Zero Punctuation: Top 5 of 2012

[rayen020]

When did he do a review of steel battalion?

 

[Bindal]

Surprised about Spec-Ops and FC3. FC3 less because that it is on the list but more WHERE. Thought of it to be 5.
XCOM however... I would say "Called it!" if I would actually HAVE said it. Didn't. Damn it, should have made a bet. Still, I knew that it would be either 2 or 3 on the list. And it is.

Everything else... not that surprising. Well, okay, Amy was. Mostly for the reason "it was forgotten". And for NeverDead, I am more surprised about the justification, which is basically "it was a failed experiement. Failed part put it here, still remember it for taking risks."

 

[JoaoJatoba]

When did he do a review of steel battalion?

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/5998-Quantum-Conundrum

 

[Astro]

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.

The second line is the important part. The game isn't about point A to point B, its what happens between point A and point B. The interactions between the characters, how they see you, and how you see your own character are what the game is about.

It seemed to have gone over a lot of peoples heads if the amount of people who use that argument are any indication.

I know that, but why can't we have both? There space for both kind of decisions: decisions that changes the path we take, and decisions about other characters that develop relations.

For example, early in the first episode you can choose to stay in one location or to leave. Whatever the choice we end up in the same place...

Because it's unnecessary, time consuming, money consuming, and stupidly difficult to implement. Do you want a videogame story with carefully put together pacing, structure, and coherent arcs, or do you want one which lets you nihilistically drive a probably shitty story on your own? It's unrealistic to expect both, no game has ever pulled it off and from a business standpoint it's unlikely to be funded in a manner more extreme than Mass Effect. It's one or the other, and the ability to make meaningful choices doesn't trump enjoying a good story just because choice is integrated into the method of delivery in videogames.

 

[Phil Petersen-Green]

Awww no Honourable Mention for DayZ? to my knowledge thats the only mod you've ever wanted to review. it's ashame it went to hacked crap after it got popular, but hopefully the Standalone with fix that aspect

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Loved your list Yahtzee,especially #1 since that game really gave me a sense of "plot twist inception" at the end and followed through with the epilogue.

Really enjoyed the outro with "3" killing "2" and placing itself as the new year,simply brilliant.

Have a Happy New Year!

 

[charliesbass]

why is Steel Battalion number 3 in the worst list. at least Amy was playable, and didn't make you want a refund for the Kinnect and the game in one go.

'At least Amy was playable' pffff yeah right.

 

[JoaoJatoba]

Because it's unnecessary, time consuming, money consuming, and stupidly difficult to implement. Do you want a videogame story with carefully put together pacing, structure, and coherent arcs, or do you want one which lets you nihilistically drive a probably shitty story on your own?

I don't see how having multiple storylines in a episodic game that can get enough funds solely by the name in the cover a impossible task. Look at Katawa Shoujo.

 

[gridsleep]

Couple of sequels in there. Yeh, all right. Do you think your job would be both easier and more rewarding, oh, and more meaningful, if you just did not review sequels? No 2s or 3s or 4s, just original titles and to hell with the rest? Or would that leave you with too few games to review for an entire year?

 

[Epyc Wynn]

Kind of disappointed you didn't list Rayman Origins.

 

[josemlopes]

Genuinely surprised Black Ops 2 didn't make his 'Worst' list for how much vitriol he spewed about it.

Well, that one at least tried, the actual gameplay of the singleplayer is as linear and Michael Bay-ish as it can be but the multiple endings and choices are actually kind of cool. The story could have been a lot better though if it wasnt so over the top (it gets really retarded at points). The choices are like the ones on Witcher 2, you know what you are choosing but you have no idea how it will change the outcome later on.

And it has bots so you can play with 4 players in splitscreen and fill the rest with them for some nice local fun.

 

[DataSnake]

Even Far Cry 3, as good as I might guess it is from the opinions of a banana and other fruity folk, makes me shudder at the thought of signing in to Ubisoft's DRM BS every time I want to play. And it's an open-world shooter (like Just Cause 2) with plenty of guns (fullfilled by Valve games and Killing Floor).

Actually, I'd say it's more of a stealth-em-up than a shooter. Sure, there are boomsticks aplenty, but I spent most of the game hiding in the brush waiting for an enemy to wander too close so I could jump out, stab him, pull the pin on the grenade in his belt, and throw his body into a group of his friends.

 

[KDR_11k]

I'm kinda wary of heaping too much praise on Spec Ops because I fear we may end up overhyping it. It is good and apparently they went to an insane level of detail with it (e.g. the degrading state of the title screen that most people wouldn't even see) but it seems like the whole internet is buzzing with praise for it and if you pile all of that up you could end up with unreachable expectations. Though I do think that some people are being overly critical with the central scene of Spec Ops, yes it's a trick but like a magician's tricks it works on most people and I'd guess that the majority who tried to break that scene did so because they've had the outcome spoiled to them.

I wish Steel Battalion hadn't been crap, that could have been so much fun but noooooooo.....

 

[Guffe]

Yahtzee said he'd done 365 early morning farts when 2012 clearly had 366 days!

Correct 366, 2012 had 366

Well for both of you here...
If he said he had 365 morning farts this year it means he just skipped one day
He didn't say he farted once every morning of the year, he said he farted 365 morning farts this year
There's a difference, duh!

On Topic:

Interesting lists
I like how all the lists by people who work for the Escapist are slightly different, mixes it up a little.

 

[Astro]

Because it's unnecessary, time consuming, money consuming, and stupidly difficult to implement. Do you want a videogame story with carefully put together pacing, structure, and coherent arcs, or do you want one which lets you nihilistically drive a probably shitty story on your own?

I don't see how having multiple storylines in a episodic game that can get enough funds solely by the name in the cover a impossible task. Look at Katawa Shoujo.

I had no idea what that was, so I looked it up, and from what I can see the resources going into this aren't anywhere close to something like The Walking Dead. However, the point isn't that it may be possible or not, it's that it's not viable from a business standpoint and near pointless from a consumer standpoint. Making meaningful choices isn't necessary to satisfy with a good story in 99% of the cases, but the ability to make meaningful choices almost always makes any story drastically less good. Not only that but most people are only going to see one outcome of the choices presented to you, so instead of making five-hundred different mediocre stories, it makes more sense to make one good one.

Imagine someone bought you two-hundred dollars worth of hamburgers. Now, you have twelve different burgers to pick from and they're all just of 'OK' quality because your chef had to make so many and the ingredients he has to work with are of average quality. Would you rather pick one of those burgers to eat, or would you rather someone spend the entire sum of money on making one really good hamburger made from excellent ingredients and a chef who can put all his energy into making this the best kind of burger that he can possibly create?

If you were planning to eat all twelve in the first scenario and really get your moneys worth, it would still just make your eating experience bland and drawn out, or your palate would be spoiled from all the conflicting flavors. STOP ASKING FOR SO MANY HAMBURGERS, JUST EAT ONE. DON'T BE SUCH A PIG.

 

[Machine Man 1992]

I have a similar list, only with three games, in order of most awesome to simply good:

Far Cry 3, Dishonored, and Black Ops 2. Far Cry let me live out my Rambo/Bear Grylls fantasies, Dishonored lets me be a teleporting steampunk ninja assassin, and Black Ops 2 massivly shook up the CoD formula by setting it in the future and possessing a branching storyline (something Mass Effect 3, an RPG mind you, utterly failed at).

 

[Marik Bentusi]

I'm kinda wary of heaping too much praise on Spec Ops because I fear we may end up overhyping it. It is good and apparently they went to an insane level of detail with it (e.g. the degrading state of the title screen that most people wouldn't even see) but it seems like the whole internet is buzzing with praise for it and if you pile all of that up you could end up with unreachable expectations. Though I do think that some people are being overly critical with the central scene of Spec Ops, yes it's a trick but like a magician's tricks it works on most people and I'd guess that the majority who tried to break that scene did so because they've had the outcome spoiled to them.

I wish Steel Battalion hadn't been crap, that could have been so much fun but noooooooo.....

We could just be honest with our feelings, which means all hype surrounding Spec Ops would be earned fair and square. This is all about opinion after all. It doesn't make mathematical sense to put a game in the #1 spot that only really had its story going for it, but in reality many were experiencing a gaming milestone that impressed them more than the across-the-board-more-competent competition. Just goes to show little numerical scores actually reflect the value of a piece of entertainment.

 

[Erttheking]

Dishonored actually made it onto the list? AND Walking Dead? Well, I'll be buggered.

Also, Spec Ops the Line the top? Not surprised. Not displeased either. Also Yahtzee YES KEEP BANGING ON ABOUT IT! MORE PEOPLE NEED TO PLAY IT!

It's kinda weird, this has got to be the first list by Yahtzee where I don't have any complaints. It could be because I haven't played any of the games on his bottom 5 and I've played all of them on the top five (minus Walking Dead, I'm working on getting it).

 

[Andy Shandy]

Kind of disappointed you didn't list Rayman Origins.

That would be because it came out last year, at least originally.

Anyway good to see Spec Ops: The Line getting at least some recognition from a "professional". Seemed to have been completely forgotten by everyone else, or that it wasn't fun enough to include.

Also I totally fucking called the top 5 in WaitWHAT's thread. =D Even got a couple of the bottom 5 too.

Spec Ops, X-Com, The Walking Dead, Dishonored and Far Cry 3 as top 5, not necessarily in that order.

Blops 2 and Doorfighter are pretty much guaranteed to be in the bottom 5, probably Resident Evil 6 as well. Maybe one or a couple of the Summer of Arcade games as well, he didn't seem very impressed with them either.

 

[Rakor]

The murder of 2012 needs to be a t-shirt.

It must happen.