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Let's talk. the 1st half of 2011 has been filled with rubies. no diamonds like Saint's Row 2, Halo 2, or Mass Effect 2, but just games that are simple fun.

Bulletstorm was too short with too few weapons

Dead Space 2 wasn't as scary as Amnesia: The Dark Descent (another wrist-slit that PC gamers and Console Gamers have a very South-African relationship)

L.A. Noire was cool, and the faces were life-like, but the interrogation was a bit too slanted

Dragon Age 2 left its PC supremacy to try to appeal to the console gamers, before falling flat on its face

Brink tried to beat TF2. Yea. Don't try that.

Portal 2 was fun and added a slew of new fun to the series, but it didn't have the iconic meme generation that the first one had (The Cake is a Lie!)

Actually, I think Total War: Shogun 2 and Crysis 2 are the only games in the first half of 2011 that rocked the house, odder still that one's a PC exclusive and the other's multiplatform.

So I officially dub Shogun 2 as PC 1/2 2011 Game of the Year and Crysis 2 1/2 2011 Game of the Year.

Yay. So let's speculate at the actual Game of the Year of 2011, and if anything will stand up to it. I've taken the liberty of inspecting each game slated for release in Q4/Q3 of 2011 and making an educated guess at what the probability is for 2011's Game of the Year.

A quick side note - I've noticed a pattern, on odd years, the GOTY is usually universal, a la Uncharted 2 and Bioshock, while even years teh GOTY opinion is more split (see 2010's Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, and Red Dead Redemption; and 2008's GTA 4, Fallout 3, and Saint's Row 2) So I'm going to make a prediction here that whatever does win GOTY 2011 will be universally acknowledged of that title.


Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception



Sequel to 2009 GOTY; Naughty Dog, the creators of Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter, took a more serious approach to games back in 2007 with the original Uncharted, which was met with above-average reviews. Two years later, Naughty Dog proved that it could be perfect and shocked the world with Uncharted 2, the perfect 3rd person adventure game. Will Uncharted be able to recreate success, or will it fall into familiar pits of the past? GOTY 2011 probability - 8/10


Batman: Arkham City



Another 2009 sequel; Batman was plagued with scummy games until 2009 when Arkham Asylum, a game whose genre I can't even descibe, hit us like a brick ****house. With a bigger world, 40 hours of gameplay, and the ability to play as ROBIN in certain game modes, alongside the incredible story we expect from the developers, Arkham City has the potential to blow away all competition. 2011 GOTY probability - 9/10


Battlefield 3



This is it. Many years ago, when Halo: CE had just made consoles relevant and Rome:Total War was some years away, Swedish developer DICE had the strongest FPS series on the market, Battlefield. A PC exclusive series, Battlefield was the undisputed modern shooter, until a certain game called Modern Warfare entered the scene. the original Battlefield ran off, to hide in the forests of Albania where it would gain its strength. It would send out scouts though, to test new technologies, to see how the community works with games in the current generation. It now arises, stronger than ever, armed with an engine capable of destroying its own environments, giving the best quality sound, and making the Cry Engine look like an 8-bit game. With the amount of work put behind it, will this be the Half-Life 2 of this console generation? GOTY 2011 probability - 9.75/10


The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim



Bethesda has quite the record under its belt - 2006's GOTY was Oblivion, 08's GOTY was Fallout 3, RAGE is looking fantastic, and Fallout was the best RPG of 2008, and Oblivion stood with Dead Rising as the first Next-gen console games, the potential of games today will be tested in the might of Skyrim. Dragons, Dungeons, and a massive world, the holy trinity of Skyrim. The ability to mix spells, the new executions, unscripted dragon fights, dragon shouts, superb graphics, and the soundtrack will make this new Elder Scrolls a true contender for GOTY 2011 GOTY 2011 probability - 9.75/10

Why Duke Nukem and Modern Warfare 3 weren't added - Duke has been in development for 14 years, and might suffer from this prolonged release; and anything is possible with The King and his Balls of Steel.

Call of Duty hasn't done too well with getting that GOTY title; the last three iterations of the series lost to more open-ended, adventur-ey titles (WaW v. Fallout 3/GTA4/SR2, MW2 v. U2, and BO v. RD:R) and the fact that MW3 is divided amongst a subsidiary, a horrendous developer, and an Infinity Ward with all the good bits missing, it's unfortunate that MW3 will follow in the footsteps of its predecessors and just miss the esteemed title of GOTY.

So who will win? Two titles originating from this console generation, and two returning from the depths of Tartarus. Will Skyrim's spell customization and dragons break the Bat's deep story and dark city? Will Uncharted manage to steal another GOTY out from under Call of Duty's nose again? Or will teh Prodigal Shooter return the King of the Hill and prove to every Halo and Call of Duty clone who is truly the FPS king?

Happy Gaming!

-Chillz