My 20 Favorite Moments from Gaming in 2012
Everyone likes to pick their top favorite games of the year around this time, and as I’ve already done that I decided to do something a bit different.
I’ve gone through my memory banks and tried to remember particular moments throughout the year that I really loved, both in games I thought were great, or in ones that were just okay.
I was left with twenty when all is said and done, and if you’ve played any of these, perhaps you’ll share one or two of them. Check out the full list below. Some spoilers do follow for a few of the games mentioned.
1. [Guild Wars 2] Joining up with 100 other players to crush my first world boss
For a moment, I truly believed in the power of MMOs. But it sort of felt like I was trying to kill a bear by throwing pebbles at it.
2. [Diablo 3] Whenever I saw that brownish orange text when a legendary weapon drops after dozens of hours of gameplay
The item was almost always shit, but that feeling when you first see one after 50 hours of play…
3. [Diablo 3] Kicking Diablo’s ass in Inferno mode after struggling for months to gear up properly
I mean, they had to nerf the entire game for me to able to do it, but whatever, still counts.
4. [Mass Effect 3] When a singing Salarian almost made me cry
“It had to be me. Someone else might have gotten in wrong.” *Sniff*
5. [Mass Effect 3] I gave my girlfriend a planet
Oh you got me socks for Christmas? Well I got you your homeworld back.
6. [Mass Effect 3] When I could pretend the ending was brilliant, not shitty with Indoctrination Theory
Seriously, read about it. It’s the greatest fan theory I’ve ever heard, but unfortunately was ultimately dismissed by Bioware with the extended cut endings.
7. [Dishonored] Summoning rats from the earth to consume guards
I don’t understand how anyone could play this game non-lethally. It’s just so much fun to kill people in these insane ways.
8. [Black Ops 2] Dominating a game so hard that everyone flees from your lobby afterward
This happened maybe…once, but still.
9. [Far Cry 3] Taking over an enemy base by killing everyone in complete silence
This is always the best feeling in any stealth game, but there are few open world ones like this one and each base assault required careful planning and trial and error.
10. [Far Cry 3] Taking over an enemy base by watching a tiger sprint in from the jungle and eat everyone
This is obviously the preferred method. Follow me, friend. A delicious meal awaits!
The next ten on the next page!
“Would have liked to run tests on those seashells.”
Also, Walking dead, whoa. Just finished it a few days ago (yeah I’m late). And damn, in real life I don’t particularly care for children, I don’t want my own (for the next 10 years) but damn, I gave EVERYTHING to make Clementine safe and happy. The ending was devastating, but a brilliant piece of writing and gaming.
A friend of mine is a huge fan of Tali. I romanced her once, but I apparently lost that save somewhere along the line. So when we were discussing how some things went down in Mass Effect 3, he flipped out when I told him that I ended up sending all of the quarians into extinction, causing Tali to kill herself by jumping off a cliff.
It’s not like I meant for it to happen, though it was still a very powerful scene, and I certainly felt horrible about accidentally killing off Tali. But the quarians were just being such dicks! I also felt a little sad when I dumped Miranda for Liara and made her cry.
And goddamn it, Mordin, why did you have to sing? I didn’t cry, but I definitely felt a little empty for the next hour and a half.
Agree totally with the two Borderlands moments you chose. Both of those, in bitter opposition to each other, were why that game was so perfect. Laughter and tears.
The death of Bloodwing was when I finally became motivated the kill Handsome Jack.
Nice list. I personally laughed my ass off when I found Tali getting drunk using her “emergency induction port” and slurring her speech while shit-talking Miranda in ME3. God, I love that character. Also, will you be my Halo chauffeur, Tassi? I now dread it when a teammate pulls up in a Warthog and honks at me. I love terrorizing the map in a Warthog, but my teammates are always sooooooo bad at it. Hopping in always ends up in a quick death via driving into the middle of a group of enemies and flipping over or something equally stupid. Half the time I don’t even get a single kill because the fool is donuting or power-sliding around so much it’s impossible to aim. Man, I cannot wait for Christmas so I can finally buy The Walking Dead game. After all this hype, that sucker better blow my mind.
That gaus hog is the worst, you get a good driver for that and the other team is screwed.
Ummm about mass effect 3 and the indoctrination theory being “ultimately dismissed by Bioware with the extended cut endings.”. Do you have a source for that or just buzzkilling?
The original creator of “the indoctrination theory” doesnt seem to think it was dismissed. In fact he shows more proof of it after the extended cut was released… im annoyed 🙁