Best of 2011 Runner-Up: Batman Arkham City
This week Shacknews finally reveals its top five games of 2011. We continue today with out third best game of the year, as voted by the editors and staff writers: Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham City.
Batman: Arkham Asylum impressed audiences by bucking the trend of licensed superhero games. It wasn't just "good for a superhero game"; it was an unqualified success, both critically and commercially. Years later, developer Rocksteady had the unenviable (and inevitable) task of creating a sequel. They attempted to craft a game that could expand the concept of Arkham Asylum without compromising its original vision, and in many ways Batman: Arkham City does just that.
The shock of a quality Batman game may have worn off in the years since our visit to the creepy mental hospital, and players had mixed reactions to the expansion of a larger open world. However, the game refined and honed some of the best qualities from Arkham Asylum. One of the most responsive third-person combat systems in modern games felt even more so with the addition of double-counters and expanded gadgetry, letting the Dark Knight wreak even more havoc on any thugs dumb enough to take him on. The story was overhauled from a glorified steroid metaphor into a winding, twisting narrative that spanned the character's canon and weaved villains against each other. This led to a shocking, poignant conclusion that could go toe-to-toe with some of the best graphic novels DC has to offer.
Batman: Arkham City may have felt less revolutionary than its predecessor, but it was a sharpened iteration that made good on its promise and further cemented the so-called Arkhamverse as one of the most unique ones the character has to offer. It just so happens to take place almost entirely in the realm of our chosen medium, and that's something to celebrate.
The Shacknews 2011 Game of the Year awards are based on a weighted scoring system between all staff writers and editors [here's how it works!]. Last week we revealed our "Honorable Mentions," which include the titles that did not quite make our overall 'Top Five Games of the Year.' This week we reveal that Top Five list, with our Overall Game of the Year award being announced on January 20.
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Shacknews
replyShack Staff posted a new article, Best of 2011 Runner-Up: Batman Arkham City.
This week Shacknews finally reveals its top five games of 2011. We continue today with out third best game of the year, as voted by the editors and staff writers: Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham City.-
This is currently tied or very close behind Dark Souls as my GOTY. Based on what has already been listed and omitted (namely Dark Souls), I'm really curious what games are in the top 2. BF3 maybe?
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While for me personally, Batman WAS the game of the year (PURE FUN start to finish). My predition is Witcher 2 for 1st runner up and Portal 2 for GOTY.
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Not officially, but Garnett Lee mentioned on Weekend confirmed that ALL of their top 5 games were available on PC this year. That puts Uncharted 3 out of the running.
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I wouldn't have put it that high anyway, good game but not as good as 2 and not as good as a lot of the other games released this year, sadly.
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I wouldn't put it anywhere near this list. I didn't really enjoy UC3 and I loved UC2. I think the wow was gone and just left all the stuff I don't like.
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Oh right I forgot that wasn't mentioned yet, yeah that will most likely make the top 2.
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This is what is going to kill it. While I was lucky, and only lost 3-4 hours of progress, it was insane of Rocksteady to ship the game with a game-breaking bug like this. And I refuse to believe the "maybe it didn't show up in QA!" folks on this one. As someone who spent 4 years doing QA, there is absolutely no way this bug wasn't in the database. Some marketing/production/PR person waived it, though, because it only affects X% of players and there wasn't enough time to fix it to meet release date.
While I understand from a purely business perspective, it's a pretty big middle finger to the actual consumers.-
Yeah, I lost all my progress after 40h of playtime and since I didn't have System Restore on the drive I store all my Steam games, I got FITA.
It's interesting because Rocksteady went from one of my favorite studios (because I loved B:AA so much) to one that I really, really hate due to their poor support. They say they are doing "all they can and working with third parties to analyze the issue". They are now asking people to send them the Steam Support ticket number - what the fuck.
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My bet is Portal 2 + BF3
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Absolutely LOVED this game. I know there were complaints about it being "Too big", and I think Garnett Lee compared it to a Las Vegas buffet while Arkham Asylum was more of a fine restaraunt, but man was this game fun! And really isn't that was games are supposed to be? There is no better combat system out there, and for me, the story was amazing. Rocksteady has produced, to date, the only two games I have EVER completed AND finished ALL the side mission stuff, and unlocked ALL the single player acheivements. I just couldn't stop playing this game. Well deserved.
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That wasn't me but it was on the show. I think it Christian. We disagreed on that point. I felt if anything the story on this one was a tiny bit better than its predecessor.
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I absolutely loved the story in this one. It did a great job of introducing two main villains, while still having their stories be distinct (albeit intertwining).
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That was actually Garnett Lee quoting our review from Andrew Yoon.
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I downloaded it on Steam, signed into Live, and launched it. If someone has an issue with the DRM, that is more a statement on their Aspergers than it is against the game itself.
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That makes Portal 2 GOTY? Fucking nerds, it was good but not THAT good.
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Agreed. Decent but it got old after a bit.
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The last time you all assumed something, you said we picked Skyrim as our GOTY.
How did that work out for you?
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Well, it's not gonna be Saints Row 3, so you guys are wrong anyway.
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Based on our weighted scoring system, Batman edged it out. It was very close!
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PS3 or 360 controller.
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man the credits for that just kept on going and going and going and going
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I just finished beating the single-player campaign last night, and it is definitely my favorite open-world game in years. I love that they managed to not only make a fun and engaging game, but to provide a better multi-villain storyline than any of the Batman films have done so far. The combat system is, as could be expected from the first game, top-notch, and the exploration elements seem to have been given a lot more focus than in Arkham Asylum. On top of that, Rocksteady managed to organize the gameplay to where (unlike in B:AA) you don't have to play the game with Detective Mode on the entire time.
As someone who is not a fan of the open-world genre in general, the fact that I started New Game+ the instant I finished the main campaign solidifies this as my GOTY.
END OF GAME SPOILERS
Poor Joker. I absolutely loved the way they handled his death, it felt very true to the comics and the characters in tone, but I still hate to see him go. -
Sooo, two slots left (And here is what has already been picked): http://www.shacknews.com/article/71890/shacknews-best-of-2011-awards
It's has to be Portal 2, right?-
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Minecraft was in our "Staff Favorites." Meaning, it did not gain enough votes to make our Top Ten.
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