Zero Punctuation: Top 5 of 2012

[Lucky Godzilla]

I still don't see why Spec Ops or The Walking Dead is hailed as being really really good. Spec Ops moreso after having gone through each of the endings and seeing no real change. It just felt like the game was Black Ops' story set in Dubai... with cover based combat. So much cover based combat. *shudders* Oh and you get to choose whether to off yourself, go home or be an asshole hypocrite at the end of the game.

I still think the best game of the year was Virtue's Last Reward. Best thing I've played all year.

Did you pay attention to a single word of praise for sepc ops? The reason it is so adored if for how it effectively critiques the absurdity of modern military shooters. The generic gameplay helps drive that message, a bland modern war game, but one that does not shy away from showing you the consequences of your actions.

 

[JoaoJatoba]

On Topic - I don't see Lee as a tabula rasa. I see the player as entering his life at a very specific time in his life and being able to help direct where he goes. Lee is pretty much defined, and when you find out whether a certain aspect of his past is true or not well that's definitely not something *you* did or did not do. It's something Lee did, and very much defines who he is at the start of the game.

The only thing certain about Lee is that he's a convict murderer, a university teacher and a little about his family. We don't know why he did it. We fill the blanks from there on... Every choice "makes" Lee what we want him to be: Does he care about Clementine? Is he selfish? Can help others? The answer is given by us on the gameplay. So even with some baggage (i.e. a vaguely defined past), Lee is defined by his actions and since we choose for him, he is pretty much what we want him to be...

 

[FallenMessiah88]

How often do you see any one who wants to discuss this on even terms? I find it so rare, you need to be passive to both sides. I'm basically saying the only way to get an 'even' look into both sides is to find the positives and negatives, both extremes if the case calls for it. I don't know exactly what you mean by ill will, but you also have to cancel out any one that's judging unfairly, if you can do that.

I guess the only way to start a real debate here is by looking at all the comments and finding the people that go into such detail, not any one can just do that, especially if you're jaded.

You're right. What I meant is that the "anti" side and the "pro" side are now on even more uneven terms. Then again, maybe it's not such a big deal since the debate really wasn't all that balanced to begin with. That's also what I meant with ill will. Sometimes both sides seem more interested in villifying each other than having a good debate. Bue yeah, everybody is biased to some degree so the best solution would be to simply get an unbiased persons opinion.

Also, jaded might be the wrong word. It's not that I don't care anymore but more that I have a lot of other things going on right now. In the end I guess it's more about a lack of energy on my part.

 

[greyseven]

That's a surprising list.

 

[Strain42]

So what's the current Game of the Year standing for Zero Punctuation?

2007: Portal
2008: Saints Row 2
2009: Batman: Arkham Asylum
2010: Just Cause 2
2011: Portal 2
2012: Spec Ops: The Line

Makes me wonder what next year will bring...well...I guess I mean this year since it's already 2013.

I suppose I can be curious about next year too.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I agree with most of the top ones that I played. The Walking Dead was good, but it was no where near as good as everyone is saying it is. Also, Playstation All Stars is pretty good, too. It actually way better than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be decent. Definitely better than that shit that Brawl turned out to be.

 

[Therumancer]

Well Spec-Ops: The Line is mostly a left wing anti-war/anti-military wank dressed up as a game. It's really great if you happen to agree with it's message, then you can claim it's profound, needed commentary, on something people try and overlook. If you belong to the other 50% of the population then it's just a mediocre game with a misguided piece of political propaganda sewn in which it insists on constantly bludgeoning you over the head and shoulders with.

As a result, "Spec-Ops: The Line" is something a critic, like Yahtzee can praise on the merits of it's message, if they happen to agree (which you might guess Yahtzee does, given all of his anti-US military rants in various reviews), but something a person with more pretensions of being a reviewer can't in good conscience lionize because really aside from that "message" it has nothing going on, and really it's something not everyone is going to agree with.

Not trying to be confrontational, but did you play The Line? I was actually very surprised at how understated the explicit anti-war elements were. It's more focused on deconstructing the mindset of a shooter protagonist. There are a few bits where it brings up current events (surprise surprise the CIA is evil) but aside from that it's relatively apolitical. I liked it because it's a fairly convincing portrayal of a man's tragic fall mixed with a deconstruction of shooters.

I'm not a big shooter fan, but when I heard about this one and it's profound statements I watched a few "Let's Plays" of it, I get the point pretty well. Where we (and other responders) differ is that I think your seperating the game genere from it's subject matter too much, when this was a criticism of the subject matter through the shooter.

Yahtzee frequently goes off about how shooters have some invariably American protaganist go goes running all over the place killing everyone like he's the hero of his own personal war movie, oftentimes in historical settings (like World War II) where the rest of the world would rather just forget it all happened. In this case I think the game was criticizing the subject matter as much as the medium.... it was however a double whammy.

 

[Kurt Cristal]

Considering how Spec Ops' guilt trip could drive even the most pious man to drink, it's not surprising Yahztee turned into a yager-miser.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
http://mirrors.rit.edu/instantCSI/

That being said, I really wish more people played.... Forza Horizon. That was seriously my GOTY. A racing game. I know. But it was. I'd like to hear at least one Escapist staffer/member/showmaker talk about the damn thing.

 

[charliesbass]

He put Dishonored, a game where he wasn't sure if he could recommend it or not at #5. Yahtzee, did you completely forget about Rayman Origins? A game that you called 'pretty good' and made sighs of satisfaction when talking about it? I thought that would be your game of the year, but you seem to have completely forgot about it.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Dear Esther and Journey respectively. Now those 2 are just glorified books.

I can see where you're coming from with Dear Esther, but Journey? There's barely any story at all. I can see how one could feel that Journey's status as a game is dubious at best, but the experience hinges on it's interactivity.

Games though not needing to be Dark Souls level hard need to have some challenge otherwise the game may as well have been presented in the form of a movie or two for how much interaction is needed to win....

... This alone being just another generic and easy as fuck third person shooter is why it should be disqualified from any sane persons top games list

I respect that you dislike Spec Ops' gameplay and feel that it overshadows it's story-telling but don't you think implying insanity on the part of anybody who considers it their favourite game of the year is a tad ridiculous? I happen to enjoy both Serious Sam and Half-Life but I would hate it if they were the only types of shooters available. I actually quite enjoyed Spec-Ops' gameplay at first and then found it fittingly unpleasant as the narrative grew darker.

Also, the reason I enjoy Half-Life has little to do with the gunplay. The combat in both Half-Life games feels weak and floaty and neither of them are at all difficult even on the highest settings. I'd venture so far as to say I found Spec Ops to be far more challenging.

Though I disagree, due to it's deconstructive nature, it should also be mentioned that if you feel Spec Ops should have been a film or book then you should definitely either read Heart of Darkness or watch Apocalypse Now. I believe the former is free on the Kindle store if you have a Kindle. You've probably seen this comparison before but, just in case you haven't, they're both pretty fantastic stories without any of that regenerating health you hate so much.

 

[Starker]

/.../ Personally I can fully sympathize because I'm also insulted when the game throws a character at me who's genetically engineered to be as attractive as possible, has daddy issues, an out of place Australian accent, and constantly reminds you how great her genes are in the midst of flirting with you. /.../

I hated her too, but were the alternatives all that better? The clumsy awkward girl with an obvious crush on you or the recalcitrant shrew? Or any of the other companions, really? Bioware characters are basically walking sidequests that exist to deliver fanservice and chunks of their backstory in discrete exposition dumps.

 

[newingtonnew]

If the Walking Dead or Journey isn't game of the year i'll be pissed.

he didnt play journey, so its not on the list

 

[Starker]

He put Dishonored, a game where he wasn't sure if he could recommend it or not at #5. Yahtzee, did you completely forget about Rayman Origins? A game that you called 'pretty good' and made sighs of satisfaction when talking about it? I thought that would be your game of the year, but you seem to have completely forgot about it.

Rayman Origins was released in 2011.

 

[animeh1star1a]

I'm playing The Walking Dead, and don't get me wrong, the character developing and story are great, but I feel cheated: the game promises me that the game changes to fit my gameplay and that the my choices change the story, and both just don't happen.

My choice seems only to change the relations between the characters and the gameplay just don't seem to change at all.

What I expected was that my choices would change completely the story, but I'm bound to a linear path, at least on the big picture. Sure, the choices can change the characters relations, but it's not up to the promised features.

Bottom line: great game, unfulfilled promises.

Ok lemme just illustrate one point. (btw someone else may have made this point but I'm not scrolling through 200 comments to find out). If a hurricane is coming to your house, and you are the only one in the neighborhood with a basement and supplies, the decision of letting your neighbors in with you won't prevent the hurricane from hitting your house, or any of the nastiness that follows, It does however show what kind of person you are. The point of the choices in The Walking Dead aren't to change what happens, because your facing a global disaster that cannot be beaten single handedly; the point is that you can only effect yourself and your choices. You as the player determine not the outcome of the game, but rather what kind of person Lee turns out to be when the inevitable happens. Now i will say you are absolutely entitled to your opinion, and that i merely disagree with it. =)

 

[charliesbass]

He put Dishonored, a game where he wasn't sure if he could recommend it or not at #5. Yahtzee, did you completely forget about Rayman Origins? A game that you called 'pretty good' and made sighs of satisfaction when talking about it? I thought that would be your game of the year, but you seem to have completely forgot about it.

Rayman Origins was released in 2011.

He reviewed it in 2012 though. He did say 'Only games I reviewed this year' so even if the game came out the previous year he still reviewed it that year. Oh, and whilst you're right, it also came out on other platforms in 2012 too, like the PS Vita.

 

[charge52]

He put Dishonored, a game where he wasn't sure if he could recommend it or not at #5. Yahtzee, did you completely forget about Rayman Origins? A game that you called 'pretty good' and made sighs of satisfaction when talking about it? I thought that would be your game of the year, but you seem to have completely forgot about it.

Rayman Origins was released in 2011.

He reviewed it in 2012 though. He did say 'Only games I reviewed this year' so even if the game came out the previous year he still reviewed it that year. Oh, and whilst you're right, it also came out on other platforms in 2012 too, like the PS Vita.

He said that so people wouldn't yell at him for not adding something he never played/reviewed, if he meant the year didn't matter than half life would have been on the list. Just because it has been ported doesn't mean it was released in a new year. It was released 2011, ported 2012.

 

[charliesbass]

He put Dishonored, a game where he wasn't sure if he could recommend it or not at #5. Yahtzee, did you completely forget about Rayman Origins? A game that you called 'pretty good' and made sighs of satisfaction when talking about it? I thought that would be your game of the year, but you seem to have completely forgot about it.

Rayman Origins was released in 2011.

He reviewed it in 2012 though. He did say 'Only games I reviewed this year' so even if the game came out the previous year he still reviewed it that year. Oh, and whilst you're right, it also came out on other platforms in 2012 too, like the PS Vita.

He said that so people wouldn't yell at him for not adding something he never played/reviewed, if he meant the year didn't matter than half life would have been on the list. Just because it has been ported doesn't mean it was released in a new year. It was released 2011, ported 2012.

You make good points. *sigh* I wish this issue was addressed by the man himself.

 

[hazabaza1]

We don't know why he did it.

Crime of passion after finding the man he killed in bed with his wife (before he killed him, obviously).
Just sayin'.