Is there not going to be a "Staff picks" list?

This article really goes downhill on the 2nd page. You gave a great summary of the year in gaming and then gave nice, original descriptions for the "Honourable mentions"; but on Page 2? Mostly copypasta from your reviews, poor form.

EvaUnit02 wrote: Is there not going to be a "Staff picks" list? This article really goes downhill on the 2nd page. You gave a great summary of the year in gaming and then gave nice, original descriptions for the "Honourable mentions"; but on Page 2? Mostly copypasta from your reviews, poor form.

Page 1 is the staff picks. Page 2 is the voting results, which is the community's voice not ours.

at least the staff picks are slightly better than the community vote herp derp lets just vote for the game we just played recently and not bother give it much thought

where was rugby league live 2?

Hitokirix101 wrote: I didnt like the game the community voted for therefore they're all idiots.

Piss off. Even though it was the most recent game it is worthy of the top spot. Its not my number 1, but I cant argue with the universal praise for it. Get a clue.

cryocore wrote: Its not my number 1

What is your number 1 game released in 2012?

I'd go for Walking Dead, but FarCry 3 would be my second pick.

Despite some shortcomings I would put Dishonored in the number 1 spot.

Although the top 5 games imo are all great games with some fundamental flaws
So rather than focusing on what these games did well as we all know how fantastic the highs were in these games, and they were ( will just highlight the bits that were lacking or could have been so much better.
TBH I have been very impressed with a lot of games this year, granted we still got some shitfest garbage and rehashes for the twitchtards, but the games I mention here (and quite a few I haven't) are all fantastic games well worthy of plonking down your e-cash for

So top 5 in no real order

Dishonored 9.0 (OP skills, cheap stealth mechanics, emphasis on killing rather than non lethal takedowns even though you are in essence punished for killing people, spiritual powers/story badly presented, Theif Lite)

Far Cry 3 9.0 (clichéd as hell and the fact this was deliberate and supposedly satire didn't help as it was badly presented, weak shooting/gun mechanics, 2nd half was poo compared to first half, QTE boss fights, game economy was pointless, not enough and/or badly paced upgrade system, binary ending)

Mass Effect 3 8.5 (streamlined, shittest ending ever that doesn't ruin the game, but does invalidate the vast majority of player choices up to that point. The strength of the narrative is the only reason I stayed with the franchise which made the ending so much worse)

XCOM 8.5 (poor pacing, far far far too easy, lacks tactical and strategic depth, story triggers events rather than Geoscape situation, repeated maps, removed options (crouch, combat inventory, etc), move/shoot mechanic needlessly restrictive, free move aliens)

Borderlands 2 9.0 (Borderlands 1.5, Golden Keys system is daft, skill trees still a bit shit and lack variety, classes mean essentially nothing, co-op loot system is poorly implemented, driving is still weak and lacks variety)

Hon Mentions: All great games I also really enjoyed.

The Walking Dead 8.0 (great story, there is no "game" here)
Journey 8.5 (too short, obtuse, and lacking depth)
Resonance 8.5 (Is basically a decent 1995 era point and click adventure botht he good and the bad)
FTL 8.0 (repetitive, luck reliant, lacking depth_
Thomas Was Alone 8.5 (charm can be overplayed, some puzzles needlessly finicky, gimmick wears out its charm before game ends)
Mark of the Ninja 8.5 (too easy, gimmick reliant, pacing off for 2nd half)
Darksiders 2 8.0 (repetitive, pacing is well off in a number of places, upgrades hollow/unremarkable, combat lacks variety/too button mashy)
Kingdom of Amalur : Reckoning 8.0 (narrative ranges from good to poor, very derivative, combat can be bland, too streamlined)
Sleeping Dogs 8.5 (wonky shooting mechanics, car/driving physics is pants, world lacks variety, clichéd story)

BTW, you spelled "honourable" wrong.

Bobs wrote: BTW, you spelled "honourable" wrong.

Hush, didnt you know that GP staff are in fact all Americans.

While I agree that FC3 is deserving of the #1 spot, I can't help but feel the majority may have just picked it as it only came out a month ago and still fresh in everyone's mind.

I'd have to say my top 5 would be(no particular order): Dishonored, Mass Effect 3, Far Cry 3, Sleeping Dogs and The Walking Dead

cencsor wrote: While I agree that FC3 is deserving of the #1 spot, I can't help but feel the majority may have just picked it as it only came out a month ago and still fresh in everyone's mind.

WHAT?!?!? This comes across as really condescending. I'll paraphrase what you're saying here (or at least how it comes across) "I think Far Cry 3 is the best game of 2012 the rest of you morons only picked it because you are obviously too stupid to think back further than 1 month ago." Seriously man way to dismiss a significant proportion of the GPers. Is not just as likely that people came to the same conclusion as you for the same reason, or are you in fact smarter than everyone else who voted for FC3 as GOTY?

The only ones I can't agree with are Borderlands 2, Guild Wars, Halo 4 and Far Cry 3.

But before you lynch me; it's because I haven't had a chance to play any of them and I'm sure they're excellent. That being said this article has hit the nail on the head.

cryocore wrote: WHAT?!?!? This comes across as really condescending. I'll paraphrase what you're saying here (or at least how it comes across) "I think Far Cry 3 is the best game of 2012 the rest of you morons only picked it because you are obviously too stupid to think back further than 1 month ago." Seriously man way to dismiss a significant proportion of the GPers. Is not just as likely that people came to the same conclusion as you for the same reason, or are you in fact smarter than everyone else who voted for FC3 as GOTY?

I actually agree with both of those guys that FC3 benefited a lot from the timing of the survey (just FYI it's a well established human bias). I'm not saying it's not deserving of top spot but I definitely think timing would have contributed.

Eldon wrote: I actually agree with both of those guys that FC3 benefited a lot from the timing of the survey (just FYI it's a well established human bias). I'm not saying it's not deserving of top spot but I definitely think timing would have contributed.

It may be a factor given a large enough sample size, but I also have more faith in the intelligence of the people who read GP and post in the GPF. I am sure there will be a minority of people who pick it because its THE game atm, but as I said I have far more confidence in the readers here and gamers who contribute to GP in general. Still strikes me as people saying that their opinion of the merits of FC3 are more valid because of some assumption that most everyone else is an idiot or lacks the ability apply some thought and retrospective analysis on the games they have played this year.

Kind of thought FC3 was overrated, wished they'd left out the retarded crafting part and the story was weak.

Apart from that the polish made up for those short comings - outpost takeovers are an awesome way of showing your actions have an effect on a game world, wish more games especially RPGs caught on to this.

No Planetside 2

I'm pretty happy with the number 1

cryocore wrote: WHAT?!?!?

Wasn't trying to imply anything about GP's intelligence, perhaps saying 'majority' was wrong. Was just stating an observation I've found from other community votes.

edit: Misread above post.

Infuriation wrote: How is there a "wrong" in a completely subjective poll?

Who here is claiming that there is a "wrong" choice? I cant see anyone saying that at all.

Yep can't believe people actually think FC3 is game of the year. Another generic cliched FPS with pretty graphics ala Skyrim

Limit0 wrote: Yep can't believe people actually think FC3 is game of the year. Another generic cliched FPS with pretty graphics ala Skyrim

People think FC3 is game of the year because of many factors... have you forgotten how similar Dark Souls is to other 3rd person RPGs in the same kind of way that Far Cry 3 is similar to other FPS?

Sure FC3 isn't incredibly challenging but not everyone is after great challenge in games, and not every game needs it to be enjoyable. Graphics were a big part of my enjoyment of FC3 but I loved the large map, driving to and from missions, experimenting with a large variety of weapons and myriad of ways to capture an outpost with those weapons, not to mention the plethora of skills available to massacre pirates with (although the bloated crafting system is a little overboard, it does add another sense of progression to the game).

I can't believe people actually think like this. Another generic cliched opinion towards gaming

it is all opinion and everyone has one. Me i voted for Torchlight 2