Our Overall Game of the Year 2012 is Mass Effect 3 from BioWare. The epic trilogy is one of this generation’s most compelling narrative arcs and this third instalment seemingly got the mix of dialogue, planning and action just right to make it a big hit with our staff.
Mass Effect 3 brought a thrilling conclusion to the many hours of gameplay that had led up to it. Although there was some discussion around how that final moment played out in the game – and whether that was a fitting conclusion to the story leading up to it – Mass Effect 3 did enough before that moment to leave an indelible mark on the hearts of millions of fans. Mass Effect 3’s early release date may have led to some writing off its chances but it has been a strong favourite with many of our staff for much of the year thanks, in part, to the engaging multiplayer mode it added to the series.
There was stiff competition for this grand prize, with Journey and The Walking Dead finishing strongly and Far Cry 3 still fresh in the memories of many. Perhaps the most exciting thing to note about the list of games we voted on is the diversity on show. From big-budget epics and billion-earning-blockbusters right down to tiny indie projects and niche titles, the gaming landscape in 2012 was packed with quality.
Here’s the chart to show our top five.
And here’s the table showing all the games which received at least one vote from us.
- Mass Effect 3
- Journey
- The Walking Dead
- Far Cry 3
- Halo 4
- PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
- XCOM
- The Unfinished Swan
- Assassin’s Creed III
- Velocity
- Asura’s Wrath
- Dirt Showdown
- Spec Ops: The Line
- Gravity Rush
- Black Ops II
- Diablo III
- Max Payne 3
- Dishonored
- Sound Shapes
- Borderlands 2
- New Star Soccer
- Rayman: Origins (Vita)
- Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
- UFC Undisputed 3
ron_mcphatty
That’s a very decent chart of games right there, it reflects the passionate attitudes of the staff well and I think the whole series of articles have been a great read. Nice one TSA!
a inferior race
I found Halo 4 to be the worst in the series and have gone back to playing Halo 3 again. As such I am surprised to see it in the top 5.
wolf-OF-chaos
I feel the complete opposite about halo 4 imo, personally it’s up there with the original.
Sympozium
Borderlands and Dishonored are easily for me in the Top 3, and Dark Souls…. since I can’t think of any for some reason. Good fun.
TSBonyman
ME3 was ok but ME2 was much better.
Dishonored stood out for me this year, a great new IP which i really enjoyed.
Nate
The Walking Dead was my personal highlight, but I have heard great things about the Mass Effect series so it seems a deserving winner. With such a strong line up of varied games this year, most of the games listed above would be deserving!
The Lone Steven
Am a bit surprised ME3 is GOTY. Personally, i disagree with it as ME3 is a bit of a disappointment. From the too much focus on action to the disappointing amount of dialogue with your crew and the prothean DLC. Good thing they are not very important to the lore. Oh wait.. Shame the ending was very weak and that they pulled that plot point out of their arses in the last 10-20 minutes. But apart from that, it is a decent shooter. A crap RPG though as it barely has enough elements to be considered a RPG. Suspect ME4 will either be a FPS or a shooter only with a ton of day 1 DLC.
jimmy-google
No Uncharted or LBP vita at all yet Rayman Origins vita (essentially a port from 2011) does make into the 24. Very odd.
Not sure many of those games would have even made my top 10.
wick15
Really surprised ME3 won this. Personally I wouldn’t even consider it in my Top 5. I was a huge ME fan up until that game. Felt that Bioware shafted their fans with the ending and the DLC that should have been in the game from the start. Ohh, well.
Good to see other games like Far Cry 3 and Halo 4 up there. Superb games. Only just started The Walking Dead games, so I can’t say much about that. Great from what I have played though.