PixlBit

What were our favorites in each genre in 2012?

Dishonored - Winner

One of the great gifts a game can bestow on its players is that of choice.  Dishonored doesn’t just give you a few dialogue options to pick from and expect you to be grateful, but instead slathers on so many ways to complete its missions that you’re almost required to play through more than once.  Whether you enjoy blasting away with a gun or sneaking through the shadows and killing nobody, Dishonored has provided a way for you to complete the game.  Even outside of the basic stealth versus run-and-gun options, you can also choose from a diverse selection of tools that allow for countless variations on these two typical approaches. 

Never before have we been so pleased to summon a swarm of rats to do our dirty work in a video game.  We reveled in possessing an unknowing guard before choking him out in a back alley. Sticking a spring mine on a hound as he ran into a crowd of guards created an amazing macabre scene.  All of these choices and more were ours to play with throughout the entirety of the game, never once leaving us feeling confined to a single means to an end.  And even with all of that variability, Dishonored’s mechanics were flawless and its level design impeccable.  We’re perfectly happy to play through the whole thing again with different tactics until this brand new franchise releases its inevitable sequel.

Write-up by Julian Titus

Darksiders II - Runner Up

The first Darksiders was, ahem, a dark horse when it debuted in 2010, but it gained an underground following over time. By the time Darksiders II rolled around people kind of knew what to expect, but leave it to Vigil Games to buck expectation, at least in some respects.

Darksiders II still has that epic, Legend of Zelda-inspired overworld and dungeon element that people loved so much in the first game. It’s a bigger world with more to do and more places to explore, but the combat has been taken to the next level, with oh-so-many delicious combos to utilize. Vigil added a hefty amount of RPG elements to the game, and there’s something very satisfying about watching those damage numbers fly out of enemies, ala Borderlands. Throw in some epic loot (and all that armor that looks like it sprang forth from Joe Madureia’s dreams) and you have a fully featured game. All of that additional depth combined with an already solid platform makes Darksiders II a game worth pursuing. 

Write-up by Julian Titus