less of a hassle to pick up ammo, and in general the encounters do a slightly better job of creating unique scenarios that play to the series' strengths. The platforming and puzzle solving are pretty much the same as they've always been - not too tough, but engaging enough that you look forward to them when they pop up. The game doesn't have any annoying forced stealth sections, which is nice, and they improved on the melee combat, occasionally making you take on groups, letting you worry about guys coming from multiples directions and make use of objects near you for more damaging blows.

And technically, the game is just outstanding. Even when things aren't going crazy, they look amazing. The textures and lighting are fantastic, Drake's dynamic running animations are more natural than ever, and the facial animations look better than ever. And when things do crazy, it's always impressive and memorable. Floating docks and boats rocking in the waves, entire structures turning sideways as you run through them, the ground collapsing underneath you, the plan sequence that it's unfortunately impossible to be spoiled on - these sequences both look incredible and provide gameplay experiences that other games just don't have. Fundamentally, there's not a big difference between climbing a fence and climbing the netting of a cargo truck hanging out the back of a plane, but just the feeling each one evokes is distinctly different. It's just a fun world to run around in, one made more fun by the memorable musical score and great voice acting by the familiar cast, which continues to grow and help create a very enjoyable story.

The single player is a great eight hour experience, that in my mind measures up to the general very high level of quality of the second game, and surpassing it in someways. The multiplayer is also a lot of fun, and helps extend the life of the game. I played through the entire co-op adventure mode with a friend, which was a nice, rewarding challenge, and also tried some other co-op stuff which was a good deal of fun. I didn't actually try any of the competitive stuff, but that stuff never interests me as much anyway. Uncharted 2 will probably be remembered better in the future for being new and original, but Uncharted 3 definitely deserves a spot alongside it as one of this generation of gaming's best action adventures.

Characters of the Decade: Part 4

One more to go after this one. Man, this really is TV heavy, isn't it?

Haruhi Suzumiya
Aya Hirano - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya


"Feelings of love are just a temporary lapse in judgment. Like a mental illness."

I might actually like mild-mannered narrator Kyon more, but the show's about Haruhi, and unlike the vast majority of characters, the universe really does revolve around her. She has a unique, eccentric personality that can make almost anything fun to watch, and is the sort of leader whose followers always wonder why they do what she says but do anyway. And there are enough glimpses at her normal, affectionate side in between world threatening crises that she's inadvertently responsible for that she comes through as a person and not just a cipher for the writers' wacky ideas. I guess I like that kind of character a lot, don't I?

Dexter Morgan
Michael C. Hall - Dexter


"Harry and Dorris Morgan did a wonderful job raising me. But they're both dead now. I didn't kill them. Honest."

In a lot of ways, Dexter is a flawed show. It's frequently predictable and there's way too much time spent on supporting characters and subplots we never actually care about. It's easy to keep watching though, because Hall's work is so good. I admit to being a little tired of his dry narrating style at this point but he can still carry the series through any low points. Until very recently he's been one of the best actors I can think of who only works in television, but he's really damn good at it, finally getting recognized by the Golden globes recently (although that award's tainted because Bryan Cranston wasn't even nominated), and is why I gave Six Feet Under a shot, which turned out to be a good decision. He somehow finds a way to sell the sympathetic serial killer angle, and still be menacing when required. All you could ask for from a lead.

Dr. Steve Brule
John C. Reilly - Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!


"For your health!"

Reilly is supposedly a very good serious actor, although all I've ever seen from him is his brilliant comedy work. His best role is most pathetic, as the befuddled and under-qualified local news correspondent Dr. Steve Brule. He's good for a few appearances per season, and they're routinely pure gold. In addition to his terrible advice and wacky outtakes, there are a lot of things about the character that make him endearing in a sad way like his chronic loneliness and crush on married news anchor Jan Skylar. He's getting his own show soon, and I can't see how it won't be fantastic.

Juno MacGuff
Ellen Page - Juno


"Nah... I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?"

Juno's a really divisive movie. Some appreciate its uniquely goofy dialogue and moments of indie cuteness, while others can't stand it. I'm with the former, and a big part of why the movie works for me is Juno herself. She has a unique vocabulary for a teenager, but I'm not selective on what I allow films to be fanciful about, and she really sells the whole teenage girl with problems thing that I usually can't stomach for very long. In a movie I saw for Jason Bateman and Michael Cera, Ellen Page is the one who impressed me most.

Leon Black
J.B. Smoove - Curb Your Enthusiasm


"Barack Obama! I'm the President of hitting that ass!"

Probably the least scripted character on this list. In a show where everybody just says what comes to mind during the scene, Leon takes it to the extreme. He can make any topic funnier than should be possible, from the proper way to respond to an insult to the appropriate amount of discretion required when discussing a friend's wife whose ass you're hitting. I enjoyed seeing Smoove pop up in an episode of Castle and hope to see him get more opportunities, but to me he'll always be Leon.

Emerson Cod
Chi McBride - Pushing Daisies


"Bitch, I was in proximity!"

After watching the rather bad previews for Human Target, I almost decided to give it a shot. That's how much I like the whole cast of Pushing Daisies, and I liked Emerson most of all. While the show lived off its saccharine sweetness, Cod was the bitter one who kept it from floating off into space. He's a perfect foil for pretty much everyone else, and his combination of intuition, wit, and resourcefulness made each case into a classic film noir. The show made strides to humanize him during its short run with love interests and a missing daughter, but it probably didn't need to. He's the kind of guy who'd be a pleasure to watch visit the DMV.

GLaDOS
Ellen McLain - Portal


"That thing you burned up isn't important to me. It's the fluid catalytic cracking unit. It made shoes for orphans. Nice job breaking it, hero."

Portal was already a unique and brilliant mind-bending puzzle game, but GLaDOS made it something that every gamer should try. Just one of the funniest and best executed character arcs in the medium. Encouraging at first, the artificial intelligence guiding you through a test facility you never quite understand slowly becomes more sinister over time, and downright hostile after a certain point. But she never loses her sense of humor, logging one of the best percentages of successful one liners in history (I just made that up, but it sounds right). Plus the song at the end is just icing on the cake. I just made myself groan.

Anton Chigurh
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men


"Would you hold still please, sir?"

It's rare to see such an intimidating force of nature in a film. Compared to the other people in the story, Chigurh is almost a caricature, a flesh and blood Terminator that will stop at nothing to accomplish his task. He also sort of rips off Two-Face's gimmick, although he pulls it off better. It's sort of his lack of humanity that makes him work though, taking the movie from being a solid, off-beat thriller and making it into a pretty impressive, unique work that stands alone. I'm not sure if it's exactly a brilliant performance, but it's certainly exactly what it needed to be.

Nathan Drake
Nolan North - Uncharted series


"I didn't think that far ahead!"

As video game protagonists were getting too grim and gritty, Nate came along and reminded people that heroes are allowed to be likable. Sure, his carefree attitude doesn't quite work with his near-genocidal kill count after only two games, but work with me here. It's shifted the tone of a lot of modern action games, and there's been so much demand for North's voice work that the Internet backlash is already well underway. It's clear from some of his roles that he has a good deal of range, but his classic sarcastic good guy voice is what people want, and I'll forever associate it with the first and still most interesting character I heard it from, Mr. Drake.

Daniel Plainview
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood


"One night I'm gonna come to you, inside of your house, wherever you're sleeping, and I'm gonna cut your throat."

I think my favorite single adjective I've heard used to describe Day-Lewis' work in this film was when Quentin Tarantino called it "volcanic". It just fits, doesn't it? There's really not much I can say about it that hasn't been said better by people who have a deeper understanding of acting. I just know that I've never been more impressed while watching somebody in a film. From his silent actions in the very beginning, to his dark charisma as his business gets going, to his increasing madness as the film continues and to the final scene which is both funny and startling, there's not a moment that could have been obviously improved. I won't forget it any time soon.

Walter White
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad


"We are going to make a good product that does what it is supposed to, as advertised. No emulsifiers, no baking powder, no bleach, no chili powder."

Despite the Golden Globes' continued negligence (Seriously, Avatar's the movie of the year? Why did I even look up the results?), even the slightly less maligned Emmys managed to see what everyone else has the last couple years with Cranston's great work on Breaking Bad the last two years. Watching a man learn that he was dying, turn desperately to crime to help his family, go back and forth hope and despair, and ultimately lose sight of what's important in his life has been a really eye opening experience. We always knew Cranston could be funny, but I've been a lot more impressed by this. I can only wonder what Walter will do next.

Bryan Mills
Liam Neeson - Taken


"That is what happens when you sit behind a desk. You forget things, like the weight in the hand of a gun that's loaded and one that's not."

What should have been a simple revenge-driven action movie ended up being pretty brilliant thanks to to lead's increasing willingness to abandon reason or sympathy in his quest to get his daughter back. More movies should just put guns in the hands of respected veteran actors and see what happens, because it totally worked out here with Neeson. In some ways it's a bog standard thriller, it's just that extra 10% of gravitas and brutality that makes it one of my favorite films ever of the type. Why exactly did they sit on this for a year before releasing it in America?

Concluded tomorrow.

Best Games of 2009

I don't see why so many major publications give out their awards before the year is even over. I mean, yeah, pretty much everything that belongs there is already released by that point, it just seems a bit hasty. Anyway, this is definitely one of my best years for gaming in a long time. It's not that there were definitely more awesome games to come out, it's that, at least in the last few months, I actually managed to play more of them then I usually ever do. You know it's a strong fall season when I can't even be bothered to finish a Tim Schafer game because there's too much else I'm interested in. All right, let's begin.

Best of 2009

9. Halo 3: ODST (360)


Most years that a Halo game comes out, seeing it this low would be weird, but it seems like I liked this one about as much as anyone. It's an interesting experiment that does some new things with the formula, but either people were turned off by the expansion pack nature or are just getting tired of the franchise. I guess we'll find out next year when the slightly more hyped already Halo: Reach comes out.

8. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC)


I didn't play this nearly as much as I would have liked, but that's what happens when you experience significant lag issues and have a handful of single player games you'd like to get through. Still, I could tell with the time I've already spent that this quick sequel manages to add a lot of new things to the series without taking away any of the sense of fun playing it through with a group of friends provides. And with some DLC already on the way, we know Valve's going to continue supporting the franchise. I just hope they show a third installment of a different one of their series instead this year.

7. inFamous (PS3)


This is probably the most flawed game on the list, but it's so much damn fun to run around and explore the environment that I had to put it here anyway. Few games make you feel as powerful as you do in inFamous, and it still managed to be challenging without ever getting too frustrating. I'd like to give it a go as a bad guy some time, just to see how the other half lives. If only Sucker Punch didn't feel the need to get all gritty and dark and nonsensical with the jump to new hardware.

6. Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time (PS3)


It's getting harder for this series to really blow me away anymore, but A Crack in Time was probably the series' most complete installment to date. I'll probably never love a game in the series again like I did the proper PS2 sequels, but as I've said before, I could play games of this quality for a long time without ever getting sick of them.

5. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Multi)

It's still a bit amazing how Rocksteady came out of nowhere and made one of the most complete single player games in a while with a superhero that almost everyone has to at least like, though I do think it's in that rare position of being a great game but maybe a bit overrated by the world at large at the same time. I mean, how can a game really be that good when the bosses suck so universally? Still, that's mostly a quibble when the unique combat and stealth are both so well executed.

4. Flower (PS3)


Despite all the huge budget, lavishly produced games I played in 2009, this small, two hour piece of art probably hit me the hardest of anything. I know not everyone is going to be affected by something the same way, but at least for me, it was an experience that was at different times relaxing, distressing, and profoundly moving. And probably my favorite use of sound in any game last year as well.

3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Multi)


I didn't expect to be swept up again, but if nothing else, Infinity Ward is a group of professionals who know how to make a tight, engrossing single player experience, and can throw some good online play on top of it. I've had a chance to check out the two player Spec Ops missions as well, and they help extend the life of a game that's campaign can be finished in only 5 or 6 hours, but has plenty of moments worth revisiting and enough other content to keep shooter fans happy for a while.

2. Assassin's Creed II (Multi)


I already really, really liked the first game despite its faults in some areas, so a sequel that fixes pretty much all of those was a shoe-in to appear high on this list. With a much more varied and thoughtful progression through the game, improved storytelling, more incentive to explore, and movement and combat systems that stand out from the rest of the world's open world action adventures, it's an extremely rewarding and fun game that does everything a sequel should.

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)


This is the king of good sequels though, and I suppose my favorite game of this generation of consoles. I have a bit of an "I liked Uncharted before it was cool" thing going on, but it's nice to see the second attempt take it from being an interesting, genre-spanning gamer's game to a genuinely successful and nigh-universally praised technological marvel. It's not flawless, but the single player campaign is a stunning, immensely fun, beautifully paced near-masterpiece and the online multiplayer ain't half bad either. Anybody who owns a PS3 or has easy access to one and hasn't given it a shot is only robbing themselves of something pretty special.