Ballots: Brendan Keogh

Games

1. Bastion (25)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (20)
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (15)
4. Gears of War 3 (10)
5. Jetpack Joyride (10)
6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (5)
7. Portal 2 (5)
8. Forget-Me-Not (5)
9. Bulletstorm (3)
10. Binding of Isaac (2)

Comments

Going into this year–hell, going into any year–I never would have thought I’d see a Call of Duty game anywhere near my personal GOTY lists. Though, really, that is exactly why Modern Warfare 3 is so high: I went in expecting nothing, and I came out with heart palpitations. I still haven’t found the words to explain to the many skeptics my base enjoyment of it, but neither can I deny the utterly visceral reaction I had while playing it. But still, it was not enough to take out Bastion from the top spot. I crowned Bastion my GOTY when I finished it twice in three days when it first came out, but little did I expect it to hold onto the spot all year. Still, no other game this year has pierced my heart in the way Ruck’s grizzly voice did. A more synchronous harmony of (literal) storytelling and (literal) worldbuilding I have never experienced.

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