Best & Worst PS3 Games of 2011
Another year is almost over in the lifespan of the Playstation 3.
And what a year it was.
Even with the PSN hacking that happened last April, the Playstation 3 gained ground and momentum in the console wars. The sales figures are almost neck and neck between the PS3 and the Xbox 360 even though the 360 had a full one year lead in the marketplace on the PS3. Plus the Playstation Network is growing and getting better content every month. It looks like Sony’s 10 year plan for the console is paying off.
The PS3 had some exciting exclusive releases in 2011 such as Uncharted 3, Little Big Planet 2 and MLB: The Show 11, as well some solid 3rd party titles as Dead Space 2, Sonic Generations and LA Noir.
Unfortunely along with great games, we also got some pretty horrible ones like Mindjack.
Here’s my list for the Best & Worst PS3 Games for 2011.
All the best in the new year, and keep your PS3 controllers charged!
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The Best PS3 Games of 2011:
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1. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Drake gets a hot foot
Naughty Dog had a very tall order to match their last masterpiece Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, but Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception delivers the goods when it comes to action, interesting level desgin, graphics and is a overall fun game experience. The multiplayer is vastly improved and the game environments are very detailed and exciting! There’s so much variety to them. The ship graveyard was a great level complete with pouring rain, stormy seas and realistic underwater swimming. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is like playing in an action movie and the action just gets bigger and bigger.
Nathan Drake and Sully pound their way through the story (and we even get a cool back story on how the two met) and the excitement keeps you at the edge of your seat. Uncharted 3 is hard game to put down because you want to keep progressing to see the next cut scene which are fantastic by the way. Uncharted 3 is another superb example of character voice acting done right. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is one of the best action/adventure games of all time and it deserves top spot in our Best PS3 Games of 2011 list.
Batman kicks some serious criminal ass in Arkham City
2. Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham City has one of the best game openings of all time with one of the most shocking endings. Rocksteady showed the rest of game makers “how to” make a fantastic superhero game that’s 100 percent true to the characters and 100% magnificent. Batman is the world’s greatest detective and has one of the best rouges gallery in all of comics and Arkham City delivers the complete Batman experience in a video game.
You really get the feeling of what it is like to be Batman with the intense combat system, the detective work, the gadets and patrolling along the roof tops of Arkham City. The action in the game starts right away but doesn’t hold you down to doing just one objective. Arkham City is all yours to explore, stop a thug from beating on a politicial prisoner, use your dectective skills to track down a sniper, evesdrop on criminal conversations, or figure out one of the Ridder’s many 400 riddles scattered through the city. Arkham City also has DLC where you can play as Catwoman with her own different storyline. Arkham City is a blast to play and one of the best games ever released on the Playstation 3.
No road, no problem!
3. Motorstorm Apocalypse:
Motorstorm Apocalypse is the most intense racing games you’ll ever play. This installment in the series really kicked it up several notches in the OMFG department.
Racing through crumbling cities where destruction and falling buildings and bridges all crashing down around you now makes us think that any other “normal car racing” is boring now. Motorstorm Apocalypse is just plain fun and took some chances by placing the series in an urban setting.
Two generations of Sonics that don't suck
4. Sonic Generations
2011 was quite a year for Sega. It was the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog. It may have taken Sega a number of years to make a truely great Sonic platform game, but they finally got it right with Sonic Generations.
Sega managed to blend Sonic’s 2D and 3D gameplay seemlessly together and make us remember why we like Sonic in the first place. Playing Sonic hasn’t been this fast or exciting since Sonic Adventure 2 back way on the Sega Dreamcast. With the success of last year’s Sonic and Sega All Star Racing, and Sonic Colours it looks like Sega is on the right track with the little blue hegdehog. Welcome back Sonic, we missed you!
Skyrim was the best RPG in 2011
5. Elder Scrolls V: Sky Rim
What can I say? The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the next best thing to actually living in a fantasy realm. It has raised the bar in terms of RPG’s. Beautiful graphics, amazing environments, hours of gameplay and tons of different enemies to slay.
Forget about Lord of the Rings: War in the North, SkyRim is the best fantasy RPG that came out in 2011. It would most likely rank higher on this list, but I not a huge RPG fan. If I was Skyrim would be number one.
Johnny Cage kicks the blood out of Scorpion
6. Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat returned, and it didn’t hold anything back. In fact, the game was so over the top in the violence department that it was banned in Austrailia just before it was released!
Mortal Kombat was a beautiful, bloody, brutal, skull cracking blast!
The insane violence combined with fast, brutal fighting made for one hell of a game. With the addition of x-ray attacks (cracking somebody’s skull apart never gets old), tons of unlockables, and user friendly fatalities make this Mortal Kombat one of the best fighting games period. The online is solid, and the environments are the best looking ever presented in a MK game. Plus you get to play as everybody’s favorite God of War, Kratos. how cool is that?
Mortal Kombat was an exciting, violent beautiful gore fest that had fans bleeding for it in 2011.
Sackboy builds stuff in LBP2
7. Little Big Planet 2
The adoreable Sack Boy came back in 2011. Little Big Planet 2 was more like an “universe” in terms of content compared to the first Little Big Planet game. LBP2 had so many options to create levels, mini games, characters etc, it was staggering. The game is addictive and really fun to play and how can you hate on Sack Boy?
Limbo has a dark and creepy vibe
8. Limbo / Plants Vs. Zombies
Yes, these two games have been around on other platforms and IOS, but in 2011 both of these excellent games made their way to the PSN. Limbo and Plants Vs. Zombies are two of the best games that you will ever spend your money on and are totally worth buying again even if you purchased them on another platform! Limbo is a side scrolling platform game that is dark, creepy and inovative and looks like it came right out of the mind of Tim Burton. Plants Vs. Zombies is one of the best tower denfense games ever and it is so charming and fun that it’s nearly impossible to put down once you start playing. Both games are so clever and well designed they deserve to be in our Best PS3 Games of 2011 list.
The God of War: Origins Collection kills!
9. God of War: Orgins Collection
It was a smart move on Sony’s part putting this package together and releasing it for the Playstation 3. Putting Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta together (two forgotten, but amazing PSP games) in HD with full trophy support makes this package one of the “must buys” of 2011. Both of these games look fantastic and play great! Ghost of Sparta (I think) was better than God of War 2, and How crazy is it to say that?
Mr. Clarke enjoys watching a sunset...
10. Dead Space 2
Isaac Clark returned to the PS3 in 2011 in Dead Space 2. Although the game isn’t quite as scary as the original, Dead Space 2 is a huge improvement over the original in terms of gameplay and action and deserves to be in our best games of 2011 list. Isaac is more agile, both in zero gravity and inside the Sprawl space station. Your kinesis is more useful now, you can break a chair or rip off a limb and use it to impale any nechromorphs that get into your way. Tight, precise and satisfying gameplay, amazing graphics, bone-chilling sound effects, interesting story, fun multiplayer and the bonus of getting the excellent on the rails shooter Dead Space: Extraction make this package a must buy for any horror action game fan.
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Honorable Mention:
Saints Row the 3rd
Goldeneye Reloaded
Infamous 2
Dead Island
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The Worst PS3 Games of 2011:
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Thor is terrible on a "god-like" scale
1. Thor: God of Thunder
Thor: God of Thunder deserves the title for being 2011′s Worst Playstation 3 game.
Oddly enough, It’s a movie game, that doesn’t follow the movie. It doesn’t get more “copy and paste” then Thor. The game is a poor copy cat with no original ideas that tries to rip off the awesome God of War button mashing system but fails on a god like scale. It’s a completely repetitive, boring experience fighting the same four enemies over and over again. The enemies are Frost Giants and that’s all you’ll fight until you’ll want to hit yourself in the head with a hammer out of pure boredom. Thor’s hammer has absolutely no weight or power to it. The hammer might as well be Harry Porter’s wimpy useless wand! The hammer attacks you can do are just basic attacks, nothing special. You can change the colour of the lighting that Thor’s hammer produces but it doesn’t do any anything. Wow. I can change the lighting from yellow to blue…
Sega should really stick to making Sonic games (like the excellent Sonic: Generations) because looking at their track record, they suck at making superhero games. Thor, joins Captain America, Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and the Incredible Hulk as superhero movie games that are complete turkeys and should be on anyone’s “must avoid” list.
The story all takes place up in Asguard and every background looks exactly as the same as the last one. The Thor movie was great, but this game deserves to be hammered by lighting and the thrown into a landfill.
"Mind Turd" was bargin bin filler in 2011
2. Mind Jack
Mind Jack takes the number two position for the Worst PS3 Games of 2011. It would be number one, but at least it tried to do something different. Jacking somebody’s mind and taking over their body seems like a really cool idea, right?
However, the stupid A.I., horrible graphics, awkward controls and a lack of polish make it a frustrating and forgettable shooter. How can taking over another person’s body (ala jacking their mind) be so damn frustrating and annoying? There’s a lot of hate from players and critics around Mind Jack, and this game sucked the big one. It was in the bargin bin at used game store about 2 weeks after it’s release.
Apes go away!
3. Ape Escape
Ape Escape is a monkey turd of a game and the graphics look like they were squeezed out of an rotting PS2 banana. I mean some Wii 3rd part games look better looking than Ape Escape. And that’s a scary thought considerating Ape Escape is a PS3 next gen title.
The game is basically, a short and repetative on-rails shooter and the Playstation Move controls are just tacked on to give you a reason to use move Playstation Move. Ape Escape is game design at it’s weakest and are should even be allowed for sale in the PSN store.
Even Juggy action can't save this bad X-Men game
4. X-Men: Destiny
This game made being one of the X-Men boring.
I was disappointed by the limitation of the game’s storyline, focusing on three new characters instead of the likes of Wolverine or the other X-Men. Go visit Professor X and get him to wipe this terrible game out of your memory, or I recommend that you play the excellent X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This X-Men game can’t hold a candle to Wolverine: X-Men Origins or Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
Choose your fighter for "turtle like" online play
5. Mortal Kombat Kollection
For the first time ever on a console, the orignal Mortal Kombats 1, 2 & 3 were released in a package which sounds great, but man was this collection “Krap”. I completely hated this collection.
Time has not been kind to any these games. The graphics look blocky and dated and do not hold up well in 2011. The collection boasts that the original graphics were rendered in HD, but the graphics still look worse than you remember them. The Mortal Kombat Kollection introduces online play so now you can challenge somebody to a game of MK2 just like you used to do in the acrade, except the lag is completely slow, choppy and makes any online play completely unplayable! The lag completely ruins the only good aspect the Mortal Kombat Kollection had going for it. Avoid this and go play the new 2011 Mortal Kombat.
It's "Dog the Bounty Hunter!"
6. Call of Juarez: The Cartel
Ok, the first two Call of Juarez games were set in the wild west. They weren’t perfect games, but they had a fun western charm to them. Both of the pervious Call of Juarez games play like friggin’ Red Dead Redemption compared with Call of Juarez: The Cartel.
Ubi Soft decided to throw the series into modern day East LA, which was a completely stupid idea. The Cartel is a cheesy, clunky, boring mess of a game and it’s no wonder why Ubi Soft is running back to the Wild West setting with their next Call of Juarez game.
No more Harry Potter games! 
7. Harry Porter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 is a movie game, so you already know it sucks. If part one wasn’t bad enough, they had to make Part 2 and waste plastic by printing this “magical turd” on a disc. We can be thankful, the films are over so we don’t have to experience any more Harry Potter games.
Socom 4 is no MAG or COD
8. Socom 4
While playing Socom 4, I kept thinking “Maybe I should be playing MAG or COD?” The gameplay and graphics are kind of plain looking. As a first person shooter,Socom 4 didn’t blow me away. Plus the Playstation Move controls suck. Socom 4 is pretty much forgettable as a first person shooter. Incorporating the Playstation Move was also a terrible idea. Avoid.
Just as bad as the Spider-Man 3 game
9. Spider-Man: Edge of Time
Spider-Man: Edge of Time only gave us half of the Spidey’s we got in last year’s excellent Spider-Man:Shattered Dimensions. In fact, Edge of Time feels like only half a game and makes us want to swing back and replay Shattered Dimensions. Edge of Time feels rushed, sloppy and unfinished and everybody’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man deserves better. Also the story and the voice acting aren’t up to snuff on this game. Use your spidey sense and avoid this one.
This MJ Exprience should "Beat it"
10. Michael Jackson Experience
Everything about MJ (since he died) has been complete overkill. The MJ movie, the albums, his doctor’s trial, exposure in the media etc, and the Michael Jackson Experience is no exception.
I don’t about you, but I’m sick of Michael Jackson and this sorry game is a complete cash grab. This game is nothing new, and it’s not fun. It’s about waving your arms and legs around like an idiot in your living room following the moves of a cheesey King of Pop wannabe imatator. The game looks very last generation too it has a very cut and paste feel to it.
The Playstation Move version apparently works the best over the Kinect or Wii versions but really, who cares? I wish MJ lived and still was labeled “Wacko Jacko”, so this game wouldn’t even exist and we wouldn’t have to “experience” this terrible game.
Call of Duty overload...
11. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
A lot of Call of Duty fans are going to say, “Why the hell is Modern Warefare 3 doing in the worst games of the year?”
The answer is simply, this game hasn’t really evolved.
MW2 and MW3 might as well be the same damn game. The story mode is much shorter and very weak. The mulitiplayer mode isn’t anything ground breaking that we haven’t seen before in the series. Don’t get me wrong the graphics are amazing, but it just isn’t enough as a complete package.
There isn’t any heart in this game it’s just kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. Not to mention there have been so many Call of Duty games the last few years. I think Modern Warefare 3 has reached the breaking point where Activision has made the series boring. I’m “Call of Duty-ed” out.
Dead or Alive 5 coming to PS3 in 2012
Dead or Alive 5 is coming to the Playstation 3 in 2012.
Team Ninja are busy at work on the 5th installment of the series. It’s been awhile since the last Dead or Alive fighting game, which was Dead or Alive 4 that happened to be a launch title for the Xbox 360.
This news makes me very happy! I love the Dead or Alive series (except or those stupid DOA beach party mini games) and the only reason I wanted a Xbox 360 in the first place was to play Dead or Alive 4.
It’s great news that DOA5 is coming to the PS3. I don’t know many details about the game, except I heard there will HD sweat on the the characters in the game. The screen shots and teaser poster look very cool.
Uncharted 3 PS3 Review
Review Score: 9 out of 10
Nathan Drake and company are back in search of adventure and treasure in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. But can it top Naughty Dog’s masterpiece, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves?
The Good:
Fist Fighting:
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception has a much more improved fighting system than it’s predessor and it’s a lot of fun. It steals from Batman: Arkham Asylum (except the fighting isn’t as tight) where each punch or kick is timed by the square or triangle button on the PS3 controller. Basically, the fighting is button mashing.
Since the beginning of the game starts with a good ol’ fashion bar brawl it’s a perfect way to use the new fist fighting fighting mechanics, and throwing punches is satisflying. During a brawl, you can sometimes grab objects such as a money wrench or even a dead fish to clobber your opponets with. You also have a variety of stealth takedowns which come in handy if you want to get through a level without attracting attention.
During most of the game, I found my myself attacking with punching more than using my handgun to take down enemies. Fist fighting in the market area feels like it’s a nod to the fighting scene in Radiers of the Lost Ark, and Nathan Drake throws a punch just as well as Indiana Jones does.
Drake slugs somebody during a fire
Graphics / Enviroments:
The enviroments in Uncharted 3 surpass Uncharted 2. The environments in the story mode and multiplayer are moving and exciting to play in. The environments are rough seas, deserts, sandstorms, runaway trains and burning buildings. My favorite level was the Ship wreck yard where Nathan has to swim, dive, and go underwater to avoid being spotted or shot at. There also are some great looking eniroments where Drake is in the desert and looking for water just to keep his sanity. The graphics once again are top notch and may make Uncharted 3 could be the best looking PS3 game ever.
Multiplayer and Online Play:
Uncharted 3 has a better mulitplayer than Uncharted 2 and the maps are much more intense. You can fight on moving trucks at the airport, or fight on top of speeding subway cars in London’s underground. There’s more attention and variety put into them where I always felt that Uncharted 2′s muliplayer was a bit of a throwaway. You can also play Co-op with two other players and some of the levels have different enemies than the main game.
Elana looks hotter in Uncharted 3
Characters & Story:
The charcters and story are top notch, and if you’re a fan of the Uncharted series you’ll appreciate the game’s humour with such lines as, “Is that a popcorn machine?”
There also is a great little backstory about how Drake and Sully met. The banter between Drake and Sully during the game is once again highly enjoyable. You are always looking forward to getting to a “new” cut scene because they are so well done.
Puzzles:
The puzzles in Uncharted 3 are more challenging than Uncharted 2, but they are still a little too easy.
The Bad:
Too many characters:
Uncharted 3 seems to go back and forth between the characters a little too much where you sometimes lose track of the story. I enjoyed revisiting the characters from the series, but I thought that the villians in the game weren’t given enough ample story time to become menacing or make an impact. They’re just sort of there.
The biggest fault with Uncharted 3 is it tries to juggle too many characters at once and doesn’t have enough time in the game to do each character justice.
Too much damn climbing:
The climbing hasn’t changed at all since the first Uncharted game, and it gets boring fast. You can only have Drake climb so many walls before you start to lose interest. However you do less climbing in Uncharted 3. I feel there’s a risk with the climbing, Drake never misses those little ledges that he’s jumping to and you find yourself asking, “When will the climbing be over?”
The climbing seems to slow down the other action in the game. I’d rather be shooting or punching somebody then climbing up the side of an castle for the 900th time. To mix things up, there are a few levels where you are able to shoot upwards at your enemies (when you’re climbing) and then you get to see them fall from above you. Fun, but not enough to keep me interested in climbing walls over and over again.
Some bugs and glitches:
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception does have some minor glitches. While playing the ocean level, I got stuck in the middle of the ocean, hovering above the water. I couldn’t move and had to restart the checkpoint.
The Bottom Line:
Although Uncharted 3 may not be as ground breaking as Uncharted 2 was two years ago, it’s still a must buy if you’re a fan of the series.
It has high adventure, spills and kills, along with some fantastic “movie like” quality moments. It takes awhile to get going, but once it does it’s a hell of a ride.
If you look at the PS3 commerials in Japan on Youtube, even Indiana Jones himself (Harrison Ford) had a blast playing Uncharted 3 and that’s a recommendation worth considering.
If Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is considered the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in the Uncharted series, then Uncharted 3 is the “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and that’s not a bad place to be.
God of War Orgins PS3 Review
Review Rating: 10 out of 10
Two fantastic PSP classics (that nobody played) make their way to the PS3 in an “two for one” package with HD and trophy support. I always thought God of War 2 was the best game in the series, this package showed me how wrong I was.
The Good:
Story:
Both games Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta have fantastic stories and they both revolve around Kratos’s family. Chains of Olympus takes place just before God of War 1 and Ghost of Sparta takes place just after Kratos has dethroned Aries as the “God of War” after God of War 1. However Ghost of Sparta seems to have more of a human story that involves Krato’s brother and gives the game more of reason which explains why Kratos is so angry all the time.
God of War action!
Graphics:
The graphics look pretty good in this package considering these games were originally made for the PSP. Chains of Olympus looks more like a PSP game than Ghost of Sparta. Overall both games surprised me on how good they looked being rendered in HD. I was expecting to see more blur/distorted pixels in some areas of the game, but the graphics in both games appear to be sharp. The cut scenes look good (if not better) than other games in the God of War series.
Variety in the Environments:
Both games really mix it up when it comes to the environments that Kratos has to adventure through. You get to fight on a Greek ship during a violet storm, climb snow covered mountain cliffs, journey through underground caves with molten lava,and enter the city of Sparta, where it’s people welcome you with open arms. There also are some great moments in the lost city of Atlantis and some terrific underwater environments to explore. Both games, especially Ghost of Sparta offer so much variety.
The Bad:
Main Game Menu:
There’s nothing really bad to say about this game package except that I wish there was an easier way to switch between the two games then having to quit the one game I’m playing and then restart the other game. This is a very minor flaw, I’m nitpicking.
Kratos always makes time for the ladies
The Bottom Line:
This package is a “must buy” for anyone who loves the God of War series and owns a PS3.
It’s a shame these two masterpieces never got the attention and full respect they deserved when they were originally released on the floundering PSP. It was a wise move on Sony’s part putting this package together and releasing it for the Playstation 3. The God of War series belongs on a console in the first place.
I enjoyed playing Ghost of Sparta just a little more than playing Chains of Olympus simply because it had more “Oh My God” moments and more variety in the game play overall. I have to admit Ghost of Sparta is a much better game than God of War 2 (which I thought no game in the series could possibly be better) simply because it put me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was playing it.
God of War: Origins Collection is great package and a must buy.
Force Unleashed 2: Endor DLC PS3 Review
Review Score: 8 out of 10
The Force Unleashed 2: Endor DLC is a short and but an extremely entertaining Star Wars experience.
In the DLC you get to play out a different outcome in the Battle of Endor from Return of the Jedi.
Instead of the happy sappy ending at the Ewok village where the Rebels celebrate their victory over the Empire, Starkiller’s Jedi clone enters the storyline before the Empire’s shield generator has been destroyed and tears the Rebels a new pie hole and changes the events in Star Wars history.
Don't let the wookie win...
This DLC follows the events of the very first Force Unleashed DLC where Luke died on Hoth. The events play out on a “different” timeline, where Vader sends Starkiller’s clone to the Forest moon of Endor and the Empire crushes the Rebel Alliance.
Star Wars fan favorite’s like Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia all get… shall we say, “owned”. Starkiller’s Jedi Clone also kicks the crap out of the sickening Ewoks and dispatches Rebel soldiers and Stormtroopers in the most brutal fashion. One of the clone’s Jedi powers is a drop kick move. He has the ability to “punt” Ewok ass across the forest moon by pressing the x and square buttons, which is something every Star Wars fan would love to do since they first appeared on screen over twenty eight years ago. Drop kicking Ewoks never seems to get old.
Although this DLC is short, it takes about half an hour to complete on normal mode and two hours to complete on unleashed mode, it really is well worth the .99 cent price. In many ways, I felt the Endor DLC was more fun, exciting and had more storyline weight to it than the actual Force Unleashed 2 game. It’s full of surprises although the boss battles are a little predictable and easy.
Ewoks + Electricity = AWESOME!
Why is killing beloved characters from the Star Wars universe so damn enjoyable?
I enjoyed playing this DLC, and I recommend it because it’s more in tune with the first Force Unleashed game. It was fun (shocking at times) and it takes chances. There is even some trophy support and some extra characters skins to select. Playing it feels like I’m getting some revenge on George Lucas for creating Ewoks, Jar Jar Binks and ripping the heart out of the Star Wars saga with episodes 1,2 & 3.
The Force Unleashed 2: Endor DLC is worth checking out if you already bought the disappointing game and you’re looking for a reminder why we loved the first Force Unleashed game in the first place.