The final section before I crown my Game of the Year 2011, Part 4 of the video game awards counts down the genre-specific champions of the year! Across both gaming genres and gaming platforms, 2011 had plenty of big winners, but only one can be the best! Let's get to it!
BRENTIVERSE 2011 VIDEO GAME AWARDS: Genre Awards
- The Red Bull Rush Award (Best Action Game)
- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PlayStation 3)
- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Outland (Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Store)
- Star Fox 64 3D (3DS)
- Saints Row: The Third (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
WINNER: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PlayStation 3)
WHY: The Uncharted series continued to raise the bar in 2011 with yet another fantastic adventure, this time taking Nathan Drake to the Rub'Al Khali Desert to find a lost city of the sands! With improvements to both the single-player and multiplayer modes, a killer new story, and even more thrilling moments than its already stellar predecessor, Uncharted 3 was a quest rife with mystery, danger and some of the best production values that the PS3 delivered in a year full of awesome exclusives! It goes without saying in the series now, but Uncharted 3 was like playing a triple-A blockbuster movie. In fact, I can't remember the last time Hollywood produced a treasure hunting mystery this exciting!
- The Spinning Compass Award (Best Adventure Game)
- inFamous 2 (PlayStation 3)
- Batman: Arkham City (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
- L.A. Noire (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
WHY: Just as Mario seems to dominate the platformer awards whenever he delivers a new offering, Link does in turn with the adventure game awards, and after many years of waiting, Skyward Sword lived up to the hype and thensome! Delivering a stellar prequel to the series timeline that made excellent use of the enhanced Wii MotionPlus controls by expanding Link's swordplay capability and arsenal like never before! Containing a lengthy quest, surprising insight into the creation of what we understand as the kingdom of Hyrule, and changing forever the way players experienced a Zelda game, Skyward Sword produced an incredible Wii-exclusive blockbuster that is probably the height of what the system will ever achieve before it's succeeded by the Wii U this year. There's a reason why the Zelda series has stayed on top of adventure gaming since it was created in the 80's, and Skyward Sword celebrated the series' 25th anniversary with everything that has ever made this series shine, plus interest!
- The Bruised Knuckle Award (Best Fighting Game)
- Mortal Kombat (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- The King of Fighters XIII (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (3DS)
- Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy (PlayStation Portable)
WINNER: Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (3DS)
WHY: This will probably be a controversial opinion, but as much as Capcom sort of got greedy this year with an overpriced 3DS rip-off, a repackaged hit from the previous year that simply had a new protaganist, and a revised edition of their new fighting game less than a year after it released, they still made things right in two ways. The first was Ghost Trick. The second, was actually managing to outdo Nintendo themselves during the 3DS launch, by producing one of the only launch titles that was any good. This revised portable edition of the acclaimed fighting game on the Xbox 360 and PS3 somehow managed to replicate those games' immensely ambitious graphics on the fledgling 3DS hardware, while featuring a massive roster of fighters, the ability to battle online in awesome, lag-free combat, and even the ability to swap fighter data and collectible figurines with other players via StreetPass. It's not often that Nintendo is upstaged by a third-party developer, but even if Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition did surprisingly little with the 3D element, it single-handedly saved an otherwise disastrous launch lineup for Nintendo's new cutting-edge handheld, not to mention that no other fighting game measured up in terms of its fine mechanics, depth and features!
- The Rock n' Roll All Night Award (Best Music/Rhythm Game)
- Dance Central 2 (Xbox 360)
- Rocksmith (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Patapon 3 (PlayStation Portable)
WINNER: Rocksmith (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
WHY: The music genre isn't what it used to be, but Rocksmith is a definite step towards righting its problematic, sell-out reputation. Rocksmith is a game that finally, truly teaches you how to play guitar in a way that games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band couldn't even fathom, and like taking actual guitar lessons, it's a game that demands discipline and dedication. The fact that a game can now actually teach you how to play an instrument in real life is a huge step forward for an otherwise unfortunate genre, and Rocksmith was one of the most ambitious and rewarding efforts that music games have seen in quite a while!
- The Joy Jumper Award (Best Platformer)
- Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
- Rayman Origins (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii)
- Sonic Generations (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, 3DS)
- LittleBigPlanet 2 (PlayStation 3)
- Kirby’s Return to Dream Land (Wii)
WINNER: Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
WHY: Rayman Origins and Sonic Generations are both excellent platformers that any true gamer should play, but even they still can't quite compete with the man himself. Nintendo's portly plumber again skyrocketed the platformer genre to new heights, delivering what is inarguably the 3DS's killer app! The game finally proved just how a 3D presentation can enhance the way we play a video game, giving players a revolutionary sense of depth and perspective that just can't be effectively replicated in 2D. Even putting that aside, the series' usual stellar level design and incessant creativity delivered one of the most relentlessly enjoyable 3DS-exclusives that the system saw all year! The 3DS took a little while to get off the ground, but Super Mario 3D Land finally proved what it can do over the competition. Leave it to Mario to yet again reset the standard, while delivering an amazing game in the process!
- The Burnt Rubber Award (Best Driving/Racing Game)
- Dirt 3 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
- MotoHeroez (WiiWare)
- Driver: San Francisco (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii)
- Forza Motorsport 4 (Xbox 360)
WINNER: Driver: San Francisco (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii)
WHY: The Driver series really fell from grace in recent years, but 2011 proved to be a good luck charm for this and many other properties that were believed to be toast. Mortal Kombat, Sonic the Hedgehog and Rayman also made triumphant comebacks during 2011, but perhaps Driver is an even greater surprise comeback, since Driver: San Francisco, despite its bizarre hook of possessing drivers from a comatose state, was actually far and away one of the year's most exhilirating experiences for speed demons! Yes, every nominee on this list was very impressive for a number of reasons, from Mario Kart 7 delivering the 3DS's best multiplayer package to date, to Forza Motorsport 4 delivering one of the most effective core gamer uses of Kinect to date, to MotoHeroez pulling WiiWare out of the sea of shovelware with a very clever blend of racing and platforming, but Driver: San Francisco was easily the most fun and most surprising racer of the year. On paper, it seemed like it'd be yet another nail in the franchise's coffin. In the end though, this was the kiss of life that brought Driver back onto the road, and hopefully Ubisoft can keep this positive direction going for the once troubled driving series!
- The Almighty Epic Award (Best RPG)
- Bastion (Steam, Xbox Live Arcade)
- The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings (PC)
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Dark Souls (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
WINNER: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
WHY: Yes, Skyrim is full of bugs. Yes, Skyrim is loaded with frustrating random dragon encounters. Yes, Skyrim started what is already one of the most tired and irritating internet memes that 2011 ever bore unto the online world. Despite all of Skyrim's issues though, it was still an amazing and awe-inspiring RPG that took place in a massive world, with no end of tasks, and infinite possibility. Noticeably outdoing its 2006 predecessor, Skyrim took things to the next level with a further increased sense of scale, and an even more ambitious adventure that players could sink their teeth into for tens, if not hundreds of hours! There are few games that truly give you the freedom to be every element of what you want to be, but Skyrim is a rare and shining example of giving players unlimited control of who they want their character to be, and what they want them to accomplish. Yeah, you'll have to scurry away from a fair amount of dragons on your way to the top, and while some of the glitches can be funny, others can be genuinely troublesome, but no game pushed the RPG genre nearly as far in scale or quality as Skyrim did!
- The Point Blank Award (Best Shooter)
- Battlefield 3 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)
- Resistance 3 (PlayStation 3)
- Homefront (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Crysis 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
WINNER: Crysis 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
WHY: The original Crysis was an extremely ambitious PC-exclusive that fortunately made its way to the Xbox 360 and PS3 over the course of 2011, but that was after its sequel somehow climbed on top of a massively crowded market of shooters. Shooters of all varieties and ranges of quality dropped left and right over the course of 2011, but Crysis 2 was perhaps the most ambitious, open-ended and exciting of them all! Continuing to raise the bar for production value and open-ended strategy in a shooter, it placed the player in battlefields where they had to cleverly on their own skills and survivability, rather than playing the way that the game wished them to. The new nanosuit abilities only further added depth to the incredible campaign, and even though the charts are sure to be dominated by the competing Battlefield and Call of Duty sequels, Crysis 2 was the game that most elevated the shooter experience over the course of 2011!
- The Stinky Socks Award (Best Sports Game)
- FIFA ’12 (PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, iOS, 3DS)
- NHL ’12 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- MLB ’11: The Show (PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3)
- Fight Night Champion (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- WWE ’12 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii)
WINNER: FIFA '12 (PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, iOS, 3DS)
WHY: I'm not really a sports fan, but even I can see all of the hugely impressive improvements that FIFA '12 brought to sports games this year. The visuals and physics are improved more than ever, and even if people seem to say it every year, I don't think soccer has ever been better realized as a video game! As a non-fan, I couldn't tell you all of the little things that make FIFA '12 work as well as it does, but I can say that the play experience feels smoother and more accessible than ever before, with all of the challenging player tracking and soccer matches that die-hard footie fans crave! Even if you hate soccer, you can't argue that FIFA '12 really went the extra mile for the athletic enthusiast this year!
- The Trippy Goggles Award (Best Simulation/Alternative Game)
- From Dust (Steam, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Store)
- Minecraft (Steam)
- Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (Xbox 360)
WINNER: Minecraft (Steam)
WHY: Minecraft has spread as a wild addiction throughout the game community, and for good reason! I've already gone over all of the reasons why Minecraft has become so addictive amongst PC gamers, so I really don't feel that I need to elaborate further, but I can say again that even as such a simple, yet imaginative gameplay hook, Minecraft is endlessly appealing, and hey, if you want, feel free to pirate it apparently. Notch said so!
- The Distinguished Tabletop Award (Best Strategy Game)
- Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PlayStation Portable)
- Tropico 4 (PC, Xbox 360)
- Might & Magic Heroes VI (PC)
WINNER: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PlayStation Portable)
WHY: Strategy games are another genre that I'm not terribly proficient at normally, but the new localization of this PlayStation classic that Japan had previously hogged offered a deep and challenging exclusive for PSP owners to enjoy while they wait for the launch of the Vita. With addictive strategic gameplay and an awesome, dramatic storyline, Tactics Ogre perhaps even succeeds the excellent Final Fantasy Tactics remake on the PSP in terms of what it does best! Even non-strategists like myself can enjoy it, so if you're longing for an engrossing game experience for your PSP, regardless of your taste in strategy titles, you would do well to seek this one out!
- The Rainbow Blocks Award (Best Puzzle Game)
- Pushmo (eShop)
- Catherine (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Portal 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS)
- Professor Layton and the Last Specter (DS)
WINNER: Pushmo (eShop)
WHY: Pushmo was the game that finally proved the credibility of the eShop! It was an inventive use of the 3DS's 3D capability in a downloadable title, plus it allowed players to create and share their own puzzles, on top of the numerous puzzles on offer by the developers. Like any great puzzle game, Pushmo's objective is simple, tasking players with reaching a trapped child by pushing and pulling a structure's various layers, but it was the addiction and surprising depth of the experience that finally made this the eShop's first must-download exclusive. Hopefully more excellent exclusives like this continue to drop onto the system throughout the 3DS's life cycle!
- The Oversized Spoon Award (Best expansion/add-on)
- inFamous 2: Festival of Blood
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution – The Missing Link
- Gears of War 3: RAAM’s Shadow
WINNER: Gears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow
WHY: Even after the conclusion of the Gears of War trilogy in Gears of War 3's story, Epic Games continued to provide insight into the Gears universe, namely through their awesome game expansion that shifted the series to the perspective of one of its most fearsome Locust villains before the events of the first game. RAAM's Shadow was brief and had a missed opportunity or two in the story, but it provided an unprecedented new perspective that continued to shed light on the Gears canon, entertaining fans and giving you a great new way to play the game, and that's never a bad proposition for your Microsoft Points!
- The Mouse Hunt Award (Best PC Game)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Battlefield 3
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Crysis 2
- Portal 2
WINNER: Battlefield 3
WHY: EA clearly envisioned Battlefield 3 as an experience meant largely for the PC crowd, especially since PC preorders initially came with the game's initial expansion pack. On a top-of-the-line PC though, Battlefield 3 is a monster of a shooter, both an excellent multiplayer addiction, and a huge testament to the kind of audio/visual power that PC gaming can achieve over consoles. Battlefield 3 was still a great game on Xbox 360 and PS3, but it was easily the biggest and best testament to the enduring power of PC gaming with how well it tailored itself to the platform, and even if it was still good on consoles, you're not quite getting the full experience unless you load this up on your pimped out computer!
- The Touchy-Feely Award (Best DS Game)
- Pokemon Black/White Version
- Radiant Historia
- Kirby: Mass Attack
- Okamiden
- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
WINNER: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
WHY: There were a surprising amount of impressive DS games that dropped throughout 2011, even after the 3DS had succeeded it in March, but one of the most extraordinarily creative and criminally underplayed games of the entire year both pushed the platform to its audio/visual limits, while at the same time producing an expertly tailored experience that only truly feels possible with the DS's two screens and touch control, despite Japan having an altered iOS port. Not only was this one of the best uses that the DS had seen in a while, but Ghost Trick further enticed portable gamers with exceptional puzzle design and a truly riveting plotline. Again, there's still time to appreciate the best of what the DS had to offer in 2011, so be sure to pick this game up at your local retailer if you haven't already!
- The Little Black Screen Award (Best PSP Game)
- Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
- Patapon 3
- Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
WINNER: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
WHY: Even as a localized remake of a PlayStation game that never originally made it out of Japan, Tactics Ogre remained quite playable in 2011, with superb strategy RPG gameplay, a large cast of characters and an engrossing storyline. The PSP is rapidly being shoved into the background by Sony as they prepare to reboot their portable gaming strategy with the imminent release of PlayStation Vita outside of Japan, but before you put down an investment on a shiny new Vita, Tactics Ogre will still give you a long, challenging and highly rewarding strategy experience that will remind you that the PSP still has some life left in it!
- The Green Mean Award (Best Xbox 360 Game)
- Batman: Arkham City
- Portal 2
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Gears of War 3
- Forza Motorsport 4
WINNER: Gears of War 3
WHY: This was a bit of a tough call, but in the end, one of the Xbox 360's top 2011 exclusives felt like the most memorable and deep offering on the platform this year. Yes, Batman: Arkham City and Skyrim were also highly enjoyable on Microsoft's console, but the former feels like it was mainly meant for the PS3, and the latter feels like it was mainly meant for the PC, so they're not really experiences that are optimized for the Xbox 360 in every way, especially since Batman: Arkham City's Xbox 360 edition had several additional bugs, including a game save eating bug, that weren't present in its PS3 sibling. Gears of War 3 however nicely helped carry a year that was actually kind of weak as far as retail exclusives for the Xbox 360 go. The game had very nice aftermarket support, made great use of the hardware, and entertained players with action-packed gameplay and a highly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Who knows where the Gears of War series may progress next, but the Xbox 360 certainly wrapped up the initial arc on a high note this year!
- The Live 'Loads Award (Best Xbox Live Arcade Game)
- Trine 2
- Bastion
- Ms. Splosion Man
- Outland
- Beyond Good & Evil HD
WINNER: Bastion
WHY: Bastion is an isometric action RPG that tasks you with restoring the world after a disaster simply known as 'The Calamity' strikes. It also has probably the best narrator in gaming. Beyond that though, Bastion was an addictive and surprisingly deep downloadable offering that carried more charm and creativity than even most retail RPGs! It was fun, tongue-in-cheek and a highlight offering in Microsoft's always exceptional Summer of Arcade lineup. At the reasonable price of 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15), Bastion is a game that deserves a spot on the hard drives of any Xbox 360 owner that has a taste for fun and originality, and it's exactly the kind of exceptional, bite-sized yet deep experience that Xbox Live Arcade was designed for!
- The Five Refrigerators Award (Best PS3 Game)
- Batman: Arkham City
- Portal 2
- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
- LittleBigPlanet 2
- Killzone 3
WINNER: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
WHY: Uncharted 3 continued to excellently refine one of Sony's top properties on a new treasure hunting quest with even deeper multiplayer features. The game was one of the best testaments of the added power of the PS3, just like its 2009 predecessor, and represented the kind of cinematic appeal that wouldn't quite be possible on the Xbox 360 in its complete form. Uncharted 3 may have ultimately changed the series little, but why fix what isn't broken, especially when it demonstrates what the PS3 can really do when it has a developer that's willing to push it above and beyond the competition??
- The Peddler Station Award (Best PlayStation Store Game)
- Outland
- Trine 2
- Payday: The Heist
- BloodRayne: Betrayal
- Beyond Good & Evil HD
WINNER: Outland
WHY: Outland is a beautiful and challenging spectacle of a side-scroller, one that engaged players with clever obstacles, large-scale boss battles and pretty much everything that made classic 2D side-scrolling games awesome way back when, only in a very modern, unique and stylized package. It's also available on Xbox Live Arcade, but on Sony's console, the game was extra smooth and beautiful, and some gamers were even lucky enough to snatch it up in a sale or two! Outland is a difficult experience to pinpoint if you look at its visuals alone, but it basically amounts to the new coolest way to play the 2D action games of yesteryear. The PS3 was packed with retail exclusives in 2011, and great ones at that, but games like Outland still made sure that the digital download side of things was equally tantalizing!
- The White Whirly Award (Best Wii Game)
- Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
- Rayman Origins
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
WHY: The Wii is going to be succeeded by the Wii U before 2012 has concluded, but before that happens, Nintendo's little white console managed to squeeze out one of its most large and ambitious exclusives yet. The game brought motion controls to a whole new level of depth and immersion thanks to the addition of Wii MotionPlus controls, and it also featured the largest and one of the most memorable quests in the series to date, while introducing a new batch of tricky enemies and treacherous dungeons. Many accuse the Wii of pandering too much to casual gamers, but even the most jaded of hardcore gamers can't deny that the Zelda series is still one of the best in gaming when they're treated to games like Skyward Sword, games that help remind us that the Wii is good for much more than party games and fitness sims!
- The Red vs. Blue Award (Best 3DS Game)
- Mario Kart 7
- Star Fox 64 3D
- Super Mario 3D Land
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
- Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
WINNER: Super Mario 3D Land
WHY: Super Mario 3D Land was the game that finally proved exactly what the 3DS could do that its predecessor, and all other portable gaming devices couldn't. It was the game that finally validated 3D visuals as a way to enhance the way we play video games, and it was the first original 3D Mario game ever designed to boot, blending the sensibilities of the old school games with the more off-the-wall design of the Wii's Super Mario Galaxy games, minus the gravity platforming anyhow. Super Mario 3D Land mainly amounted to yet another princess kidnapping, but it was both the stellar level design and the proven power of the hardware's technology that made Super Mario 3D Land still the game that finally got the 3DS off the ground practically by itself. It should serve as a benchmark title for the system throughout its entire life cycle, and hopefully the next handheld Mario game can achieve the same level of excellence!
That concludes the Genre Awards. The Genre Awards for movies should be posted very soon, and then it's time to crown both Game of the Year 2011 and Film of the Year 2011!
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