Some incredible games came out in 2012. Sure, there were a few misses as well and plenty of games we stopped playing, but this year was home to some seriously epic games, and a lot of them took up the bulk of our free time.
Here are the games that some of IGN’s editors spent the most time with in 2012, including some that we expected to lose ourselves in and others we didn’t.
Game I knew I’d be obsessed with: Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings
Time Spent: 50+ hours
The news that a Civ V expansion would focus on religion didn't exactly fill me with fervor. And, to be honest, I feared I might be all played out with Civ V in 2011. That said this is Civ, so I new I'd be giving it a seriously deep play. This expansion gave the game a whole new strategic element that I found surprising and delightful, with the powers that came with religious path-taking well worth the effort. I also loved playing the new leaders / nations that offered adventurous challenges and Firaxis' trademark good humor.
Game I didn’t expect to be obsessed with: Dishonored
Time Spent: 50+ hours
I've enjoyed stealth in the past, but this was the first time I became truly obsessed with replaying levels over and over again until I had them down and perfected. Perhaps it was the genuinely involving story, the irresistible side-quests or the gorgeous streets and rooms of Dunwall. Either way, this game taught me how to really feel good about NOT using a crossbow, knife or pistol.
Game I knew I’d be obsessed with: Mass Effect 3
Time Spent: 30 hours
I absolutely LOVED Mass Effect 2, and I knew from the moment it was announced that I would be spending some serious quality time with Mass Effect 3. Though I was one of the people who ended up being disappointed in the ending, I still enjoyed the new gameplay mechanics, memorable characters and impressive backdrops.
Game I didn’t expect to be obsessed with: Dragon's Dogma
Time Spent: 40 hours
I cannot tell you how many times I nearly quit this game in the first ten hours. It was linear, difficult, and downright confusing. But the moment Dragon’s Dogma opens up and lets you go your own way, it becomes a completely different game. There are beautiful areas to explore, amazing boss battles to fight, and a unique universe occupied by you and your AI companions known as Pawns. If you can hang in there for the first few hours, it’s more than worth your time--especially for its off-the-wall ending!
Game I knew I’d be obsessed with: Borderlands 2
Time Spent: 110+ hours
I actually didn’t get too attached to the original Borderlands, but everything about Borderlands 2 hooked me from the beginning. The Doomsday trailer conveyed the tone perfectly and as soon as I heard some of the incredible jokes and saw the redone menus and easier-to-manage loot system, I knew I wouldn’t be able to tear myself away. I got the Platinum trophy, maxed out all the DLC and have most of the best guns…but I can’t stop. Even writing about it makes me want to play more.
Game I didn’t expect to be obsessed with: Final Fantasy XIII-2
Time Spent: 100 hours
Final Fantasy XIII had a lot of flaws. When the sequel showed up on my desk, I figured I’d try it out for a few hours, see how the battle system changed and put it away. A week later, on my third night in a row of grinding in Oerba to find every Fragment, I realized I was actually invested in a way I didn’t expect to be. XIII-2 still has plenty of problems, but it has a lot of heart, and Square Enix at least tried to address the problems of the first game. I’ll be the first to say we don’t need yet another Lightning game next year, but I don’t regret the time I spent getting every Achievement in XIII-2.
Game I knew I’d be obsessed with: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Time Spent: 100+ hours
Given the original XCOM: UFO Defense was one of my favorite games of all time, it didn’t surprise me at all that I would be spending some quality time with the reboot. I gave my wife a heads-up a few days before the game came out that I’d probably be spending most of my nights with hostile invaders from another world. Unfortunately, I didn’t warn her that she might not see me much for the next three months. But now she’s a badass sniper with psionic abilities who saves my team regularly, so she should actually feel quite proud!
I’ve gone through XCOM with a team of my friends and family, an all-IGN crew, authors, American Presidents, Muppets and musicians -- Elton John is the ultimate rocket man, Sting regularly lets aliens know they shouldn’t stand so close to him, and Marvin Gaye is a fantastic sexual healer. I’ve easily put more than 100 hours into the game, and I’m sure I’ll get at least another couple hundred hours of enjoyment out of it.
Game I didn’t expect to be obsessed with: FTL: Faster Than Light
Time Spent: 40 hours
When I first saw Charles and Dan playing FTL, I was slightly amused. “How could they be spending so much time playing a static-screen game that looks so simple?,” I thought. With that statement, I proved to myself once again how much of an idiot I am.
Having recently gone back and played the original Bard’s Tale and aforementioned XCOM: UFO Defense, I consider myself an old-school gamer who values gameplay over graphics, and that’s a great way to describe FTL. The strategy elements of FTL are surprisingly in-depth, and the randomness of the map layout and encounters means that no game is ever the same. Couple that with the fact that it’s hard as $#!% and you have a seemingly simple concept that keeps me coming back for more and more and more. I’ll sit down for what I expect to be a fairly quick playthrough and realize I just spent eight hours hopelessly going through 10 or more ships. The most ego-damaging part of the whole experience is that I’ve spent probably 40 or so hours on the game and I’ve only reached the end boss once – and died in the third round! But I’m a glutton for punishment, so I’ll probably play some more FTL tonight.
Game I knew I’d be obsessed with: Halo 4
Time Spent: Don’t ask.
Before I laid eyes on Halo 4 for the first time back in February, I had questions. I had concerns. Mainly: could a team that’s never shipped a game together possibly deliver with the weight of the entire Xbox world on their shoulders? Then I saw it and the doubts and concerns began to melt away, and in the end, Halo 4 wasn’t just good enough, it was even better than I could’ve ever hoped. I can’t stay away from War Games multiplayer each night despite having a gigantic pile of fantastic fall releases begging to be played.
Game I didn’t expect to be obsessed with: The Walking Dead: The Game
Time Spent: 12 hours
I’ve always had a place in my heart for point-and-click adventure games – particularly comedic ones – and Telltale Games is the most high-profile developer in the genre. So when they were about ready to drop a dramatic, not-funny adventure based on a graphic novel I’d never read and a TV show I’d never watched, I wasn’t exactly giddy with anticipation. After playing Episode 1, though, I was hooked. From then on, I would drop anything I was doing the night a new episode came out and make sure to block out a few uninterrupted hours to play each new chapter straight through. And somehow, the finale was perfect – a rarity in gaming (or any media, quite frankly) today.
Game I knew I’d be obsessed with: Guild Wars 2
Time Spent: 60+ hours
Walking through the gates of Lion’s Arch, words – both spoken and written – falter. The charm of Guild Wars 2 is as varied and layered as its play, which extends across a mesmerizing world crackling with magic. Millions of gamers have plunged into this world, the gates of which swing open without the need for a subscription fee or any lasting commitment. Instead, a one-time purchase unleashes hundreds of hours of content easily shared between friends and strangers. It’s no wonder Tyria has captivated so many, and will continue to do so for years to come.
Game I didn’t expect to be obsessed with: FTL: Faster Than Light
Time Spent: ~20+ hours
FTL is a brutal journey through the stars, a lonely escape and desperate struggle. Few could have predicted its success, considering its two-man development team. But as an IGN Game of the Year nominee with a legion of loyal fans behind it, FTL has achieved a special place in the world of PC gaming. Because a single run at FTL’s campaign only requires an hour of play and death is an inevitability, multiple (i.e. obsessive) runs are the norm. And they don’t get old.
Game I knew I’d be obsessed with: Star Wars: The Old Republic
Time Spent: 150+ hours I had time to kill before moving Stateside to start at IGN in 2012, so between news posts and features I wrote from home, I played The Old Republic like a drug addict. I obsessively built personalities for my characters based on their interactions with NPCs, swapped between my Agent, Jedi, Bounty Hunter, Sith, and Smuggler multiple times each day, and power-leveled friends for a month. I moved in February, didn't re-up my subscription, and forgot about all the gear I once loved. By the time I was interested in returning to SWTOR, it was basically neutered by its free-to-play limitations, and now it's just dead to me. It's sad. I miss my Chiss Agent.
Game I didn’t expect to be obsessed with: Super Hexagon
Time Spent: 15-20 hours Super Hexagon is a mobile music game that takes about five seconds to fail. I have never lost at any game as frequently and quickly as I did with this marvelous little thing. That's what hooked me. All you do is move a triangle out of the way of incoming shapes, and I still can't really process why I became so hypnotized by its beats for so long. But I was transfixed on becoming faster, improving my reflexes, and getting just half-a-second farther than I did when I nailed my high score. I had to delete Hexagon from my phone just so I'd stop trying to outdo IGN editors' scores when I should have been working.
What did you play the most in 2012? Were there any games you didn't expect to spend so much time with? Let us know in the comments!
Source : ign[dot]com
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