Electronic Arts, in 2011, are amongst the best of the best. We can draw conclusions upon who will win GOTY but no other publisher has as many AAA games coming out this year except for Sony. I won't be focusing on Sony in this blog however.
Firstly, look at the list of EA only games:
Mass Effect 2
Bulletstorm
Dead Space 2
Crysis 2
Darkspore
Battlefield 3
Need For Speed Shift 2
EA Sports games*
Dragon Age 2
Mass Effect 3
Reckoning : Kingdoms of Amalur
SSX Deadly Decents
Shadows of the Damned
-F2P- BF, Fifa
This isn't the full list, mostly because The Sims 3 medieval isn't for me, although having said that -- it's probably arguably the best game in that genre. And "Rango" is a movie tie-in (maybe a good one? I don't know, jumping to conclusions is harsh but can't say I'm a fan of other EA movie tie ins i.e. Harry Potter).
*EA Sports, again not for me so I've kinda just glossed over that but again Fifa 12, Madden 12, etc are HIGHLY likely to be 10/10s in many reviews. Fight Night is perhaps played by GAMERS just as much as SPORTS fans and without doubt the last Fight Night (FNR3) I played was great!
So, of that list what would YOU, at this moment, going off tiny snippets of information (and also for some: demos, or FULL releases) give these titles?
Not exactly leaping to conclusions here, but Mass Effect 3 cannot possibly score less than 10/10. It just can't. For some people, who aren't fans of sci-fi or the shooting mechanics, sure, maybe it's going to score lower in their eyes, but for ME it WILL be a 10/10. I have a good foresight for games I'll love (LA noire, 100% also going to be a 10/10).
Dragon Age 2, based of the demo for me is a 9/10, but it's likely that the full game could score higher in my eyes. I did really enjoy the combat, and the cast is brilliant. Something I need to play the full game for, and I've watched every last showing of it on GiantBomb and GameSpot : it looks amazing!
Need For Speed Shift 2, as a fan of the first one Shift 2 looks great. A bit of a GT5 fanboy but I still think it looks almost TOO good at parts and Shift 2 is a bit of a different genre. Not quite sim, not quite arcade basically the perfect balance -- this balance that made people supremely happy about GriD and Dirt. So, at the end of it I'd score it 9/10.
Dead Space 2 and Crysis 2 I won't be buying day one (well, it's been a while since DS2 released) mostly because I DO need to buy other games, and it's not because these aren't good. I already know for a fact DS2 is contender for GOTY in many peoples eyes and I look forward to playing it (when it's a bit cheaper). Crysis 2 looks marvellous, MP looks like it could hook me, but again I think I'll wait for it to come down in price a bit. Probably both of these games for ME would be about an 9.
Reckoning and Shadow of the Damned, different genres here. Reckoning has a great backstory by who's developing it (MUST READ FAQ: http://reckoningthegame.com... but, because basically nothing but art has been shown I won't score this. Shadow of the Damned, a BIT of gameplay has been shown and it looks pretty damn unique. But unique isn't necessarily enough to push it in the action genre. The thing, like Reckoning, that makes me curious is it's illusive creator Suda 51.
Battlefield 3: 9/10. 10/10 hopefully. I'd reserve myself until I see a full blown 64 player battle on the PC version with similar class upgrade systems and level of control that was in Battlefield 2. It SHOULD be a 10/10 if afforementioned occurs.
Darkspore, SSX. Pretty unique. There isn't a hardcore snowboarding game this generation, and it looked really great in the CGI trailer. It looked FUN above all, but it'd have to have a LOT of substance, and as much polish as other EA extreme sports games (such as SKATE). It has much potential, and can't wait to see more. No score atm. Darkspore is VERY unique, a top-down strategy RPG set on in a sci-fi universe. Spore-meets-diablo. It got me excited, no luck on beta access just yet, but from what I've seen it's a SOLID 9/10.
Bulletstorm, for me, based on the demo is EAs only poor game. I think I would have given it a good score if it was a PSN/XBLA/Steam game but it isn't. Technically it's unique, with the whip and skillshots. But I don't know, it just felt cheap to me and repetitive rather than "WOW cannot wait to repeat that level and try new things". 7/10 if I'm being generous.
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Probably my longest blog, HOPE you read it. Please leave comments on if you think another 3rd-party(?) publisher (THQ? Rockstar? 2K? Ubisoft?) is just as good this year, and what you would score the EA games listed.
"30XX is one of the best roguelikes out there, combining the tight platforming action of the Mega Man X series with the challenge and randomization that roguelike fans crave. Batterystaple Games has done lots of refinement through updates since 30XX first appeared on Steam Early access a few years ago. The latest such update adds a new character for free, one who combines the best attributes of the two existing characters. Also, the Steam version is on sale, making it a great time to travel to the distant year of 30XX!" says Co-Optimus.
"Hammerwatch II's journey to Xbox has been long and perilous. After first launching on Steam in the fall of 2023, the game finally turned up on PlayStation 5 last December. Since then, Xbox gamers who enjoyed the original Hammerwatch and the sublime Heroes of Hammerwatch have been anxiously awaiting their turn at the long-promised sequel. At last, the wait is nearly over because Hammerwatch II will hit Xbox and PlayStation 4 on April 23," says Co-Optimus.
Joe 'Three Sheets' Neate (Executive Producer): "As I’m sure you can imagine, when it comes to Sea of Thieves my days are full of numbers. Development costs, active servers, days until the next update… Sometimes, though, a truly extraordinary number stands out – a number like 40 million, which I’m incredibly pleased to say is the number of pirates who’ve now set sail in Sea of Thieves!"
Garrr... more people to walk the plank and send to Davey Jones locker.
would have been funny to release this on talk like a pirate day.
40 million have set sail...that's great. How many are sailing now? Monthly active users....when it actually matters. How many people purchased the game is another important number.
You don't get numbers like that from MS mouth pieces, they just like to say stuff like "this game was looked at 129 million time, the biggest amount of people browsing a game of this genre on xbox gamepass ever in the last 3 weeks compared to before gamepass was out (small print only 2 million bothered playing longer than 20 seconds and only 100 people are playing it concurrently)
It's all smoke and mirrors
There are usually around 10,000 concurrent users on Steam not counting Xbox or PS but really it doesn't matter as long as there are enough people on the servers to play which there always were and will be for a long time now with the PS players coming on board. Same goes for how many people bought it and how many are on GP, we aren't the accountants of these console companies so why would we care?
2012 Will Be The Year Of Rockstar Games
I think its EA or Sony.
that's great, best of the best but i wish they would give other companies a chance at making a game in the sports genre , NHL Madden are both roster updates every year .