2012: GOTY/GOAT of the year?

[Caine]

From the looks of it, there is only one major game left on the calendar (Far Cry 3, looking to be quite good too) so it's time to ask yourself, what game did you find to be your favorite, which completely failed to live up to expectations and which were you completely surprised you liked?

I really enjoyed Borderlands 2, for the things it changed for the better in spite of the things it changed for the worse.  Oddly enough, I think this one took the best aspects from the Diablo 2>3 translation and made it into an asset, whereas Blizz took a lot of flak.  That GB made as many changes to the formula while taking the story to a much darker place and retaining all that made the first such an addictive blast marks them as one of the better devs imho. 

I think it will be hard to beat this for me as goty, even though there was quite a strong field of contenders.  Mark of the Ninja takes the cake in the indie/small dev group though with its perfect implementation of stealth and gadgets and one of the slickest looking games all year. 

Sleeping Dogs is highest on my list of games I feared having a broken launch.  the long dev time, the unknown quality of the developer and the history with activision really cast a shadow on this one for quite a time.  Instead, they gave us a solid sandbox game with one of the deepest fighting systems outside of a pure fighter. 

I was surprised by Spec Ops The Line.  a dark gritty premise for a game if ever there was one, hindered by its basic gameplay, a solid and predictable cover shooter.   

to disappointments, there are few.  Diablo 3, while being highly polished and likely a strong contender for this nomination, was still a very enjoyable game and more than worth the time and money spent on it.  AC3 is also a flawed game and contentiously viewed by many.  I don't know if I would call it my GOAT just yet, but I haven't had any game that I was as hyped for that didn't quite live up to potential.

[jztemple2]

Ask me about GOTY in a couple of weeks after I've had some time with Hitman 5: Absolution and Far Cry 3 

My other big purchases this year?

• Sleeping Dogs - Pretty good, but I suck at fighting games, so no GOTY for me
• Borderlands 2 - Also pretty good, but... well, it didn't really click for me, I guess because it felt like grinding after a while. Too much like the first one.
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Great idea, but the game seemed to be not fully realized. If they had spent a few more months in development fleshing out all those features for which they had hooks but no implementation, well, it would have been better.
• Forza Horizon - This was something of a flop as far as I am concerned. You put the Forza name on the box, you'd better be putting in your "A" game. It just seemed that there wasn't as much there could have been and should have been.
• Call of Duty Black Ops II - I finally have reached the point where CoD games just don't seem interesting any more. Sure, there are different bells and whistles, but it's the same gameplay on the same tiny maps. I so miss Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising.

[TiLT]

Looking over the games I've completed this year, only one of them truly sticks out: XCOM is my vote.

Honorable mention to The Secret World for making MMOs interesting again this year.

[Razgon]

The two games that by all rights should have been on my GOTY list, unfortunately isn't there - Assassins Creed 3 and Mass Effect 3.

I'd actually have to say Planetside 2 so far, and Guild Wars 2 sadly.

I've spent more time playing Mount & Blade Warband mods and Lord of the Rings Online than any of those though.

[Tokek]

I'd say The Walking Dead

[Reemul]

Ask me about GOTY in a couple of weeks after I've had some time with Hitman 5: Absolution and Far Cry 3 

My other big purchases this year?

• Sleeping Dogs - Pretty good, but I suck at fighting games, so no GOTY for me
• Borderlands 2 - Also pretty good, but... well, it didn't really click for me, I guess because it felt like grinding after a while. Too much like the first one.
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Great idea, but the game seemed to be not fully realized. If they had spent a few more months in development fleshing out all those features for which they had hooks but no implementation, well, it would have been better.
• Forza Horizon - This was something of a flop as far as I am concerned. You put the Forza name on the box, you'd better be putting in your "A" game. It just seemed that there wasn't as much there could have been and should have been.
• Call of Duty Black Ops II - I finally have reached the point where CoD games just don't seem interesting any more. Sure, there are different bells and whistles, but it's the same gameplay on the same tiny maps. I so miss Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising.

In total disagreement here. Forza Horizon and Borderlands 2 are my games of the year on PC and Xbox. Sleeping dogs I never managed to get in to and Xcom was ok. Blos 2 at £40 on PC is a no thanks.

[ATB]

Contenders:

Walking Dead

Brilliantly written (mostly) and executed (mostly) game that came out of nowhere for me.  The choices you make are HARD and have legitimate consequences.  This adventure-lite game was the surprise of the year for me for sure.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

I've not been this into a game in many years. Timed perfectly with some family being out of town events, I put close to 50 hours into it in it's first couple weeks of release.  Great combat, great weapons, good story.  Glitchy as all get out and some frustrating mechanics don't sour me on the game.  Hopefully it revives the tactical TBS genre.  Looking forward to what Firaxis does with a sequel.

Mass Effect 3

Due to an unexpected hiatus from console gaming, I've only begun playing this game recently. I'm just 18 hours in and so far it is everything that I want it to be.  Right now, it pretty much has a lock on my GOTY vote (I'll be trying with the original ending first) as I think they've done a great job of bringing threads from the two prior games around.

Diablo 3

Forgot this one which is telling. I really enjoyed the game and have played through it multiple times.  I'm not really a big end game type of guy so all the changes to the loot (although the lack of uniques blows) didn't really bother me as I never see myself grinding through the toughest difficulty level.  I wanted to see how the story ended and Blizzard delivered, imo. Feels somehow soulless.

Torchlight 2

Not sure if I can call it better than D3, but it's different in a fun and enjoyable way. Probably enjoyed this game overall far more than D3...but I'm not sure which is 'better'.

Winner: TBD!

[leo8877]

My GOTY hands down is The Walking Dead

[wonderpug]

It wasn't my cup of tea, but I'll just throw Legends of Grimrock out there to help you forgetful people.  Seemed like some of you went bananas for it when it came out.

For me:

GOTY - FTL: Faster Than Light
Such a fun little indie gem.

GOAT - Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor
Oh, what could have been.

[Soulchilde]

GOTY

Winner: Telltale Games: The Walking Dead

Runner Ups: Borderlands 2, COD: BLops 2


GOAT: Without a doubt Mass Effect 3.   That game along with DA2 has put Bioware firmly in the wait for reviews before I buy category

[CeeKay]

GOTY: to be determined.

GOAT: barring a massive fail from Far Cry 3 the game that takes this one is Mass Effect 3.  I'll have to look back but I believe this is the second year in a row a BiowarEA game takes this title.

[Captain Caveman]

My GOTY hands down is The Walking Dead

Me too.

Runner up is XCOM.

[Teggy]

Have to say Borderlands 2, but I haven't played all the big titles this year. ME3 was amazing except for the end, especially if you consider the MP.

By the way, GOAT = Greatest Of All Time

[ATB]

By the way, GOAT = Greatest Of All Time

I was confused by this as well. Greatest of all Time for 2012? Hummina!?

[wonderpug]

What are you guys, new here?  God-awful, Obnoxious And Terrible

[Misguided]

Borderlands 2. It is one of my favorite games ever.
I haven't played that many different titles this year, but I suppose my GOAT would be Diablo III. I enjoyed it, enough to get a character to max level in hardcore, but not enough to want to keep playing different classes and such. In that sense, and considering how much time I spent with DII, it is a disappointment.

[Doopri]

XCOM all the way for me!  havent had that much fun with a game in a while

i dont have a goat because i generally dont play games that are terrible and if i do its an old obscure ps2 rpg ill track down...
however if i think of goat as a "let down" then borderlands 2.  the worst part - i dont even know why!  i loved the first to death and sunk huge hours into it and bl2 did all the old stuff right but it just didnt click with me this go around

[USMC Kato]

Dragon's Dogma for me

[Gratch]

GOTY:  Guild Wars 2 by a mile.  The first MMO that I've ever wanted to spend enough time in to actually max a character.  The Unfinished Swan would be second, with Dishonored as #3.

GOAT:  Might be Lollipop Chainsaw.  I was excited for a Bayonetta-style weirdness romp, but once you got past the basic premise (i.e. airhead cheerleader kills zombies), it was really just kinda...boring.  The combat pretty much sucked, which is a significant problem for a game in which that is the main draw.  I'd put Torchlight 2 as a very close second.  All the marketing pointed to a game that was a bigger, better version of the original with lots more monster and locale variety.  No idea how they turned that into the incredibly dull and lifeless game that they did.

[forgeforsaken]

GOTY: XCOM, Mark of the Ninja and FTL

Soundtrack of the year goes to Hotline Miami

[Covenant]

Nothing elseis coming out thisyear that I care about, so this list should be final

GOTY:
Borderlands2

Runner Up:
Dragon's Dogma

[ATB]

Nothing elseis coming out thisyear that I care about, so this list should be final

GOTY:
Borderlands2

Runner Up:
Dragon's Dogma

Cov!

[Roguetad]

I can't give my final nod until after I have a chance to play Far Cry 3. 

As of today...
GOTY Contenders:  Guild Wars 2, XCOM, Dragon's Dogma
GOATs:  Diablo 3 (it's a fun game spoiled by bad loot and the Auction House), Star Wars The Old Republic

[metallicorphan]

Borderlands 2 is probably my GOTY
note: May change due to Far Cry 3 and I also want to get The Walking Dead


Assassin's Creed III was so-so,not the game it thinks it is


Dragon's Dogma was also excellent,probably my number 2

[Lordnine]

My Game of the Year would be Dishonored.

Runners up would go to XCOM and Mark of the Ninja.

[Blackadar]

GOTY: Guild Wars 2.  While I consider 2012 to be one of the best years of gaming of all time, I don't think there's been the "supergame" of the year.  Instead, there's just been a constant stream of extremely good games all year long - GW2, XCom, FTL, Walking Dead, Borderlands, Darksiders, Anno, etc.  Of the bunch, GW2 gets my vote.

GOAT:  Diablo 3.  It wasn't entirely a disaster, but it certainly was pretty disappointing considering what it could/should have been.

[EddieA]

It's been an amazing year for games of all types and across all platforms.  Here are my picks -

GOTY - Mass Effect 3
Runner-up - Diablo 3
Honorable Mentions - Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning, Borderlands 2, Theathrhythm Final Fantasy, Torchlight 2, Darksiders 2, Hotline Miami, Tales of Graces f, Xenoblade Chronicles, Dishonored

[Harpua3]

Thus far goty for me would be Diablo 3.

Runner up is The walking Dead

Honorable mentions...

NfsmwVita, come on its a freaking console game on the go!

LbpVita, same as above! It's arguably better than the console releases!

Dishonored, just refreshing gameplay in this day and age... Also, I loved the art design.

I love goats.
Boarder lands 2, just awesomeness.

[Lockdown]

So far it is Dishonored or Dragon's Dogma.  I need to finish Dishonored first (I think) before declaring a winner.

[Greggy_D]

GOTY:  THE WALKING DEAD

GOAT:  MASS EFFECT 3  (just didn't grab me this time)

[Jancelot]

GOTY: X-Com

It's been quite awhile since I've played and enjoyed a game this much.  It certainly has bugs and some minor annoyances, but the overall execution is tops to me.

GOAT:  Fortunately I haven't played a game that falls in this category this year.  Whew.

[jztemple2]

I never played it myself, but seeing some of the horrible things said on this forum about Assassin's Creed III, I'm surprised no one picked it as the GOAT so far.

[kronovan]

Halo 4 for me. I'm a co-op gamer more than anything, and Spartan Ops is the best thing that's come along for the co-op player in quite some time.

[EngineNo9]

I'm not sure what my GOTY will be, but I think my definite GOAT award goes to Diablo 3.  What a disappointment. 

[Glycerine]

GOTY:  Assassins Creed III, without a doubt.  It's glitchy at times, but a blast to play and I really love the Revolutionary War as a backdrop.  I've read all the bitching and complaining, but really didn't have any of those problems.  Several people were screaming about one particular mission where you have to chase down a courier, to the point that I was dreading even attempting it.  I easily tackled the guy in less than a minute when I played first on 360.  It took about 10-20 seconds on PC, and I even managed to get the optional objective that time.  I honestly don't have a fucking clue why so many people had trouble with that.

RUNNER UP:  Borderlands 2, but it was pretty close.  I loved everything about the sequel; the new classes, gameplay changes, areas, enemies, humor, and bad ass system.  It ran a little long for me, as I didn't even finish all the side quests in the last area.  I was also disappointed that they didn't have more vehicles, I really wanted to try one of those bandit flyers dammit!

GOAT:  Diablo 3, hands down my biggest disappointment.  After playing it's predecessor on and off for 10 years, I was really psyched for this one.  Not sure what it was, but the game just didn't get its hooks in me.  I liked the new ability system, but didn't like how they dumbed it down.  Part of the allure of Diablo 2 was coming up with different builds, and this just isn't the same.  I did manage to finish it once, but lost interest after that.

[Laner]

GOTY: I'm only a few missions in, but at the moment Dishonored is really scratching that Deus Ex/Thief itch.

GOAT: Even without the FUBAR ending, Mass Effect 3 gets my vote.  Pretty much from the opening mission, I knew this wasn't going to be the successor to ME1 & 2 that I wanted.  Despite some great setpieces and character farwells, there were just too many weak spots.

[hepcat]

Witcher 2, Borderlands 2 and XCom are in contention for my GOTY for 2012 at this point.  At least in the AAA category.  I have to say that what little time I've had with Mark of the Ninja has made me think there's more fun in this game than in anything EA, bioware or Ubisoft has put out in quite some time though.


And while it's technically going to be a 2013 title and I'm just experiencing a beta, Don't Starve is such a unique game experience that it may very well be on my list for next year.

[Scraper]

GOTY: Walking Dead and Riders of Rohan

GOATS: This is a toss up between Diablo 3, ME3, and Guild Wars 2.

GW2 just did not click with me at all. The lack of actual classes that matter, the fact that every single map is a square made up of a bunch of small towns in a circle around the square, the lack of a good storyline, It was just a huge let down for me.

ME3= The ending

Diablo 3 was fun for one or two play throughs, but it got old really quick, even when playing co-op with friends. Diable is not supposed to get old quick.

[hepcat]

Oooh, add Walking Dead to my choices as well.  Forgot about that one!  Such a great game.  Finished it this past weekend and immediately wanted another serving.

[Roguetad]

It's interesting that there are a few games that have been showing up as GOTY and GOAT.  We've had some polarizing games this year.  ME3, Diablo3, AC3.