All of these are games I play on PC.

10. Nexuiz


If you play on console and like arena shooters like Unreal, by all means get it. I've been watching this game since PAX Prime 2010, know a few of the developers and partied pretty hard with them in Seattle. But on PC this game is optimized like crap, and I'm not sure if it has anything to do with Cry Engine 3, because Crysis 2 isn't particularly well optimized either, but his game just doesn't play how an arena shooter is supposed to on PC.

09. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive


I'm going to say any new iteration of Counter-Strike is cool and I'll for sure keep coming back to it as the typical Valve season of free updates progresses, but this game fundamentally is a disappointment. I perked up when the competitive scene insiders on reddit AMAs stated that this game was intended to reconcile the 1.6 and Source communities and reinvigorate the game that essentially invented eSports as we know it with the Cyber Athlete League. The graphics are terrible for a 2012 FPS game, even a $15 one, but I would be ok with that if there were any meat on the bones. It launched with only two cs_ maps and 5 de_ maps. The new additions are worthless being that CS veterans won't want to play those modes and new gamers will not stay interested in this game. They wanted to return to the tight gameplay of 1.6 and from my time with the game, I have to say they've failed. Again, this will be a very different game a year from now and the effort should be commended, but it should not be up to the mod community to have to port cs_assault and de_cbble themselves.

08.

I'm not expecting to make any friends with this one, but I think Diablo III at least needs to be in the conversation. There's not a lot of innovation, customization is meaningless, and I would personally have no idea, but I've heard the endgame is a joke. I've had a blast with my barbarian, but the witch doctor was just not a fun class to play, and I suspect some others aren't great either. But overall it is a fun game, it has the production values Torchlight and R.A.W. can only dream of, but this game really shines in the matchmaking. It's so easy and seamless to jump in with a group at any given point in the story. I've maybe had the most fun playing with people I didn't know. Multiplayer is a big aspect, and streamlining it this far was noteworthy, even if it was only streamlining a twelve year old game.

07.

From this point on are games I have no qualms about. The MtG: Duels of the Planeswalkers series may be annual, but they're so special because of how they video-gameify Magic: The Gathering. They take the card game and make an interesting campaign out of it, a fun and (more importantly) balanced multiplayer experienced and a legitimate puzzle game. I also really like the decks in this one; I've built many iterations of Goblin and white-weenie/soldier decks and the ones here are a blast to play. I also like to think it keeps me current with the happenings of MtG, even though I haven't played or bought new cards in a long time.

06.

My experience with this game (which is still in "beta") is limited, and it's been many years since I played the original WCIII mod, but this game has enormous potential. I don't know if it'll be the LoL-killer some are saying, but with the Steam integration and social features, I think this has the potential to be the flagship game on Steam, the one that you know you could jump into with any number of friends at any given time. Look out for this one when the final version hits.

05.

This is weird for me. I don't like puzzlers and I don't like indie games. I probably wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't interviewed and wrote a paper about the studio, Cipher Prime, to graduate law school. But Splice really sucked me in. The aesthetics just have this bizarre, engrossing atmosphere. I really enjoyed the polish, and the puzzle-solving was bizarre. I never really had that "a-ha!" moment that you get in a lot of puzzle games, I'm just going at it and solving these puzzles before I even realizing that I'm solving them. Dain Saint told me he came up with the concept just by staring at the trees in Rittenhouse Square and that's pretty cool to me.

04.

If you don't know what this game is, it's essentially the team behind the original Command & Conquer, Petroglyph (formerly Westwood) making the spiritual successor to the title they're known for. The game has that C&C vibe, from the hilarious unit chatter to the iconic music of Frank Klepacki. They've billed it as the first MMORTS, but it's really a F2PRTT - a Real Time Tactics game in the style of Company of Heroes or Dawn of War II, with the Free 2 Play MOBA style matches of League of Legends or DotA. It's still not out, there's rumors of it being canned, but in any case it was one of the most memorable games I played this year. It was awesome to get back into that hardcore RTS scene of staying up all night in random 2v2 and 4v4 battles and making friends along the way. It certainly has polish issues, but it totally put me back into that Red Alert 2 mindset and I really hope it gets finished.

03.

When I first read about this game, I almost started vomiting uncontrollably because of how sick it sounded. It puts you in control of a noble dynasty during the crusades, playing as each new head of household over time, arranging betrothals, contesting with the clergy, forging alliances, appeasing/suppressing your own vassals, and consolidating power. It's all about the characters and I think that's what sets it apart from other strategy titles. It's one of the most unique games I've ever played and the enthusiast press will have committed a foolish error if they leave it out of GOTY discussions.

02.

A lot of gamers think it's all hype. They don't understand that there's a reason why Call of Duty is the most popular franchise right now. The game ships with more maps on the disc than any other shooter in the market. Their weapons, attachments, equipment, and perks repertoire dwarf the rest of the competition. There's more game modes and players than anywhere else. While every other FPS today struggles to imitate the XP and levelling system, they've long mastered the formula and improve on it every year. You never unlock better equipment as you level up in Call of Duty, and that's what FPS developers don't understand. You only unlock more variety. That variety expands every year, and in this one they've brought a lot of innovation with it. This one of the first games with a competitive league built right into the software. It has shoutcasting and livestreaming right from your console, with no extra equipment required. They've deconstructed Create-A-Class and allowed the player to put it back together however they see fit. The campaign has branching storylines, and the Strike Force missions are pioneering relatively unbroken ground - The RTSFPS. The original Black Ops was breaking apart at the seams with content, but this one has innovation oozing out as well.

01.

Guild Wars 2 is the Game of the Year. There's no bigger story, there's no bigger development. It innovated so many things on so many different fronts. It reimagined how we play together with eachother. It changed the way we quest. It redefined crafting, dungeon roles, and about a half a dozen other things as well. It took character building to a new level, yet still somehow makes PvP so blissfully accessible. The WvWvW (server vs. server) PvP is incredibly well designed and addicting; it could've been its own game. Mainstream publications almost always give GotY to a console sequel, but it would be a crime if Guild Wars 2 did not make its way to the nominees.