11. Dishonored

Dishonored is so full of great ideas and deft execution that its inclusion on this list feels mandatory for me, but in all honesty, it’s still a product that lacks. The low chaos ending is decent thematically, but from a gameplay perspective, it’s far too simple and no fun at all. Dishonored goes by so quickly that it feels like it’s over in a heartbeat, even though it’s of a decent length. I can forgive these problems because it’s an astounding play experience, but over the weeks my memories of it have become a little soured.

10. Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 is perfection in third-person mechanics and fluidity, if you ask me. The ebb and flow of combat in Max Payne 3 is graceful, a ballet of bullets. Its narrative was pretty dissonant from the violence it reveled in throughout, but mechanically, the game is beyond excellent. It’s pure, short, and sweet.

9. Spec Ops: The Line

If Max Payne 3 is a celebration of violent shooters, Spec Ops: The Line is an indictment of them. Alongside another game on this list, Spec Ops might be one of the most important games to be released this year, at least from an artistic perspective. The shooting mechanics were passable at best, but they were in service to the narrative rather than being the game’s focus. Walker’s descent into the hell that Dubai became after a devastating sandstorm, and his own personal hell is one of the most compelling and brutal in gaming, and it’s one of the only shooters I’ve ever played that has something genuinely important to say.

8. Lone Survivor

I’m generally a wimp when it comes to horror. I don’t enjoy it because it’s cheap and doesn’t leave a lasting impression more often than not. Lone Survivor, however, is psychological horror through restraint. The eponymous main character’s slowly growing madness in light of the terrors surrounding him is intriguing and compelling. The visuals, distinguished in their quilt-like screen of relatively large pixels and excellent lighting, make this survival horror game work wonderfully in 2D. It’s an affecting journey, and one I don’t regret taking, as much as I dreaded every step.

7. Journey

Journey, like Portal before it, is defined and improved by its brevity. It’s replayable as hell, unbelievably gorgeous throughout, and thematically powerful. It’s either beautifully cooperative or painfully lonely, and the ending amplifies these emotions perfectly. It’s just a thing that needs to be played.

6. Halo 4

After a passing of the torch from Bungie to 343 Industries, Halo 4 marks the start of a new trilogy in the Halo mythos and is still an excellent game, perhaps the best in the series. Its pacing is pitch-perfect, the combat never gets dull, and it’s one of the most visually stunning things on consoles. While there are some unusual story beats, it doesn’t disrupt the game’s mesmerizing flow, and the multiplayer is superb, as usual.

5. XCOM: Enemy Unknown

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is among the most playable survival horror games I’ve ever played, as well as an excellent strategy game, one that is accessible while still having the capability of being brutally difficult. Playing in Ironman Mode is an intense exercise in masochism. Every loss is felt at a gut level, every alien that enters your view another source of terror, entirely capable of wasting your whole squad. None of the fear is delivered cheaply through aesthetics, but rather, cleverly through design and mechanics alone. The enemy may be unknown, but their devastating power is not. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is an incredible tactical and strategic experience, and a welcome reimagining of the classic franchise.

4. Hotline Miami

If Spec Ops: The Line makes killing feel bad to make a point, Hotline Miami makes it feel good to make the same point. The rush of Hotline Miami, from the one-hit kills on both enemies and yourself to the pulsating neon aesthetics to the absolutely insane ending, makes everything feel good; disturbingly good, in fact. It’s an ultra-violent puzzle game with personality to spare, but there is a method behind the madness, both mechanically and thematically.

3. FEZ

FEZ is really tough to describe without shattering its magic. It’s a game about games in a really weird way. It stimulates the senses while simultaneously relaxing them. It’s a visual and aural feast for its entire duration, and much like Journey, it simply begs to be replayed. What I often find with games is that I can’t replay them because the magic is lost after completion or I feel like I’m doing the same thing over again when I have other things to do. I’ve played through FEZ three times, and it never lost that magic, and even though I was certainly playing the same thing more than once, it still felt fresh.

2. Mark of the Ninja

Mark of the Ninja is mechanical perfection synthesized with aesthetic purity and clarity. The information it needs to provide players is delivered in the least cluttered, most intuitive way imaginable, and in a stealth game, that is paramount. Mark of the Ninja is an astoundingly polished game, and is without a doubt my favorite stealth game of all time.

1. The Walking Dead

Anyone who has read my stuff recently or talked to me in the past 6 months knows that this game was the one that just got to me more than anything else this year (I made it pretty explicit in the full season review). Lee and Clementine are well written as individuals, but as a unit, they are simply perfect. From the harrowing introduction to the heartbreaking finale, The Walking Dead: The Game is a truly amazing interactive achievement. If you’re a fan of the show, drop that immediately and play this game. If you don’t like The Walking Dead or zombie fiction in general, this will make you a believer. Even if you don’t like video games, you need to try The Walking Dead: The Game. I know this all sounds like hyperbole, but I’d be surprised if my sentiment isn’t the same in a few months.