2012 Calvin Awards: Best Videogame
By David Mumpower
February 13, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The most recent year of major releases is proof positive of this. Over 80% of the best-selling titles for the year are new additions to existing franchises. To the credit of the videogame companies, many of these games are quite good. After all, they are unlikely to sell so well otherwise. And name recognition matters every year at The Calvins, with this year being an extreme example. Only one out of our ten selections is an entirely new property, making this year’s vote a celebration of more of the same. There is something to be said for comfort when it comes to playing videogames. Still, our top five titles include some electrifying gameplay that led to a hotly contested battle for first place.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is our selection for Videogame of the Year. How did we reach this conclusion? Well, if you spend more time playing a videogame than you do working, sleeping and bathing, that is a strong sign that you love it. Skyrim’s developers proclaim that there is no end to the game. Quests can be auto-generated from now until the end of time. Whether they are factoring in the Mayan calendar’s ending remains to be seen but BOP’s staff has invested a composite of roughly a thousand hours into the game with no end in sight.
At the moment, people are still bragging about who has the highest Archery and Enchanting skills. There is also some uncomfortable discussion about soul stealing that feels vaguely blasphemous. Our staff argues over the best way to slay a dragon, snipe a giant from vast distances and seduce the worthiest companion. It is fair to say that more attention is being given to the fictional binary spouses in the game than our actual significant others. Skyrim has proven itself to be an obsession that isn’t going away any time soon, a masterpiece of player immersion. It is a compelling exploration of a fully realized game universe. We celebrate its labyrinthine depth and its complexity, proclaiming Skyrim the clear choice as Videogame of the year.
Batman: Arkham City was the prohibitive favorite to win this category at the start of the year. After all, Arkham Asylum was the winner in 2010 and Arkham City is 100 times as much of that game. The latest Batman game is a massive enterprise that expands the scope of the original in terms of combat and (particularly) exploration. A similar time investment that would attain a 100% player score in Arkham Asylum may not garner even 25% in its sequel. The scope of the game is that much larger.
The story itself is great as The Joker gets sick and dies then keeps showing up again and again. Also, he has a tendency to drunk dial Batman and wants to talk about his feelings and their relationship. Nobody will ever say that the creators of Arkham City didn’t go for it. The difference is that Arkham City eventually grows monotonous just enough to differentiate it from Skyrim, which hasn’t given us that sensation yet. Either one would be a worthy choice for game of the year, but Skyrim is a touch better in our estimation.
The lone new property in this year’s vote finishes in third place. L.A. Noire is a wonderful sleuthing test from the videogame masters at Rockstar Games. Set in Los Angeles in 1947, the game technically pre-dates the 1997 movie masterpiece, L.A. Confidential which is set in 1954, but this is exactly the vibe the user experiences. Police corruption is a theme the movie and the videogame share as the player is asked to investigate any number of open-ended cases in the city. Using visual and audio clues from the technically innocent but almost certainly guilty punks, the user gets to negotiate, entice and cajole perps into coming clean. It’s like Law and Order: 1947, a triumph of imagination and creativity. As we laud it for its originality, naming it the only new property worthy of selection in this year’s list, we hope you will understand when we say we are really looking forward to the sequel.
The funniest game of 2011 and quite possibly of all time is BOP’s choice for fourth place. A celebration of science and physics, Portal 2 explores the early days of Aperture Science thanks to sublime voiceover work by J. K. Simmons as company founder Cave Johnson. As the player solves the puzzles and progresses through the game, they discover the long abandoned testing facilities that once featured Earth’s finest athletes and scientists. And, later, hobos. It’s amazing what a person will do for 60 bucks.
Simultaneously introducing breathtaking new gameplay and focusing upon returning villain GLaDOS’s fall from grace, Portal 2 is imbued with bravado and whimsy. It is brimming with one liners, quips that are so inspiring that video compilations of them have gone massively viral. Portal 2 is a game that dares to turn a monstrous AI killing machine into a potato. And the potato pities you because you are adopted. Videogames should never be this witty. Portal 2 is not as great a videogame as the titles above it on this list, but it is an unparalleled gameplay experience.
Science fiction is all the rage with our fifth, sixth and seventh place selections. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a prequel to the 2000 release once heralded as the greatest computer game of all time. The third game in the franchise, it is the first release in the series since 2003 and the gameplay mechanics exemplify advancements in terms of character modification in the interim, fitting for a game of this nature. Dead Space 2 is an alien zombie killing game so its appeal is self-explanatory. It too has added better player upgrade options to create a more individual gameplay experience. Kill space zombies your way. I could run for office with that as my slogan. And Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary may be a ten year old game, but the joy of reaching The Library for the first time remains euphoric even now.
Our final three selections are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Saints Row: The Third. Modern Warfare 3 is a rite of passage with our group and while the game changes are minimal, the killing joy is still optimal. The Uncharted franchise continues to justify the entire existence of the Playstation 3 with the latest chapter revealing something or another about King Solomon and the lost city of Ubar. What’s important here is that it has guns. Lots of guns. Finally, Saints Row: The Third takes customization to new heights as the player’s battle triumphs allow for personalization of their entire gang. Nobody respects an uncoordinated posse, after all. The Saints Row franchise has not always delivered the goods but the third outing is a masterpiece of urban warfare and individualization.
Narrowly missing selection this year are Dance Central 2, Dead Island, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Gears of War 3 and Forza Motorsport 4.
The Calvins: An Introduction
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Best Videogame
Breakthrough Performance
Worst Performance
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