My favorite stuff of 2011 - Part III

2011 Game #15 - From Dust


Two facts about me: 1. Another World is one of my favorite games ever. 2. I am not at all a fan of God-games/sims/whatever you want to call them. So you can imagine my elation and ensuing disappointment when the announcement came that Eric Chahi was coming out of over a decade of silence in the game industry... to do a God-game. Nevertheless, my faith in Eric Chahi led me to From Dust, and I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. My ignorance in this field may indicate that I only enjoyed From Dust because it's accessible and has a pedigree, and that there are much better games out there in the same vein, but alas, I am a simple creature with simple desires.

2011 Game #14 - Dead Space 2


Dead Space was a fun distraction, but Dead Space 2 is a legitimately awesome game with a handful of moments that I'll probably never forget. I had my concerns that making Isaac more "badass" this time around would hurt the mood of the game, but it actually enhanced things. Ironically, of the two big EA releases that hit early this year, the one I was expecting to be great (Dragon Age II) let me down while the one I wasn't terribly enthused about ended up knocking my socks off.

2011 Film #6 - If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front


This film illustrates a point that has been paramount for people everywhere this year: picket signs and sit-downs only take you so far. If what you believe in is that important to you, then you need to stand up, get organized and fight for it, even if it means risking everything.

2011 Game #13 - Batman: Arkham City


Contrary to a lot of people, I felt that Arkham City was a step back from Asylum. While the sprawling, open world was impressive at first, that openness came with a lack of detail, with the incredible sense of Metroidian level design that made Arkham Asylum great all but stripped away in favor of something that would feel more epic and grandiose. I understand Rocksteady's desires, but it's a painful compromise. Either way, Arkham City is still a really great game, it just feels more like inFamous now, and we have enough of those.

2011 Game #12 - Outland


Speaking of Metroid... take its brilliant world design, work in Ikaruga's color-switching mechanics and throw it all in a painstakingly detailed world cast entirely in silhouette, and you have one of the greatest downloadable games ever made.

2011 Show #3 - The Heart, She Holler


I had no fucking idea what to make of the Heart, She Holler when I first saw it, and by rights, I don't even really know what to make of it now. All I knew was that it had Patton Oswalt and Kristen Schaal, so I had to check it out. The Holler is impossible to describe. It's like an animated Williams Street show come to life. It's Dadaism on the silver screen. I love it.

2011 Film #5 - Hesher


Joseph Gorden Levitt is really trying to be somebody, and if he shows up in more flicks like Hesher, he'll win me over. T.J. is a young boy who's recently suffered a family tragedy, leaving his father (Rainn Wilson) in a state of crippling depression. As T.J. begins to feel increasingly alone, all of the sudden, a mysterious metal head (Levitt) shows up and befriends him in his own, twisted way. What follows is a movie that is every bit as emotionally exhausting as it is strangely funny. There's no other film like it.

2011 Game #11 - El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron


El Shaddai is what it would be like if you could play a Klimt painting. It takes the overdone, high-octane, frenetic gaming experience introduced by Devil May Cry, and takes it to places you wouldn't be able to imagine in your wildest dreams. The plot isn't as surrealist or clever as it thinks it is, just in that trite, "experimental" anime way, and I'm not sure if I enjoyed actually playing El Shaddai as much as I enjoyed watching myself play it, but I definitely came away from it happy, and that's all that really matters.