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Reuter’s best games of 2011

I like video games. They can be Art with a capital “A,” though most are likely not, just as is true with any medium. With that in mind, the following is a list of my favorite games of 2011. Going forward on PopCon, I hope to share games that could make my list for 2012 with you, and I hope to hear your choices, too.

Part of me feels like a corporate stooge because sequels dominate this list, which doesn’t necessarily encourage innovation in the industry. A good game is a good game, though.

You will notice “Skyrim” didn’t make the cut, likely because I didn’t play it. There just isn’t enough time to give every game the chance it deserves. (There also isn’t enough money.)

Warning: There are spoilers in some of these snippets.

Minecraft With 4.8 million copies sold, “Minecraft” proves that a game doesn’t need fancy graphics to resonate with gamers. It does this with its focus on discovery. You are thrown into a world no one else has seen before, you have no tools, food or instructions, and when the sun sets, monsters come out. What do you do? Better figure it out fast. As you make your way through the world, your interests guide the gameplay. Build a castle, start a farm, or explore the land. When that gets boring, join a friend in the multiplayer mode and dive into a new world.

Portal 2 The performance of J.K. Simmons, who you might recognize as J. Jonah Jameson from the “Spider-Man” movies, could probably sell this game by itself. (Imagine his voice reading these quotes.) Add in the other fantastic performances, great story, and mind-bending puzzles and you get a sequel that surpasses the quality of the original. Sure, the ending was kind of weak, and the cooperative multiplayer paled in comparison to the singleplayer game, but those complaints only arise because the rest of the game is so good. Valve’s recipe for quality gaming is built on polish, and “Portal 2” is no different.

Dead Space 2 In “Dead Space 2,” Isaac Clarke got a voice, and I wish like mad he hadn’t. But this doesn’t doom the game, and that’s obvious right from the start. The introductory sequence, which forces you to escape from an asylum overrun with spiky monsters while secured in a straightjacket, rivals that of the original “Half-Life.” This game’s mystery, resource management and frightening combat keep you glued to your controller until the end.

Gears of War 3 It might be easy to write “Gears of War 3” off as a game about a bunch of meatheads who exist only to give you a reason to shoot things. But this notion disappears when you consider the scene where Dominic Santiago, one of the main playable characters, dies. After years of playing as these characters, my wife and I were not only emotional, we were spiteful toward his replacement in the next part of the game. The new guy didn’t deserve that; we were just sad to see Dom go. That is the value in the medium here: We were led into feeling the characters’ emotions without realizing it. The story in the “Gears of War” series doesn’t go very deep, but it is presented skillfully, and I’m glad that I’m sad to see it go.

Saints Row 3 This first-person shooter doesn’t do much to advance gaming as an art form, but boy is it fun. And it leaves its predecessors, the games in the “Grand Theft Auto” series, in the dust. The controls are responsive, the vehicles are fun to operate and there is cooperative multiplayer throughout the entire game, not just in some short side missions. Hopefully, Rockstar Games isn’t too proud to take some tips from this game for “Grand Theft Auto 5.”

Deus Ex: Human Revolution “Deus Ex” fans have been waiting 11 years for this game (the sequel, “Deus Ex: Invisible” War, was pretty bad and therefore easy to ignore), and Eidos Montreal doesn’t disappoint. Just like the original, players get a complex role-playing game built on the idea of choice. One typical scenario players encounter is a locked door. To get past it, will you hack the keypad, convince a guard to give you the code, break through a wall with your superhuman strength, sneak through an air vent, or go in guns blazing and loot the key off a corpse? Choose wisely; Rambo mode might not seem as fun when you’re out of ammo behind a desk and a squad of security guards is moving in. A game this complex is usually reserved for computers, but this one sold well on consoles, so it deserves praise for opening that door, too.

What were your favorite games from 2011?

Follow Andrew Reuter on Twitter at @andrewreuter.