This is an interesting list. Let’s argue about it!
You know the end of the year is fast approaching when top-ten retrospectives begin to dominate the media. And even though there’s still a good three weeks left in ought-12, Time Magazine has come out of the blocks quickly with its list of the year’s top ten videogames. Let’s get to it.
10. Torchlight 2
9. Halo 4
8. LittleBigPlanet
7. The Last Story
6. Papo & Yo
5. Assassin’s Creed III
4. Dishonored
3. XCom: Enemy Unknown
2. Xenoblade Chronicles
1. Guild Wars 2
Each entry on the list is accompanied by a brief explanation of why it was included. Torchlight, for instance, is just $20 “for a no-less-polished action roleplaying game” than Diablo 3, while Dishonored is described (disputably, I might add) as “sandbox sneaking at its finest” and Xenoblade Chronicles “slow-feeds its bonuses and mysteries and gameplay change-ups so that just when you’re border with activity X, along comes diversion Y or undertaking Z.”
Top ten lists are all the about the arguments that follow in their wake and there’s plenty of fodder for that, in the list and also in the notable absences, including Mass Effect 3, Journey, Minecraft, Diablo III and Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse. (Okay, I’m just kidding about that last one.) Should a PS Vita release of a four-year-old game take precedence over, say, an experimental success like Dear Esther? Is Assassin’s Creed III really “better” than Mass Effect 3? And should Halo 4 make the list just because “that’s what we love about Halo, and Halo 4 does it better than any game since the original?”
There’s really no right or wrong with top ten lists, but discussion and debate? They are plentiful and good. Begin!
Source: Time
