GamesRadar editors’ (personal) Games of the Year 2011

exactly HOW bored was mikel, or whoever made that elder scrolls vid?

Dark Souls all the way, game of this generation. Portal and Deus Ex take second and third respectively

Skyward Sword.

To me Portal 2 is the champ this year. It's the perfect game.. It's challenging without making you throw your controller, it's funny without resorting to cheap laughs, the acting is THE BEST I've ever seen in a game and that includes Arkham City.. I love Mark Hamill and I have a man crush on Kevin Conroy BUT you just can't top J.K. Simmons. The best part is, it deserved every bit of hype it had. Great graphics, style, story, puzzles, characters, ALL AROUND FUN! plus free DLC. :D The same really can't be said for Skyrim.. Now I love open world games.. I love RPG's.. I LOOOVE character customization to a point where I will spend hours making characters in Oblivion ,Skyrim,WoW,APB, Saints Row just to start the game and never play them.. But Skyrim is way overhyped.. it lacks personality.. it lacks it's own unique style.. Sure you can be a werewolf but that werewolf looks like it was designed by a first year 3d modelling student with no interest in werewolves. And really this is how the whole game looks.. You know why? because modders made these games popular and bethesda is making them do the work for them.. You want characters that aren't fugly? make your own! you want more interesting looking armor? Download it! it's in a chest by the bridge! oh we have bugs? could you fix them for us?! One final note on Bethesdas level design.. these "hand drawn" dungeons.. may have different layout but all look the same with their random wood planks and stone walls. And seriously.. Skyrim is boring.. When you're appealing to a crowd that is used to worlds like Azeroth you better try and put more than 2 settings in your game.. Frigid Grasslands? Check. Snowy mountains? Check. Anything else? HAHAHAHAHAHA, no.

Uncharted 3 is my GOTY. Lots of good stuff this year, but nothing as fun and impressive as that. Gorgeous graphics! Honourable mentions: Killzone 3, Resistance 3, NHL 12 Surprisingly good game of 2011: Sonic Generations

Crap!! I forgot one honourable mention: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

My favorite game of the year was Child of Eden. Portal 2 started out insanely great and then went downhill in the second act (still haven't gotten around to beating it yet). I'll play Arkham City someday but I'm in no hurry. The same with Bastion, insanely twisted shadow planet, Rayman Origins and Outland (which I own but can never seem to get around to playing). I couldn't care less about a new FPS or open-world M-rated adventure thingy. I played the first Uncharted and absolutely hated it (oh how Naughty Dog has fallen since the genius of the Jak series). Honestly, the last game I played that I absolutely had to beat...was Child of Eden. And I'd been waiting to play that game since I was a teenager and dreamed of a sequel to REZ. So yeah... Child of Eden is my Game of the Year.

It seems you're on your own with you opinions of the Uncharted series.

I'm so happy ot see that someone else thinks that dead space 2 is the game of the year. From sound to plot the game is flat out awesome.

Top 5 for me 1.Skyward Sword 2.Catherine 3.Uncharted 3 4.Skyrim 5.Mario 3D Land Biggest Dissapointment - Batman:Arkham City. Not a bad game, but certainly didn't live up to the expectations. Arkham Asylum and its creepy environment > Arkham City and it's boring winterland. Heres hoping Arkham World isn't a shorter campaign than Shadows of the Damned like Arkham City was. Oh and no more Catwoman. I don't need a large revealing pair of titties beating up my favorite villains when Batman should be. .....And no more boring side missions, I couldn't give a damn about Freeze's wife when I could of been kicking Two-Faces ass (who only got 10 minutes of airtime)

I'm going with Uncharted 3. Yeah, a little lacking in story, but it's a game. Gameplay as always was top notch and exciting, all the best moments of the series other than fighting a helicopter on a train, nothing tops that moment in gaming. Also, has anyone else even played Resistance 3? I'm currently addicted. Good stuff, I'll need to buy my online pass sooner or later.

I have Resistance 3 and absolutely loved it! Best shooter campaign in a while, even better than Killzone 3. Loved that one too though.

I really fail to see what David Houghton sees in Bulletstorm. The stuff he described about modern FPS's being too linear, scripted pacing and scenes that play themselves all pertain to Bulletstorm as well! Just because it has the skillsht system, doesn't mean it's a revolution of a game. Most of the moves go redundant anyway. I don't think it adds much to the game at all.

King of Fighters 13 GOTY for me i just started playing it but damn its so good. its a shame that this game probably wont be too well recognized in the upcoming goty awards

how's the online compared to SSF4 and UMvC3?

It's god awful. The only times it's been good for me were when a friend and I were about 4 hours away from each other in a private lobby. I still love this game, though. Even if it won't let me use my stick and I have to use a shitty pad. I can deal for now.

my goty is Witcher 2 :) followed by Gears of War 3. the only game I haven't played that could change my decision is Deus Ex (I don't click with elder scrolls series, so far!)

Mr. Houghton please do not compare video games to mammoths in a derogatory form, for I am sure it undermines their self-esteem to some extent. Best Regards. The Satur9

Not finished : Skyward Sword, which is on its way to the top of the class. Not started yet : Skyrim, who am I kidding, it'll definitely be top 5! That being said, my current top 5 of 2011 would be : 1. Batman : Arkham City 2a. Portal 2 2b. Uncharted 3 (Can't decide between the two of them) 3. Deus Ex : Human Revolution 4. Forza 4 5. Battlefield 3 (let's just forget the campaign...)

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Grimm would have picked Deus Ex, but that was too mainstream and to seem more like a hipster, it would be better to make fun of Halo.