Posted on: Saturday, December 29th, 2012
Posted in: Featured
Comments: 189
Top 10 BEST Games of 2012!
This years list is packed with freaking awesome games, some you might not even expect! See if your favorites made the cut!
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189 thoughts on “Top 10 BEST Games of 2012!”
Great review! I haven’t played GW2 but it must be fantastic to get the number 1
Couldn’t agree any more Joe. Dishonored was certainly a adventure, but one complaint is that guild wars 2 and far cry should get switched around. But still, been waiting all
(Accidently pressed enter)
Been waiting all year for this and not dissapointed
Guild wars 2 deserved its place 100% and it’s Joe’s favorite. You don’t want to anger Joe do you? Because when Joe gets angry… people go missing…
And hell, even Chuck Norris is afraid of Joe and his army.
I can’t comprehend how could Hawken or Planetside get on this list. Hawken is a mediorce multiplayer game with great grahpics, does that make it top 10 material? HEll no. Planetside is FTP crap, it shouldn’t even be compared to the other games in the list. I’m yet to find the first MMO that even remotely begins to entertain me. They’re all dumbed down crap. And GW2? It’s just fuckin overpriced, and there is not even a demo version. I won’t pay 60€ blindly no matter what others say.
You can’t comprehend an opinionated Top 10 list, and think yours is better, which is also an opinionated Top 10 list? And if 60 Euros is overpriced for a game that has that much content, then I pity you buying anything else that has 80 hours or less of content for the same price.
So I have no right to express my opinion is that what you’re trying to say? It’s just an opinion. In my opinion all mmos can die. And mentioning multiplayer only games on the same list as single player games is blasphemy.
GW2 is overpriced regardless of the content. I’m really interested in it, but I won’t spend that kind of money on any game. That kind of money is collectors edition territory, but afaik you don’t get any collectors items with gw2 for the price. And its still just an mmo, not a proper single player game.
You are entitled to your opinion as is everyone, but with the way you are wording your statements you are passing it off as law, up until your response to my posting. Never in your opening statement was it said that it was your opinion, just that it was wrong. You even do it again when you say “And mentioning multiplayer only games on the same list as single player games is blasphemy.” though we can assume you meant it as an opinion because you actually decided to state you were giving opinions in your post.
Great list, but i personally didn’t enjoy GW2 as much. And Dishonored deserves at least a 4
ME3 should have been on the list, but lower. It was a great game, but Borderlands 2 and Assassins Creed 3 was better
I agree on most of the list, as far as the Xbox titles go (except ME3, since i still have to play it, but i hear the ending sucks
. I might have moved Dishonored up higher though, Borderlands 2 and Max Payne 3 totally deserve their spots. Since i don’t play PC games, I can’t say much about the PC titles, other than the fact that Guild Wars 2 looks awesome. Might consider getting a PC for that game in the future.
Awesome list I agreed with your opinions on ME3
i prefered mass effect 3 , I am hardcore fan of that game , the ending sucked but the game was perfect
me3 was not perfect, tuchanka and rannoch were fleshed out and well done yes but the game was unfinished and incomplete, games like this should no be supported they need to be finished and made complete.
how was it unfinished ? and incomplet ? the ending was solely do to casey hudson locking the writer out when it came to the ending. and the they released a free dlc that basically fixes the entire ending sequence
First, the journal you cannot tell me that it was finished and was meant to be that way when previous parts of the franchise did it better.
second. the length, if you give up the fetch quests the story length for an RPG is below what it was in ME2 and ME1.
third, the fetch quests and lack luster design on the actual side missions, given the way the second game pulled this off it reaks of unfinished and sloppy, Either they didn’t have time to finish the game proper or they are becoming call of duty, take you pick.
fourth, the writing, the story of the game was railroaded into the deus ex machina, that to me screams that they had to find a way to write the story quickly because they couldn’t spend a whole lot of time on it.
fifth, glitches, to name a few I personally had, the shepard talking glitch where the shepards vision is locked onto a different characters and follows them instead. enemies falling through the floor, enemies getting stuck in structures. shepard getting stuck and having to reload though that only happened once for me and these glitches are no where near as bad as AC3′s.
sixth, gameplay, mor importantly locking everything down to one button, personally that screamed that they didn’t have time to flesh out a proper control scheme, either that or they though there audience was too stupid to learn a control scheme.
seventh, Designating choices to a number, given how mission like rannoch perform, or conrads verners, basically its an insult that the rest of your side mission choices for the first two games are delegated to a number and removed from the game world, to me that also screams that they didn’t think they would have time to implement the choices properly so they had to fine a way to work around the time crunch
i’m sure there are more but to me the ending wasn’t the only thing that started annoying me, I love mass effect 1, I was able to accept mass effect 2 the reason being they drew me into the story and for the most part they were well designed, and yet mass effect 3 I found myself in pain at by how rushed it felt and then the ending, oh god the ending. then the EC that basically told me that everything I though about the three options was correct in that you have a choice between hitler,stalin or musolini or you could fight for freedom but you would lose and your sacrifice meaningless…. thanks bioware.
wow, dude i would’ve given you a like for that post.
It’s about time this video came out. I need another Joe approved game to buy.
My top 10 BEST games of 2012
10 Battleground Europe – WW2 Online F2P
9 Borderlands 2
8. Assasin’s Creed 3
7 Shogun 2 Total War Fall Of the Samurai
6 Mass Effect 3
5 Far Cry 3
4 Planetside 2
3 Crusader Kings 2!
2 XCOM Enemy Unknown!!
1.Mount&Blade Warband Napoleonic Wars!!!
Next year will be the strategy year, we have Rome 2 Total War,Command&Conquer Generals 2 and Europa Universalis 4!!! And also GTA 5 and Battlefield 4
Allow me to mostly agree with that
Nice list Joe, agree with all of it (though I’m not playing on playing Guild wars, not my cup of tea)
Glad to see The Walking Dead on the list. It’s my personal game of the year. Other than that, your list is OK, I would take off Guild Wars, Planetside 2 and Mass Effect. Maybe move Dishonored a little higher, and throw in Journey. But that’s just me.
Thank God crap Call Of Duty Black Ops 2 was not on the list finally someone isnt raving “ohhh i love the graphics and the guns” pretty much same thing from last year
SEAN WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!1
COD;2 is an awesome game.It has a great campaign and did we really think they could improve from multiplayer gameplay???Well they did.More Depth with the zombies and greater maps.And the campaign could not get better.It even has a much better ending than Mass Effect 3(which should not be #3 I might add)
Your just stupid Sean!
Is that massive sarcasm I am sensing, or am I just naíve?
No he’s right. COD is great, but even though they recycle some things and MW3 was mostly shit, the black ops games are really good.
Please tell me you’re joking.
lol, no halo 4 review…
ok, MASS EFFECT 3 DOES NOT GO HERE!!!
do not encourage this kind of work ethic, mass effect 3 is one of the most disappointing games of all time period.
your right most of the game is fine, its fun but only because your building your character building it up to what ever ending you want, choices matter…. o wait…. no they don’t.
when they gave it that shitastic ending, it destroyed any replay value for not only me3 but also the previous games aswell, thats how they chose to make the game, it wasn’t a bad idea… until the end.
YOU CAN NOT EXCLUDE THE ENDING. If you do you might as well throw halo 4 up here or fucking assasins creed… shit…. I can’t believe this joe…. wtf
Yeah. Twisted, nonsensical & just plain non-climatic endings seem to became a trend now these days…. & not just in videogames (“COUGH”…prometheus…”COUGH”)
I wouldn’t hav put mass effect 3 at number 3, but the rest I can agree with.
Probably not the place to post it, but the mobile app is currently displaying the top ten games of 2011 at the moment.
Anywho, I feel these were all respectable choices for the top ten games of the year.
As an idea, I was wondering how you felt about doing a top five or top ten of Indie games (not for this year, it’s probably too late) but in the future since Indie games are usually cheap but most importantly GOOD. I get tired of shooters from time to time
Ah man, I’m surprised Hitman didn’t make it. I know it isn’t as good as the other ones but it’s still a great game. And I know on twitter you gave Halo an honorable mention but that should me on the top ten too in my opinion. But hey, It’s your list and I have to agree all the games on it are very well done and extremely fun.
Looks like somebody didn’t play Halo 4.
<3
Can’t wait to see how angry u could be by reviewing the 10 worst games of 2012.
I’ll admit I was not expecting Mass Effect 3 on the list, I mean thought it was a great game, it played brilliantly and made me really emotional, but the ending… *groans*. Still, I do agree with the list and can’t wait for worst games of 2012.
Joe thx!
You can can effectively encourage or… discourage to game, so what is not played by me in 2012 (from your accurate Top 10!) in future certainly will be in my library
It was “satiating” year in category of “noteworthy” productions.
You love Guild Wars 2, and it loves you! Guild Wars 2 facebook page has a link to this video, saying *cough*bragging*cough* that you picked it as your number #1 game of the year!
Great List Joe, although some of these games I haven’t played cause they aren’t really types I’m interested in, doesn’t make them bad. Looking forward to your worst games of 2012. Ive got a list of my own, although they prolly wont be what you would choose cause most of them were lousy console ports that are unplayable on PC without controller.
Reasons why Mass Effect 3 Don’t belong ou this list. (Ending excluded)
- Relatively short campaign,
- Akward characters developements (EDI turned into a sexbot, Jessica Chobot, etc…)
- DLC bullshit (…for “Disc Locked Content”)
- Not enough real side quests & too much “Scan & probe” routines.
- Gameplay issues (Why so many conflictual functions focused on a single button?)
- Needless Multiplayer mode. (Note. Not saying it’s bad, just needless.)
- Identity crisis. Is it Gears of Effect or Mass of War?
I like to think Mass Effect 3 be the ending as a whole, bit like the last walking dead when lee dies.
I agree with your problems with the game as I feel the same, but Mass Effect Still deserves to be on this list even if not so high, and at the end of the day its joe’s opinion’s. after all he is the only one telling these reviews on this site =)
Thanks for spoiling that bit on The Walking Dead, I’m not quite finished with that game. Real classy.
Dammit! I haven’t finished playing the Walking Dead either, @SilverbackSi, easy on the spoilers please.
Oh thank God. Someone else that will admit what a crap game ME3 was (outside the crappy ending)
But Mass Effect 3 wasn’t a crappy game, it was just disappointing.
It was a crappy game to those of us who’re not fangirls of the series. It was a disappointment to the fans. I’ve played all the Mass Effect games. Hell, they’re all sitting on my entertainment center shelves. But I never got too “friendly” with the story. I actually liked ME2 the best because it “opened up” and allowed you to experience the universe and explore planets. ME3 could have played off of this advancement in the series or have expanded upon that and allowed the players to really explore the worlds you hear so much about as you get to know the races of the world. Instead they went backwards and turned it into a mini game where you go around scanning planets, dodging tinny reaper ships and picking up artifacts and crap you never actually see and never really benefit your character in a meaningful way…
ME3 took a step backwards, The “world” (or galaxy in this case) was very linear. They cleverly disguised it by making it SEEM like you can explore here and there as you’re on little missions but that darn invisible wall was always there, making sure you were always on the right path.
The weapon upgrades, again, dumbed down and boring compared to past games. Not only do they give your character a weight restriction, but they make customization of your weapons damn near meaningless and underwhelming. A weapon that you’ve spent most of your money on upgrading, suddenly becomes crap compared to the weapon you just found on a mission with no upgrades or mod attachments.
What little side quests allowed you to actually explore a map were small and the maps were always reused. There were (I counted) four maps for those side missions. One they used several times but just reversed it to make it seem different. Bioware did this in another game they released quickly… might remember it? It was called Dragon Age 2.
Again, I’m not saying that the game was horrible. If I had to give it a score, I’d give it a 7 for effort. But it wasn’t Best of the year quality.
It’s nice to know that I am not the only one who will admit the flaws in Mass Effect 3 were not solely bound to the (abysmal) ending, thank goodness.
And let’s not forget that god-awful quest system.
@ Densaku
Where do you dig these up? You’re part of a small vocal minority that likes to put on dark emo shades and Q_Q where it isn’t needed. 3 endings.. so what? They added an extra ending where you refuse to finish off the quest. Don’t like the little guy? So what he’s just there to guide Sheppard and show him his choices and he looks like a small kid because THAT is how HE sees them which is the SAME way he saw Tali’s people in the Virtual Reality.
The game is quite long… unless you skip ALL the side quests and do the bare minimum to get to the final mission (and even that is 10h +). All side missions (and not fetch quests) get you 20h of gameplay which is above the average 14h game (or heck if you call that short think about Kayne and Lynch).
Character development is what YOU choose it to be. Your choices influence them. Also as a PS this game really does revolve a lot about sex. It’s one of the game’s selling points tbh. Have you seen Miranda?
DLC was annoying I’ll give you that but it can be said to ANY game that uses it (especially Capcom).
Scan & Probe too much? How about planet scans in ME2 or those awful ME1 car explorations.
Every game has gameplay issues (SKYRIM anyone?)
You can choose NOT to play MP at all. And it’s VERY well done and keeps the game alive far longer. Not to mention they even managed to tie in the MP to the single player so that it still feels you’re part of the ME universe. It gives MP purpose… something a LOT of games lack.
Have you played ME2? Or even ME1? The combat system went towards 3rd person shooter more and RPG item management less. Talent trees are also great in ME3 and weight is a nice addition (no more 1 man mule carrying 20 weapons).
It’s so annoying to hear left and right random folks just moan about some extremely minor things and drag a great game and series thru the mud. Mass Effect is honestly the Star Wars/Star Trek of games. The universe is extremely well done with interesting races, plots & characters. Can’t wait for more however I’m afraid that all these QQers will tarnish the ME series and affect the artistic liberties that BioWare originally took that brought the series to such a high place.
Someone is a fangirl of Mass Effect. *cough*
Don’t get your knickers in a wad pal. Not everyone was drooling over the oh so capitalistic conclusion to an otherwise decent game series. You say we’re bitching about “minor” points… and I say, reused, recycled maps, little to no world exploration, shallow, boring and repetitive side quests are not “minor.”
The thing is, big fans of the series are incapable (for the most part) of looking at ME3 with an unbiased eye. The ending was just the icing on the crapcake that the game really was beneath the shinny graphics and the feel good throwbacks to past games. It wasn’t at all top 10 worthy. It wasn’t even top 15 worthy. It was an okay game… but not a “best” of the year game. If you were honest about it and took off your fangirl goggles, you’d agree.
compared to mass effect 1 mass effect 3 was a disgrace, save for two story mission the rest of the game was rushed, imcomplete linear and more focused on the multiplayer microtransaction set up where initially you had no choice but to play multiplayer to get the best ending which was still crap. If this was the first game in a series I could give the series a chance but the game itself as well as the ending ruined my ability to enjoy the other two installments, its simply a case of corporate executives thinking they know whats best and removing art from the equation and then a pompous ass coming in thinking he can tell a better story than they artist who wrote the foundation or otherwise known as the old addage of too many cooks in the kitchen.
Personally i’m very surprised that joe put this game on the list, for all intents and purposes it was an incomplete game and incomplete games should not be on the best of 2012 list, it would be like placing diablo 3 on the list at the same position, it kinda makes me wonder about how he reached this conclusion like maybe corporate commander has brainwashed him. That being said I agreed with the rest of the decisions though I thought walking dead should have gone higher on the list because it gets everything right, atmosphere, story, illusion of choice(much better than bioware I might add) and while its more like an interactive movie its something unique and different in a market saturated with MMO’s, shooters and fighting games and its a relatively good working game, throughout all five episodes I did not encounter a glitch that made me sigh, or have to restart my computer.
@TruthBringer
Do you know who I find quite annoying? People who feel they have the moral justification to insult and belittle a person’s reasonable opinion and the person in question, solely on the grounds that it disagrees with your own. That kind of behavior is frankly childish to both see and read, and one that will not show your own character in a favorable light.
“Where do you dig these up? You’re part of a small vocal minority that likes to put on dark emo shades and Q_Q where it isn’t needed.”
So… someone stating a reasonable criticism on aspects of something you like constitutes as being an emo? Where is the logic in that? Let me answer that for you, there is none, this person has noticed and stated criticism they saw within a game. But because this clashes with your own opinion, you have decided to insult them by calling them an emo, that’s all there is here. So grow up and stop with the baseless name-calling shall we?
“3 endings.. so what? They added an extra ending where you refuse to finish off the quest. Don’t like the little guy? So what he’s just there to guide Sheppard and show him his choices and he looks like a small kid because THAT is how HE sees them which is the SAME way he saw Tali’s people in the Virtual Reality.”
Jesus, are we seriously opening this goddamn can of worms again? It is acknowledged by a majority of gamers (myself included) that the ending was a shambles. It was explicitly stated that choices from throughout the game(s) would have an impact on which ending was given to us. Instead we are treated to a series of gaping plot holes, none-nonsensical events, lack of closure, last five minute characters, lack of narrative coherence, lack of any meaningful dialogue, space-magic, lack of any previous action having a meaningful impact, lack of any meaningful information, circular logic, confusing plot twists and lack of any meaningful choice. The ending cut-scenes that are given as a result of our “choices” are 95% identical with the main difference being in color (red, green or blue, choose your favorite!”. For fans who invested a lot of time into their game this was a slap to the face, and to dismiss this so casually shows how truly biased and blind you are. The ability to recognized faults in something you enjoy and being able to respect the opinion of those who disagree with your opinion is a part of being mature.
Sorry to everyone for having to bring this up, it’s was not my intention to open this can of worms, my sincerest apologies.
“The game is quite long… unless you skip ALL the side quests and do the bare minimum to get to the final mission (and even that is 10h +). All side missions (and not fetch quests) get you 20h of gameplay which is above the average 14h game (or heck if you call that short think about Kayne and Lynch).”
This person was specifically speaking about the main campaign and only the main campaign, trying to bring in side-quests etc in an attempt to measure the gameplay hours of the main campaign (in reference to the original posters point) simply makes no sense.
“DLC was annoying I’ll give you that but it can be said to ANY game that uses it (especially Capcom).”
Indeed, that DLC prompt at the end of the game was just cheap, the DLC themselves are also not really impressive. Keep in mind though that simply someone else is doing it as well doesn’t really justify Mass Effect doing it.
“Scan & Probe too much? How about planet scans in ME2 or those awful ME1 car explorations.”
I fail to see how referencing past products of the same series when addressing a criticism of an aspect in one particular game is relevant. Sure it is useful when determining specific aspects have been improved/changed, but simply saying that previous installments had it or had different (but still bad) aspect isn’t really much of an argument when countering criticism on one particular aspect, and sure as hell not a convincing one.
“Every game has gameplay issues (SKYRIM anyone?)”
Sure, a lot of other games do have gameplay issues.
…
I fail to see how stating that other games have gameplay issues is a relevant defense when we are talking about specific criticism for a specific game.
Example:
Person 1: Man! This (gameplay issue) is really bad in (random game)
Person 2: Dude, other games have gameplay issues as well
Person 1: Well if other games have gameplay issues, I guess there is no reason to criticize this game at all.
Do you see where I’m getting at? Now if we were saying “Mass Effect 3 sucks, no other game as any issues while Mass effect 3 is full of them” then your argument would kind of make sense. The fact is however that we are criticizing a specific aspect relevant to one game. I don’t care if another game reuses level designs, I am talking about how it reuses level designs in this game, do you understand?
“You can choose NOT to play MP at all. And it’s VERY well done and keeps the game alive far longer. Not to mention they even managed to tie in the MP to the single player so that it still feels you’re part of the ME universe. It gives MP purpose… something a LOT of games lack.”
I feel the need to reiterate what the @Densaku said:
“- Needless Multiplayer mode. (Note. Not saying it’s bad, just needless.)”
So essentially, while the multiplayer may be good, all that @Densaku was saying is that it was an aspect that was ultimately unnecessary to include, otherwise I don’t particularly care as I never bothered to play it.
“It’s so annoying to hear left and right random folks just moan about some extremely minor things and drag a great game and series thru the mud.”
I likewise find it annoying when people casually disregard the valid opinions in others, and then proceed to insult the people in question. Also aspects such as gameplay issues, game mechanics etc are not anything close to being considered minor. I understand that it is difficult to acknowledge that there is very valid criticism for something you favor but that is the way of it. you need to understand that there are aspects of Mass Effect 3 that are worthy of criticism, and that these aspects tend to be extremely major to the game itself (for example, the re-use of levels, the poor quest system, the space-probe mechanic, the linear nature of the story etc). it’s not the fault of the gamers that they criticize these aspects at all, it’s the fact that they were implemented the way they were by the developer.
“Mass Effect is honestly the Star Wars/Star Trek of games. The universe is extremely well done with interesting races, plots & characters. Can’t wait for more however I’m afraid that all these QQers will tarnish the ME series and affect the artistic liberties that BioWare originally took that brought the series to such a high place.”
First off, I have no clue what a “QQer” is but I am guessing it is on par with your previous insult of “emo”. Secondly, you need to acknowledge that the final game has flaws, some extremely large (the ending), denying that they exist while only acknowledging the positive in something is both a close minded behavior that nobody will respect, and it does a disservice to the company whom you give such high praise to. Without criticism, how do you expect Bioware or any game company to improve if they do not know their faults nor the possible means to improve upon them? Also do not blame the gamers for tarnishing the game, that responsibility lies solely to Bioware. The gamers did not develop this game, the gamers were not responsible for the way the game ended up the way it did, so please refrain from accusing them that they alone can/have tarnished the series, for that is a lazy man’s excuse for denying that it was the fault of the developer.
You need to (frankly speaking) stop looking at Mass Effect 3 in such a biased manner: faults exist, they were Bioware’s/EA’s fault. So burying your head in the sand isn’t going to change the fact they exist.
Mass Effect 3 is an okay game, but referencing @Scout, “not a “best” of the year game”, an opinion I agree with as a fan of the series.
Thank you that’s exactly the problem with Mass effect 3 but sooo many people say i only hate ME 3 cause of the ending well no it isn’t cause it’s the fact that’s its really badly done of game i ever played in my life. Its that sooo many people say that we always bitch about the ending when it isn’t the main reason. Its one of the reasons but its not the main one that we talk about.
@Matin Sanguine
LOL I seem to remember us having this same exact discussion somewhere else.
@Truthbringer
A lot of people feel the way Densaku, Matin Sanguine, Dead Fallout, Soulprovider and myself do about ME3. Of course, the ending is what most people bitch about because, honestly, it’s this big flashing neon sign at the end which is seared permanently into everyone’s memory. It’s the shock value of it that makes it the hot topic of most criticisms of the game.
Like, one day waking up, tripping over your feet, landing in dog shit. Eating your breakfast to find a large hair in your Cheerios, getting cut off on your way to work then your boss gives you the news that you’re getting laid off. You spill coffee on your lap on your way home… only to find your wife in the bed with your father, your neighbor, and a horse. (GO IMAGERY!)
Your day was pretty much shit. But really, are you going to care about the rest of the crap that happened to you that day after seeing what happened at the end? Probably not as much… or, at least not until after the shock wears off.
The fact remains though that outside of the ending your choices did impact the story in some way. The shooting and cover mechanic I feel was refined over three games, though it’s still perhaps not perfected. That being said, the combat proved to be as challenging and engaging as the story, which I feel was a goal they accomplished. This game really tried to strike a balance between combat and role-playing, and for the most part I felt they did well.
Maybe it isn’t number 3 material, but it was a respectable game that managed to update the original flavor packaging without sacrificing the overall package. My only complaint is still with the ending. To be honest I kind of hated the extended ending even more. But I’ve said too much already, this should be about the top ten, not mass effect 3
your choices affects two main story missions and one side mission, all written by patrick weakes(may have spelled that wrong) and another writer from the first game whos name eludes me at this time, the rest of the game acts like your decisions or game play have no effect on the story it convenently forgets about plot elements it sets up in the second game and adds in the deus ex machina that no one knows about or has any idea how it works but its going to stop the billion year old cthulu flesh/metal synthetics that are the minds and wills of harvested species across the millenia, not to mention that the reapers were war tacticians who has been doing this for untold amounts of time and yet instead of using a strategy that was integral to the first games storyline they instead have the reapers be everywhere at once fighting a brute force war (which according to virgil was not how the reapers fought the prothean war) while also failing to mention exactly how long the war has been going on. I almost get the feeling that decades have passed based on some of the interactions between the characters but its never explicitly stated.
Sorry went off on the tangent there, my point was that the entire story of mass effect three except for the rannoch and tuchanka priority missions and of course the conrad verner side mission(not to mention a few other side objectives thown in) could basically be summed up like this; reapers are androids, shepard and hackett has no confidence in there abillities, the technology used in the second game to slice through reaper tech and give the galactic society a fighting chance has been conveniently forgotten about and relegated to the back burner, the ingame universe is no longer based in scientific theory and fact as the first game was it is now strictly a fantasy setting, NS the best chance for survival is that we need to use an ancient machine that we have no idea what it will do to defeat ancient machines who have lost the abillity to be brilliant tacticians considering that the reapers in the third game are voiceless and mindless drones(the one on rannoch doesn’t count because it is a self contained storyline, has no bearing on the main plot except for one cutscene and some dialogue and a companion pretty much the same as javik). Everybody forgets what you showed them and told them in the first and second games. Lastly shepard is not the one making the speech, you do all the work of getting everyone together and being the contact but in the end your not the person rallying support to fight the reapers. Before I go off into another tangent I will say that basically this was not mass effect. This was AI:call of space edition.
Wait? where was the complete GW2 review. (not the one after spending a few days – a week in game?)
http://angryjoeshow.com/2012/09/guild-wars-2-angry-review/
Here is the review, keep note that it goes on for about 30 minutes.
Great list Joe.Not my favorite choice for number one,but I only leveled with only 1 friend so maybe grouping with more people would of been more enjoyable.Also once you get to endgame there is nothing to do except World PvP which is not really my cup of tea (I PvP’ed for 7 years in WoW so kinda sick with that).
With that said,I personally can’t wait for the worst games of 2012 video.:>
Hey Joe, guess where I found out that you posted this video….
… the Guild Wars 2 facebook page.
Scout – Aren’t you jumping the gun, basically doing the very same thing you’re accusing me of? I don’t mind that he didn’t pick a lot of PC games so much as the few he did pick were all MMOs. All of them. Except for Hawken of course.
That’s like if I, as a PC gamer, tried my hand at making the best of Xbox 360 chart, and then I filled my list up with shooters. I would have painted Xbox 360 gaming as well as it’s players with a singular colour, and they’d probably feel a little insulted.
I wouldn’t blame them.
No I don’t think I am Drake. Because he also picked Max Payne and Xcom, which were made to be played on a PC and are arguably better when played on a PC. Sure, the only PC only games he chose were MMOs, but that’s because MMOs (lets face it) suck on console. Joe plays pretty much all consoles (but playstation ) so he being, I think, fare in his assessment on the games on an overall spectrum of platforms. Hell, he even included a game that is downloadable to a damn smart phone…
Pretty good list, Joe. Are you going to be doing the same thing with your lists like last time for 2011? That is a best, worst, and disappointing list? Also, what are your impressions of the latest Spike VGAs? I’m really interested in seeing what you have to say about it given how terrible it has been in the past.
Great video Joe, and I have played most of the game on here. Sadly, GW2 I haven’t, and I really wanted to try it, untill the crap NC Soft pulled with the first mmo I ever played, City of Heroes. I’m still undecided if I am still gonna try it or not, NC Soft kinda tainted things for me. I was surprised to see ME3 on here, but you’re right. Other than the endings *shudders*, it’s a good game.
Now, WORST of ’12….that should be hilarious lol
I’m happy you added Mass Effect 3 to your list! And don’t forget about Max Payne 3 too!
BUT I don’t get it why don’t you mentioned the weak ending of Far Cry 3. (Anyway I enjoyed the game , I’m just saying.)
Max Payne made it, now i can rest
I need more money so I can buy all the games on this list
Great list Joe! I’m happy to say I own or plan to buy most of the games on this list already. I was a little surprised to see Mass Effect 3 on the list and so high on the list as well. Don’t get me wrong I love the game and have been playing it almost religiously, but I can see the pre-Extended Cut endings killing its chances for getting on many top ten lists. Personally i’m content with the game now that they’ve added the EC.
too bad the guild got ditched by joe and all the other main officers
I’m looking forward to top 10 WORST games of 2012
And great list Joe i agree
GW2 best sixty dollar game that I have spent money on, glad it earned a spot in the top ten.
are you fucking kidding me? i have played all of theese games execpt max payne 3 and i think that dayz ( yes its a mod) deserves a spot here… kthanksbai
Why would a mod deserve a spot on the top 10 GAMES of 2012. Does a Cat deserve a spot in the top 10 spot at a dog show?
I’ll have to disagree with you on Mass Effect 3. Overlooking the ending, the side quests were next to nil as opposed to previous Mass Effect games. Weapon upgrades were underwhelming and the skill tree was the same from older games. The maps felt reused and recycled. The dialogue was very unbelievable (especially for male Shep). Overall, the game was a step backwards rather then forwards for the series… I think you were a little biased on this one Joe. Sorry man.
Joe always was soft on BioWare. You can see it if you watch all of his Bioware-games videos in a row.
I agree with your points about ME3, this game is a huge step back.
Well, at least Most Wanted 2012 is not on the list
*shudders* Most Wanted… Yeah. I guess I can be thankful for that.
I played ME3 going into it without seeing a single game preview or review. So I had no idea what to expect. I kept asking myself as I played “Surely the world will “open up” soon…this can’t be all there is with the side quests,,,” But it NEVER. DID. Scanning planets for crap I:
A) Never get to use
B) Has no reflection on my character’s abilities
c) Does no good for my little mini game ship (asteroid anyone?) as I dodge reapers to search for radio signals…… oh. so fun…
D) Didn’t have any effect on my weapon capabilities
E) And of course, didn’t do shit for me at the end either.
So other then the really boring, repetitive side quests, the only other choice you had to deviate from the story was stopping to talk to every damn NPC you can in hopes one might send you on *gasp* .. another boring scanning mission.
When I heard people bitching about the ending, I was surprised that was all they were bitching about… giving the amount of terrible the game was overall.
I’m just happy I’m not the only one that wasn’t blinded by fangoggles enough to see it.
I have come to realise your tastes are so far removed from mine that you might as well be from another planet. Every PC game chosen was a MMO, except for Hawken which was multiplayer. My list would have included Lone Survivor, Legend of Grimrock, Day Z, Crusader Kings 2, Faster Than Light, and Hotline Miami. In fact about the only thing we do agree on is The Walking Dead and X-Com were great.
I’m a huge PC gamer… but to harp on Joe because he didn’t pick PC exclusive games is just retarded. The fact that his picks were mostly, if not all multi-platform speaks well for him. It’s people like you that give PC gamers a bad rep.
I think Farcry 3 has been my number one this year, even though it has some minor problems like holding x to interact with the world instead of just pressing it, the waypoint could of been better, and more skills to acquire.
Yeah I could see it coming miles away that both Guild Wars 2 and Far Cry 3 would be high upon your list this year.
Halo 4 probably didn’t cut it because he never had enough time for it, with so many other titles coming out this year.
It won’t be any different next year, so expect something on your list, not being revealed by Joe. After all he has a life, can’t have him mop our floor’s.
So many games I certainly would have wanted to try out such as Hawken and Dishonored but I simply can’t have enough of Skyrim these days.
So wanna tame a dragon, go out there and kill my fine species. Such is my name, you can’t blame me.
About Mass Effect 3, I would say I agree it deserves more then it’s god awful ending. The series has been a blast to play through. Never regretting I ever picked up the first and kept it going with the same character, building up some immense relationships, you’d almost shed a tear.
Now for my top 10, it’s different because I haven’t touched GW2, I can seriously slap my face, because I was intently going to pick it up, but haven’t just got around to it. Mainly because I might not be the big ass MMO player.
Nothing more then my own top ten out of the games I’ve picked up this year.
10. Kingdom of Amalur, I mean it was mostly hack and slash, between ongoing questions with relative no influence whatsoever, but the awesome combat controls.
9. Serious Sam 3 (Xbox version) Had to mention that seen as the Pc version came out last year. It’s one of them notoriously games that aren’t meant to be taken serious, it’s nothing but a fun goofy shooter. One of it’s kind and in my eyes the superior above Duke Nukem Forever.
8. Assassin’s Creed 3, seen as I’ve never touched any of the previous series I don’t have much valid to offer in context. But for what moments I have tackled around with, it’s an nice game, offering warfare out on sea, that and I love sneaky games, (in case why I should have picked up Dishonored). You just can’t have em all.
7. The Darkness 2. I simply loved this shooter. Probably because of it’s unique style, different from the average military shooter who I can never get around to. Two different campaigns both offering a good amount of action, and twisted murders to be had.
6. All DLC Packages for Skyrim. to be fair I can’t have em all separated. Even as it’s glitches continues to make me both laugh and get slightly frustrated, I simply can’t deny that I love this game. Adding more content to what we already had, and even build your own fricking house. Now that’s just better then Sims 2 and 3 all together.
5. Darksiders 2. I loved the first one, despite it’s issues, the second weren’t no different. Immense loot system added, almost making it an RPG in it’s own, with it’s open world system. So far one of my most memorable moments has to be the colossal stone boss. With it’s epic music score.
4. Dragon’s Dogma. Ah! So it has a catchy name. But overall I liked the combat system, same as Kingdom, just this upped the odds even further, and by including what was missing, I think they’ve must have seen AJ’s review, seen as there weren’t any fast travel system. Well now there is. While it’s graphics are the only thing that make me wonder, is this a game released for 2012. Meh! I’m able to overlook that, for the battle’s them self are made of win.
3. Mass Effect 3. Yeah I am going to add this exactly on the same spot, because what’s been said already above, is enough for me to love this game, despise the average, rather poor ending. What has been fixed, though they should have thought of it earlier in my opinion. Nevertheless I’ll definitive make another playthrough of this game someday in the future.
2. Xcom Enemy Unknown. I have never touched the old series before. And even by looking I really wouldn’t know if I would pick it up. I never regret upon doing so. It’s so badass, yet difficult that you just wanna keep on fighting to save the world. The only that worries me is the ending, as I have never fully completed it. Been to many bad decisions you see. And I seriously hate the mind control. Get the fuck out of my men, I seriously won’t shoot em.
1. Far Cry 3. Seriously this isn’t what I had expected after seen the first few trailers. But slowly it gained on me, and I decided meh, why not preorder the thing. I have never regretted upon doing so. There’s not much else to be said, seen as I don’t wanna rant on any further.
Yeah, I’ve probably bored a hell out of you, so I’m just going to finish this by. Looking forward to the new list Joe.
I stopped taking your opinion seriously when you mentioned Assassin’s Creed 3.
I sure hope they’ll make more shooters in 2013, haven’t seen those in a while.
Great list Joe, however I have two words of criticism – construcitve, non-dairy kind
1. Mass Effect 3 being so high on the list is like giving EA and Bioware a free pass – I’ve always liked your show, because you had no problem with calling them out on various unfair business practices. Joe, it seems to me, that you too have joined “Yes, endings are bad, but game is great up to that point” club. Let’s not forget about: No content for ME2 characters, but having Jessica Chobot. 15$ Omega DLC, which is all action, no story, 3 HOURS. Cutting From Ashes out of the game and charging for it day one. Auto-dialogue in cutscenes, which makes Shepard no longer “my character” and removes replayability, which you mentioned. Leviathan DLC, which provides crucial lore-backstory – too little, too late. Does this still sound like best game of 2012?
2. No Witcher 2 EC for X360 on the list? Really? Of all the journalists in the world, I was sure you will not forget about this GEM of an action-RPG. Yes, Witcher 2 came out for PC last year, but Extended Cut gave the game a major overhaul, brought it for Xbox, fixed a lot of problems, was also free of charge for people who already had Witcher 2. After all the time you spent in CDProject Red Studios, I was sure you will at least mention it in your list…
Witcher 2 was on last years list.
Didn’t Witcher 2 come out in 2011?
I agree with the ME3 thing though. What they gave us was exceptionally GOOD (barring the ending of course), But what they neglected to give us was exceptionally BAD. There was just so much that they SHOULD have put in that it is hard to overlook. Also the fact that it makes ME2 completely irrelevant is VERY BAD.
ME3 is in a weird place where you have to rate it on what the game isn’t rather than what it is.
Dishonoured should have been slightly higher, its a very good game considering all the stuff on it. And borderlands definately deserves it’s spot, it’s very fun and enjoyable. Mass effect 3 was great, but it can’t deserve a 3 considering how terrible the ending of it was. Far cry 3 is a great game, great gameplay and innovation, as well as a great story to it. I disagree with guild wars 2 at 1, I think it should have been Far cry 3.
Where is Mount&Blade Warband Napoleonic Wars???? It is indeed my number 1 on this year
Call me a fanboy but I think halo 4 should’ve been on there at first, but with all the amazing games that came out this year I guess it could be #11
*What I mean is I thought halo 4 should’ve been on there somewhere, not at first, god no :/
For me Far Cry 3 is my game of the year
Can anyone tell me what song is playing in dishonored background?
Errr… isn’t that the 2011 video, Joe?
It was, yes. Sorry about that, Fixed.
Great job Sir Joe! Any chance for worst games of 2012?
I also want to see this list ^
As do I! It’s time to name and shame!
Joe its fixed on the site, but on my mobile app it is still playing the 2011 video.
It’s happening with me as well.