It speaks volumes about most game reviewers and their proneness to succumbing to blind hype. It's par for the course.
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2012 Game of the Year Media Picks Thread
- Thread starter Cheesemeister
- Start date
It speaks volumes about most game reviewers and their proneness to succumbing to blind hype. It's par for the course.
I agree it was fun but not GOTY good, also Dishonored well it was also a good game but nothing special it got repetitive very fast D:
Maybe it just was a soso year for gaming. I still have to play Journey and The Walking Dead tho
just finished the first two episodes of walking dead, and i was pretty impressed at how often the story branches, and how much my decisions affect the outcome.
then i looked up the alternate routes out of curiosity and discovered my decisions actually don't create story branches, and don't affect the outcome. awesome.
then i looked up the alternate routes out of curiosity and discovered my decisions actually don't create story branches, and don't affect the outcome. awesome.
The last 3 are the same in that regard. Very good illusion atleast.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
We're nowhere near noteworthy to generate a bunch of hit, but if anybody is interested in TRUE BLUE AUSSIE OPINIONS...
Earlier in the year we did a six month recap of 2012's gaming, each staff member picking their best title(s), as well as their most disappointing. It can be read here. And our second part, covering the latter half of 2012, just recently went up here. I'm Jarrod, for those curious.
For our "official" game of the year we decided to open it up on our forums to vote. Simple top five point based system, staff votes counted. That'll go up in the new year.
Earlier in the year we did a six month recap of 2012's gaming, each staff member picking their best title(s), as well as their most disappointing. It can be read here. And our second part, covering the latter half of 2012, just recently went up here. I'm Jarrod, for those curious.
For our "official" game of the year we decided to open it up on our forums to vote. Simple top five point based system, staff votes counted. That'll go up in the new year.
Cheesemeister
Member
How about a staff-voted ranking for the whole year? Reader-voted rankings are not included in this tally.
yeah from what i can tell it does exactly what other choose-your-own-adventure stories do and just put up a smokescreen while you believe you're actually making a decision that matters. i'm only 40% in though. i'll see how the rest of it goes.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I don't think anybody likes The Walking Dead for bold, ambitious gameplay or revolutionary themes, but instead because the illusion of involvements in events and the experience itself is quite strong, the structure of the narrative along with it content makes you feel something. It's an argument not necessarily for gameplay/story and which matters most, but that a game that makes you feel something is one worth remembering.
And that's what people take away from The Walking Dead. They were engaged, and felt something.
We could list the staff's top five ranking separately too. I'm not fussed about the points being tallied in the op. Just wanted to share.
And that's what people take away from The Walking Dead. They were engaged, and felt something.
We could list the staff's top five ranking separately too. I'm not fussed about the points being tallied in the op. Just wanted to share
.Yeah, my problem with it is that being an episodic series, I got the time to discuss my choices and outcomes with friends and had the rug pulled off my feet early on and everything just felt fake and insulting.
I feel many things in the game are interesting and Clementine is fantastic but The Walking Dead is not what I want games to be.
I also understand this has been a pretty shitty year, all things considered.
MegaKungFuRadio
Member
I see it more as the flaws of Diablo III aren't readily apparent during the typical review process, but you can be hyper critical and cynical if it so pleases you.
i was already a fan of the series for a long time before this, so i get a lot out of it just seeing hershel and glen, and others from the comic. and if i wanted to feel something, i would have just picked up the new trade (which is out now or should be out soon, i think).
i stumbled in blind due to the hype, and it's neat that the story doesn't suck, but i was hoping for once, that this would actually make my actions actually matter. it's a tall order, but it would really make this something worth remembering. without that element, it's not very different from mass effect or heavy rain.
actually, heavy rain's outcomes were pretty dependent on how you played, as much as it pains me to say. too bad everything else about it was such shit.
that's not to say i dislike the walking dead- i'm just disappointed it's 'another one-a these' instead of something original. i really don't think we'll look back on this gen and remember the walking dead as a staple of storytelling in video games. part of me thinks there really wasn't much else in the 'video games are art' department this year since all the big titles kinda blew, so critics had to tread down a different path than they would have preferred.
essentially, it's a conspiracy and everyone's all in on it.
Have you played Alpha Protocol? It's slightly janky, but if you can get past that, you have a crazy amount of influence over how the game plays out. Discussing the game after I played it with a friend blew my mind.
Riposte
Member
As someone who was unimpressed by The Walking Dead, I loved Alpha Protocol. I hunger for more games like it.
huh. i'll look into it. i know it has a fanbase, but i didn't know that was a part of the game.
That's exactly how I feel.
I get that TWD's supposed to show you the futility of your choices, but you have to throw me a bone every now and then. Specially since you're telling me "this guy will remember your choice" and it doesn't really seem to matter.
I hope TWDSE2 is a little closer to Alpha Protocol than TWDSE1, just so I feel like actually putting thought into my choices.
Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Games of the Year really should be decided at the end of January or something. Dishonoured and Far Cry 3 up there sort of reek of lingering too recent hype and positivity.
Biff
Member
Anyone voting for Far Cry 3 should be forced to sit through an hour of Xbox 360 multiplayer.
Developers should be held accountable for shitty ports, and it should affect the "rating" of the title overall. How many Far Cry 3 console sales will be earned because of these awards, which are clearly meant for the vastly superior PC version?
Developers should be held accountable for shitty ports, and it should affect the "rating" of the title overall. How many Far Cry 3 console sales will be earned because of these awards, which are clearly meant for the vastly superior PC version?
I haven't played the TWD, but based on how you described it, Alpha Protocol would be like if you investigated the possible alternate ways the game could've played out and you found there were huge consequences based on dozens of your choices. It's extra tense due to a having a combination of your choices actually mattering a lot, and you having limited time to make them.
After being disappointed by how little my choices mattered in games like the Mass Effect series, it was really a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, it didn't do well so I don't know if there will ever be a sequel, but at least you get easily grab it for 5 or 10 bucks. It's not super long either, so it's not too much of a commitment.
Magic Mushroom
Member
Don't really get these "we can't take their opinion seriously" comments just because they name a different GotY than you do. As long as they are able to motivate their choices, their opinion surely is as valid as anyone's? The articles on Eurogamer and Rock, Paper, Shotgun in partcular do a great job of describing why they loved certain games and while my GotY (Velocity) is hardly on any lists, that's more than enough for me. Really like some of the detailed comments in the GAF GotY thread as well. It makes for an intesting read, puts certain games on my map and shows that all in all it was a pretty varied year.
Dishonored came out around or before some of the other games winning awards (the majority of Walking Dead episodes notwithstanding) so I don't think that is the case. I do wonder if that and Far Cry are splitting the votes among some people though. They are both for people who have grown tired of mindless five hour shooter campaigns.
Looks like The Walking Dead is going to win by a fair margin in terms of number of awards, which is pretty good. Not my personal pick, but much better than some of the alternatives.
It is well written and well executed (no need for wd.exe failure sceens, I get it). This was the one year where the argument really holds up that digital releases were better than those at retail, and Walking Dead is one of the primary examples. Journey and Hotline Miami are others, but I think only being on one platform limits the reach for those.
EmCeeGramr
Member
Alpha Protocol is a game where you can pick the snarky BioWare option in conversations, and instead of people ignoring it they'll hate your guts for your constant smug quipping.
You have no idea how much I loved the game for just that.
"Hey, acting like a jackass does earn the ire of NPCs after all!"
Will the writing is fine but it's just not a very good game. No meaningful gameplay in any way (no puzzles and a bunch of QTEs not implemented nearly as well as in Heavy Rain) and if you take away the choice and consequence because almost nothing matters (and I'm not saying the ending, things like getting the coat for Clem is perfect), you're left with just a bunch of well written cutscenes.
There's something to say about your small room for choice as a parallel of the story of Lee's futility to actually be something of a parent for Clem's sake, but I expect more from a full game.
In a year that's gave us Hotline: Miami and Spec Ops: The Line, I can't think of The Walking Dead deserving much praise in terms of story...
D
Deleted member 59090
Unconfirmed Member
Phonomezer
Banned
Amazing game, amazing aesthetics, amazing music, amazing puzzles, amazing atmosphere.
Well done.
grandjedi6
Master of the Google Search
theytookourjobz
Junior Member
You think the story in Hotline Miami is better than Walking Dead?
theytookourjobz
Junior Member
I have to disagree with you there. This year has been anything but "another year." Indie games like Fez, Journey, and Mark of the Ninja are getting a lot of love and the other two most mentioned are a hardcore strategy game (X-COM) and an story driven adventure game (Walking Dead). Say what you will about the quality of them but you can't say that those developers didn't take risks.
Depends how you define risk. I think smaller developers that have to do other things to even get noticed are not in the same risk category as a big developer that is doing something non-mainstream. Phil Fish can't do a COD-clone as a two-man project, so him making a pixel-platformer is not the same as Firaxis making a big budget turn based strategy game.
I'm also not speaking about the quality.
(If you're offended by the Fez example take thatgamecompany and fulfilling their 3-game deal with Sony. Point is the same.)
theytookourjobz
Junior Member
Yeah, I suppose I was more referring to the risk associate with X-COM. Walking Dead was a pretty safe bet to be popular with the ratings the TV show gets.
theytookourjobz
Junior Member
Still, after watching Indie Game: The Movie, it's hard to argue that Fish risked almost everything he had on the hopes that a game like Fez, almost a 180 degree turn from what has been popular and successful recently, would catch on. The fact that a $10 downloadable platformer that necessitated a pen and paper and QR code readers is on many GOTY lists just goes to show how really unique this year was.
Yeah that's why I questioned how you define it. Obviously Phil Fish himself risked everything and it's great that it was a critical success and hopefully a commercial success as well.
But let's look at DoubleFine after their Brutal Legend flop where they switched to creating 4 smaller games instead. That was a bigger risk by Tim Schafer because he didn't just take a personal risk, he risked his whole studio that is associated with X amount of employees that he would lose their job if he had to close down.
Just to make the contrast even more evident: Curt Schilling also risked a lot more than Phil Fish. Purely as a function that he and his employees and his state had a lot more to lose.
Magic Mushroom
Member
Eurogamer's Fez article is a lovely, lovely read. It breathes a genuine love for games. A great read in all too cynical times.
They also nail 2012 in their introduction.
They also nail 2012 in their introduction.
Yes, I think it's gruesome, multi-layered, surprising, mysterious, etc.
Clem and Lee are both very well written, but the constant stream of throwaway new characters (with weird personalities, like Kenny, who hated me forever after I said "let's talk about it" during the Duck argument in the store in ep. 1, completely ignoring I did help Duck many, many times) and lack of real agency in a game that's 100% about making choices, meant the story felt like a bunch of (usually well-written) sad scenes of people getting eaten up or having to deal with people getting eaten up.
I like what The Walking Dead says it's gonna do, I just think it doesn't do it as well as people are saying.
Its as much a game as any old point and click adventure game for the most part. My problem was that it just wasn't all that great. Decent. Interesting. But GOTY? What the flying hell? No.
No, not really. Old adventure games actually had puzzles, which constituted gameplay, of which TWD has none, unless you count helping the reporter lady put batteries on a radio as a puzzle.
Probably like Uncharted 3. People will hype themselves into a frenzy because of the previous game and it won't match the hype. It can't match that kind of unrealistic hype.
I actually think they'll make the wrong decision and listen to all of the people who whined about there not being enough gameplay. They'll probably put a bunch of annoying time sink puzzles or something like that in and all it will do is aggravate people who want to follow the story and make the game artificially longer.
Journey is their overall GOTY.