Strategy Informer  

XCOM is definitely game of the year :)

Oh, ok, I'll give it to XCOM. Interesting choice certainly, although it still drives me crazy!

Excellent choices all round!
Cept for I am Alive IMHO, but hey, can't agree on everything ^^

I only played 3 of the games on this list, it's almost sad :).

Kinda surprised Borderlands didn't even get an honourable mention, it probably sucks when you have no friends to play it with :P.

All excellent choices Joe (and Jamie, Nick, Chris et al), though hastily glancing through the above posts I see SirRoderick has stated the same - still doesn't hurt to reiterate. While I personally would not have played them all ("I Am Alive" and The Walking Dead" they are nonetheless noteworthy for being very popular). "Transformers" - sorry Jamie and Chris, I don't get that one, what with "Far Cry 3" and "Planetside" left out of the main contenders. Must be a console thing:)

Honourable Mentions:
Kingdoms of Amalur" - hmmm, don't know I'd have included that one.
As for "Diablo III", I'd have put it as one of the most controversial of releases of the year.

Might have included "Football Manager 2013" and definitely would have raised "Rise of Flight" with the new English Channel map and it's continuing evolution.
Perhaps "Revisits" might have been good for games like "Rise of Flight" (or "State Of Play") and "Sword of the Stars II", now as close to complete as it was far from complete on release.

"Endless Space" would have received a big vote from me also.

I was fairly close to putting Hotline Miami in my list as well if anyone hasn't played that yet? I've yet to play Far Cry 3, just haven't got around to it. I hear very good things though!

"Hotline Miami" certainly hit a lot of gamer's top 10 lists, but I haven't played it. Nor have I played many of the prohibitively over-priced titles listed here (Damn you 2K and Valve, damn you to Hell and back).

I have no intention of playing Hotline, doesn't seem that enjoyable to me :/

Well, haven't played all of them but seems to follow the general consensus. I would not have X-Com so high, I think they dropped the ball a bit too much to actually be worthy of top notch. It was overly simplified and the camera and cut-scene changes made me angry every time I played the game so much that it deterred from the actual fun I did have.

Dishonored is one of the big surprises - actaully liked that one a lot. Good story, good options for game play and giving you powers and plenty of places and situations to apply them to.

That the Witcher 2 didn't get in on 10 is a personal disappointment and that Kingdoms of Amalur got a worthy notion ;)

Mass Effect 3 GOTY p hahahahahahahahahaahah, ahah, ahah, phew..I love SI for sense of humor :)

MAss Effect is a genuinly great game mate, everything except that horrid ending is magnificent :)

ME3 is like great sex where you get kicked in the nuts by a horse in the end, I don't want that kind of sex at all.

Err, that's a visual I'm finding it hard to vanquish.
Another thing - "Day Z" is a mod, not technically a game..."DayZ is a 2012 multiplayer open world survival horror mod." - Wiki
So it really shouldn't even be included as an Honourable Mention, otherwise a load of other non-stand-alone mods would have to be included.

@herodotus: ""Transformers" - sorry Jamie and Chris, I don't get that one, what with "Far Cry 3" and "Planetside" left out of the main contenders. Must be a console thing:)"

Chris here - and nope, it's a Transformers fan thing! If we went for sheer fun, good story, and great fanservice Transformers was my GOTY. Except I'm more sensible than that. :D

Hotline Miami I'm currently playing through thanks to a Steam sale and everyone's glowing recommendation, and it is very addictive stuff. It is NOT Game of the Year though, and anyone who claims it is without fault (even in its simplistic, basic approach) is giving it too much credit. However Herodotus I'm amused that you complain about overpriced games but still haven't played the lower-priced games on this list either! :)

Kingdoms of Amalur is on there mainly thanks to me I think - I felt it deserved at least a mention even if I knew it wouldn't trouble any of the main contenders. Yes it was a bit humourless and felt like an offline MMO at times but was still a fun RPG that obviously had a lot of work put into making the world engaging.

@FoolWolf: The Witcher 2 didn't get on because, although great, it's just a port of the game that came out last year. And I personally went for Dishonored as my GOTY, it just was lacking a bit of... something to make it the obvious choice.

Far Cry 3 - Loved it, came close to my top choice, but it came out so late in the year I think I'm the only one to play it! Furthermore I personally thought it got duller as it went along - there's just not quite enough to do of interest in the islands.

Mass Effect 3 I loved about 88% of - not liked, LOVED. But it suffered from the same problem that stopped me from telling everyone that Knights of the Old Republic II is the greatest RPG ever - the ending just didn't match the brilliance. Still, the extended version improved things enough to put it higher on my list.

Next year, or close to the end of this one, perhaps we should have a Reader's Poll of Top Games of the year - see how it matches with the ones you guys come up with. Sure to be some differences, and quite a few fireworks and heated discussions:)

I couldn't believe that first screen was from CKII at first, the game looks completely different after all the patches and its not even been out a year...

Yes, looks more like "EU 2".

Hey guys - just as a reminder, I know there's a few games like Borderlands 2 etc... that didn't even make it into the honorable mentions list, but that's only because they weren't in any of our Top 5. Had to keep it simple!

Glad you enjoyed reading this though. Here's to 2013!

Well it was a darn good read anyway, JC.

XCOM ROCKS! I totally agree with you!

I just have one further comment to make and it pertains to "Crusader Kings II" (and all games of it's ilk in the PI catalogue that I try to enjoy).
Given the mass-market design that's bleeding over from the consoles to the PC these days, I think games like "CK II", "Victoria II", "Pride of Nations" "EU III", Supreme Ruler" (and Paradox's other global sim games, now and coming) can and should do more to streamline the access to controls and information. They attempted it in "HoI III" but still it was overwhelming. Some might see this as "dumbing down", but I see it as making these great games more accessible and popular to play in the mainstream.

Just give me the same amount of options and depth and I have no worries with any of that.

There might be some streamlining but they did that with "HoI III" to great effect and with the support and acceptance of the fans. Yet it really wasn't enough. I'm not talking about say comparing "SupCom: FA" with "SupCom 2" type streamlining, but something close. Easily accessible, easily understood and more in line with what the non-diehard strategist is after. A meeting of the two is surely possible, particularly with the potential for profit in mind.
I'm finding "Vic II": A House Divided" a bitch to get a handle on at the moment...almost as bad as Aegod titles.

PS. They did it with "Classic Mode" in "Football Manager 2013", and has been very popular.