Shaun’s Top 10 Moment’s of 2011
2012 is currently well underway, and most places have finally stopped looking back at 2011 and have already decided which title gets to walk away with their Game of Year award. Here at Push-Start Skyrim walked away with the honours, but I thought I would have a go at a list that didn’t involve the Elder Scrolls at any entry – My top 10 moments in Games in 2011, hopefully pointing out some games you may have missed last year.
“But Skyrim has tons of epic moments!” I hear you cry. Maybe, but this is a list for those moments that everyone who plays the game will experience, basically in other words scripted events. No emergent personal stories, because they are (as the name implies) personal, telling you all about the time I gathered all the beer in Skyrim to drink at once to see what would happen probably isn’t something anybody else will have experienced in 2011.
Quick Warning, some of these entries will be spoilers, and as such feel free to skip past any games you wish not to know about, I’ll try and keep spoilerific images or titles to a minimum. And without further ado lets drop in at number 10.
10
Battlefield 3 – Final Mission
Battlefield 3’s single player campaign was a disappointment, that much was obvious in my review. But it still had one of the best moments of the year hidden among it – The final mission. Starting in a subway train and eventually emerging onto the streets of New York City, this glorified quick-time event brings a very real threat to an otherwise pedestrian area. We’ve all seen Times Square, whether in person or in the many TB shows and movies that have featured it, it’s one of the most recognisable areas in the western world, so racing through in a car based shootout, culminating in a fist fight in front of an armed nuclear warhead in a desperate attempt to stop it being detonated.
This isn’t some unnamed made up country on the other side of the planet, this is home ground, which escalates the threat that very much more. Especially seeing as the kill count from the explosion alone would dwarf the same result from the usual terrain of war games. It’s a visceral piece of action that moves at a breakneck pace. It might have been higher up were in not for the fact that it’s a series of quick-time events, but even so it’s almost enough to make the Battlefield 3 single player campaign worth it.
9
Space Marine – Intro
Warhammer 40k Space Marine was the underdog story of 2011. I title from out of nowhere that received no hype outside of the Warhammer crowds, then the demo hit. Suddenly people (myself included) realised that what Relic had made was a very good (extremely visceral) 3rd person action game that almost perfectly combined ranged shooting and close quarters melee brutality. Very few games can give the surging sense of bloodlust that Space Marine produces in most encounters.
For me the stand out moment of the game came right at the start, from the intro movie and into the first mission. Starting with a simple fact about the universe “There is only war” we cut to a computer screen. It shows us that an invasion is going on and we watch as options are queried as to the course of action. We learn that the planet is important, so a full extermination of orbital bombardment isn’t allowed, and that a fleet is still 5 days away. Then we get one sentence.
“Deploying the Ultramarines”- The only introduction they need. But then we get to see our main characters strap on a jet pack and jump into combat from low orbit. Nothing has cemented the sheer hardcore nature of a group of people in its first 2 minutes as well as Space Marine. Better yet the game delivers on all its promises set up in the intro.
8
Modern Warfare 3 – The Underground
I’ll admit, this might be on the list because I’m English. For years now we’ve fought war games in made up middle-east countries, so when the war hits your home turf it’s bound to resonate. Along with the fact that seeing something recognisable play home to something so disastrous is always effective. I remember seeing the Washington Monument back in Modern Warfare 2 and feeling boil up inside me, and that wasn’t even my own country. Just like Battlefield 3 and Times Square above it’s the contrast of everyday life with extra ordinary violence. Then the war came to London.
Starting off stealthily inserting into Canary Wharf, the SAS quickly realise the situation is about to escalate, which leads to chasing a subway train through the tunnels and screaming through stations as civilians drop to the ground as bullets fly in every direction. The SAS are screaming orders at each other, rounds ping off every surface and close calls come racing along in the opposite direction. Call of Duty has always been a game that revolved around explosive set pieces, but Modern Warfare 3 takes it to a whole new level.
It really is World War 3, the battles are raging in major cities all around the world, and watching national monuments gets battered and destroyed always make for a great cinematic experience, but the chase through the London Underground is my favourite of the game. Fast, frenetic and straight out of an action movie.
7
Saints Row The Third – HQ Takeover
Saints Row 3 is insane, constantly trying to one up itself in terms of stupidity. Unfortunately this comes with the negative effect of never being able to take it seriously and never truly having a standout moment except for a couple of missions. The 2nd mission taking place on an airliner and in free-fall (and then back on the airliner, and then back in free-fall), the meeting with Mayor Burt Reynolds, task based flying straight out of the A-Team, assaulting a hovership, cyberspace combat, and this mission.
Towards the very start of the game the Saints need to find a place to stay. Granted they have Shaundi’s ex’s old apartment, but these are the Saints, they need something a little more extravagant. Something that towers above the area and has a swimming pool. Just so has it there is such a place, but taking it over might be something of a challenge seeing as the elevator is locked.
So then we find our main character stood on the edge of a helicopter, “Power” by Kanye West kicking in, a party in full effect below. Then we jump, shoot out way through, unlock the elevator and call in the reinforcements, clear the area out and then we finally have a crib worthy of the 3rd Street Saints.
6
Portal 2 – The part where he kills you
Saying Portal 2 is funny is possibly an understatement, but this moment in particular sticks in my mind. The comedy throughout has been expertly crafted, the writing holds the kind of polish only Valve (or Naughty Dog) can manage, and the gameplay always helps to complement it.
Part way through the game our best friend Wheatley turns on us when he suddenly gets control of the facility, a position previously held by GlaDOS. After a trip through the bowels of the facility (and through the past experiments of the Aperture institute) Chell and a potato based GlaDOS emerge into the newly branded “Wheatley Labs”, where its discovered that Wheatley has become mad with power, creating terrible new test chambers (in the sense they’re terribly designed). But mad with power he finally traps you and claims “this is the part where I kill you”.
Then the chapter name comes up as “The part where he kills you”.
Then we get an achievement confirming in fact that this is “The part where he kills you”.
The moment is so great because everything comes together to make the joke – the writing, the level design, the chapter layout, even the achievement system. It was quite frankly hilarious. Then a daring escape happens, showing off just how good Portal can be as an action-puzzle rather than platform-puzzle game.
5
Need For Speed – The Run
The Run has suffered for two main reasons. 1 It had a terrible demo which showcased one of the worst sections of the game in my opinion. 2 It has to follow Hot Pursuit after only a year. However despite these two facts I really thoroughly enjoyed The Run. Getting Michael Bay to direct an advert for it shows what they were going for with this game, an over the top racing blockbuster, and that is exactly what we got.
There are many moments that stand out in this game but none more so than the final stretch of the race into and through New York. You’re in second place, first is merely seconds ahead, and you’ve got 10 minutes worth of road left. In those 10 minutes you’ll find yourself jostling for position down alleyways, weaving through traffic going the wrong way down a bridge at 200MPH and avoiding subway trains after a forced and sudden detour.
The excitement really reaches its pitch here, the final stretch becoming a harrowing fight to survive, let alone win.
4
Deus Ex Human Revolution – Return to Hengsha
Specifically Malik being ambushed. Human Revolution was a very good game, it was my favourite of the year behind Uncharted 3. The story had the right concoction of dirt, noir, and intrigue. The gameplay was a great blend of action, stealth and exploration (although possibly more focused towards stealth, and with some counter-intuitive boss design).
Upon entry to the city for the second time you and your pilot will be shot down. Jenson bails out early, however and is left with a choice – Face overwhelming odds and rescue one of the few people you can trust, or leave her to her fate. I decided on the former and was presented with one of the most tense battles Id faced in the game. Unlike the bosses, however, stealth is still an option here, especially seeing as most people are focused on destroying Malik’s ship (which presents a time limit, as it can and will be destroyed after enough damage).
With so many ways to achieve your goal (or avoid it entirely if you want) the amount of player choice presented in a scripted moment, the way the consequences do play out later in the game, and the sheer tension and excitement make this one of the best moments of one of the best games of the year.
3
Dead Space 2 – Ejector Seat
Dead Space 2 had the unfortunate release date of January, and as such was often sorely overlooked when it came to award time. An exceptional survival action game with some genuine scares, Dead Space 2 was one of the finest single player games of the year (it did come with a multiplayer but if you’ve ever tried to find a game you’ll realise the title “Dead Space” has a hidden meaning). It may have copied from new style Resident Evil but it also refined and expanded upon Capcom’s series, allowing you to move while aiming, have alternate fire modes, and introducing true 3-dimensional game play in the zero-G segments.
When I began writing this list the train ride in chapter 2 was Dead Space 2’s entry, but then I remembered this scene. After a frankly excellent zero-G section fixing the solar array you get a call saying your presence is required elsewhere very very quickly, but unfortunately it’s a bit of a long hike back, so our hero Isaac Clarke does what any self-respecting man would do in the situation – he finds the fastest, most dangerous, most explosive way to get where he’s going, and it just so happens this health and safety violation is actually the arrays ejector seat.
After strapping in and being launched into the vacuum of space towards a sprawling living centre at ludicrous speeds Clarke finds himself weaving in and out (and even through) debris, before smashing through the ventilation ducts and going to a quick stop practically where he needs to be. The man really knows how to make an entrance.
2
Ace Combat Assault Horizon – The Fist Pump
‘nuff said.
1
Uncharted 3 – Rub’ Al Khali
Uncharted 3 is the reason that I implemented a “one moment per game” rule, otherwise it would have been a “top 10 moments in uncharted 3” list. I’d say that choosing just one moment from this superb game was a hard task, but in honesty it wasn’t, this moment is one of my greatest moments of not just 2011, but of the whole generation. It beat out the nauseatingly brilliant sinking cruise liner, the heart pounding horseback convoy chase, the perfectly executed foot chase through the streets of Yemen, the superbly choreographed bar fight, the flashback, the fight aboard the cargo plane… I could go on; let’s just say that in a game full of absolutely standout moments this is the pinnacle, a fact that should not be taken lightly.
On paper you may be wondering why, after all, is this section not just a tedious 15 minutes of random wandering with nothing going on. It’s like the ladder from Metal Gear Solid 3 (if you’ve played the game you know exactly what I’m talking about). It’s because the moment is so subdued its excellent, a dip in the otherwise overwhelming scenario that allows you to collect your things, and settle down, putting together everything that’s just happened. But it goes further than that. Rather than letting you fully calm down it starts to worry you.
Not only is Drake suddenly alone in the desert but we as the player are suddenly alone as well. The tightly scripted linear cinematic sequences that have persisted throughout the game so far are suddenly gone, the unseen force holding your hand and telling you were to go has slipped away. We’re in control of a man who’s lost his sense of bravado in an empty expanse of inhospitable terrain. Nobody knows where to go, and even Drake begins to wonder why he should go on anymore. As the camera slowly pans out showing the tiny stumbling spec of a man crossing a dune with nothing on the horizon in any direction it slowly starts to sink in just how alone we actually are at the moment. And the moment lingers, it stays long enough for us to start to tire of it, it starts to eat away at our expectations. Nothing is happening so surely I’m going in the wrong direction? But I’ve come so far now, and it’s been such a battle to push drake on this way. It’s almost emotionally effecting.
Not just on a player level either, but in watching Drake. For two and a half games we’ve watched Drake get into potentially fatal situations, but he’s always remained positive, fought his way through it and quipped his way along all the time, now suddenly he’s quiet, only speaking words of defeat and desperation. He stumbles, falling to his knees until we physically push him on further. He becomes a man who is on the verge of just giving in all together. Maybe he has even given up on some level, relying on our unseen hand to force him on.
The Rub’ Al Khali in Uncharted 3 strips away the hero from Drake, it strips away the helping hand from the player, and in the process starts to strip away any and all hope. It’s quiet, it’s depressing, its effecting, but it’s also the greatest gaming moment of 2011.