A kenholic year of gaming: 2012

And the final tally is in. I clocked about 950 hours worth of gaming this year, comprised of some 500 hours worth of Diablo 3 (which for the purposes of this post, I won't rate or bring up again) mixed into 450 more hours of other gaming.

Below, I've included a table of all the games I've played this year, along with some snippets about what I thought of them. As you can see, I only bothered to do full reviews up until April, then I got really busy again. Maybe one day I'll go and backfill them.

It was a good year and mix of games, but I played no almost Xbox this year. I even ended/began the year by fixing my YLOD'ed PS3. Next year looks exciting since I have a few sequels on tap for my backlog - a few Uncharteds, Assassin's Creeds, etc.

Finally, favorite games that I played of 2012 (not all of them came out this year):

1) The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead really came out of nowhere (like zombies tend to do); it was a different type of game compared to what I'm used to and set in the world of a recently popular comic book/tv series that I also picked up. Can't really discuss favorite moments without spoiling so I won't. Excellent game that I recommend everyone give a try.

2) XCOM (2012)
The new XCOM follows that same tactical RPG vein that I love (Valyria Chronicles, FF Tactics, etc). I never played the original, but this new one provides its own twist on the genre. I played it Ironman style (a single autosaved file) which really adds a lot of tension into the game, as I lost a lot of favorite units.

Among my favorite moments - half way through the game, a newly encountered enemy type appears; I have no idea what it does, but it looks nasty. I approach carefully but it retreats and lures me deep and into an uncomfortable formation. Then it fires at a sniper's range (it's a giant, walking tank, wtf) and one-shots my beloved "Boromir of Gondor" heavy unit with a 15 damage crit (my units avg'ed 8-12 hp at the time). I just thought, "Oh, so that's what it does. And Boromir, that was a death worthy of your namesake". Also, you guys don't want to know how many "Redshirt 00X" named characters I lost during the course of the game ...

3) Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect is a special franchise that gives me the same type of excitement that rivals a Star Trek or a Babylon 5. It's a rich space opera that's just more interactive. I really loved the mobile app integration features, even if other people didn't. In fact, prior to many newb oriented patches, it was impossible to get the best endings without either playing the multiplayer version or investing some time into the mobile apps. It's the ultimate Captain Kirk simulator, but as much as I like the franchise, I feel that this is the weakest entry of the Shephard trilogy - it lacks the team-building triumph of the second or the depth of the first.

4) Portal 2
I actually have a full review for this game here, but to summarize - this game is just pure fun. There's no world ending event to be found in this game, but the level of humor and puzzle platforming here is nearly unmatched by anything else I played this year.

5) Modern Warfare 3
And Modern Warfare. I hate FPS'ing. It's pretty boring and mundane, but I'd have to emphasize the pretty part. Modern Warfare does what only a handful of FPS's in history can do - make me feel immersed and excited to play it. As with Mass Effect 3, Modern Warfare 3 feels like a bit of a let down compared to the prior 2, but there's still enough explosions here to make Michael Mann proud.

And the rest ...

Game	Platform	Hours	Rating	Little evolution, same game
Zelda Skyward Sword	Wii	45	4.5	Little evolution, same game
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition	PC	7	6.5	Not even close to the first
Limbo	PC	3	5	Artsy, a few neat puzzles, very reliant on visual / sound queues
Portal 2	PC	7	8.0	Glados is a tsundere / yandere
Psychonauts	PC	10	7.0	Tim Burton Style + Platformer
Crysis 2	PC	8.5	6.5	Signature super graphics, meh gameplay
Dragon Age 2	PC	70	7.5	Not as deep or epic as the first, but still a satisfying rpg adventure
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood	PS3	20	6.0	Interesting mechanics upgrades, but a downgrade in the assassination planning part
Shadows of the Damned	PS3	7	5.0	Worth playing, but average shooter. Unconventional presentation, but kind of bland gameplay wise.
Enslaved	PS3	10	7.0	Good story, above average number of technical glitches, could have used a deeper battle system, it's actually a hidden platformer, uncharted style, a few awesome moments
Mass Effect 3	PC	40	8.5	Not as good as the first two, crappy glitches, horrible endings take away from innovative mobile platform integration
Penny Arcade Act 1	PC	6	4.0	Interesting story, some nice humor, but repetitive after a few hours
Penny Arcade Act 2	PC	6	4.0	Interesting story, some nice humor, but repetitive after a few hours x2
Deus Ex	PC	30	5.0	Precursor to modern bioware/skyrims, etc, but dated
Civ V	PC	40	7.5	Addictive as always, many sleepness nights for that 'next turn'
Puzzle Agent	PC	7	4.0	Quick, puzzles range from fun to frustrating
Deus Ex Human Revolution	PC	35	7.0	As close to metal gear as we'll probably get any time soon
Deus Ex Human Revolution: Missing Link	PC	6	6.0	More of the dxHR ness
And Yet It Moves	PC	2	4.0	Barebones puzzle / platformer. Has some interesting visual design. Decent palette cleanser between big games
Commandos Behind Enemy Lines	PC	24	2.0	Stealth missioning, but FPS / Settings not implemented correctly on steam conversion
Jolly Roger	PC	5	5.0	Adventure gaming, lacks complexity of monkey island, shares many similarities with it though
Gish	PC	2	1.0	So bad, I didn't finish. Stiff controls.
Modern Warfare 3	PC	5	8.0	WW3. Buddy Stealth Shooter. Awesome as always. Not as good as part 2 though. Capt Price is Jack Bauer v2.
Walking Dead	PC	12	9.0	New way to Point and Click. A really thoughtful adventure game.
Penny Arcade Act 3	PC	7	4.5	Interesting story, some nice humor, but repetitive after a few hours x3.
XCOM (2012)	PS3	30	8.5	My kind of turn based tactics game!