It’s that part of the year when you make a balance of the games (that you played) that came out this year. So on the forums there are discussions about which game was the best, the biggest disappointment and so on.

This year I don’t have really a game I would heartily recommend. There’s nothing that stands out or that I truly like. I don’t have any “myth”. Maybe it’s because so much time passed writing about them, nitpicking and never be content? If I had even one of these games 15 years ago it would be just tears of pure joy.

Why the gaming nirvana of today feels so tasteless? I wish a game of today could give me the vibes of one game on my Commodore 64 when I was 8.

Anyway, there isn’t anything that stands out that I can remember. Starting from Company of Heroes, one of the best executed games this year (patches and support aside). Great design of the mechanics. Well thought. But at the end it’s an RTS with a classic scheme that represents a step back from the current evolution of this genre (I should write about this specifically, sometime). It’s well done in most of its aspects but the campaign isn’t all that involving and I have gripes against the terrain engine (technically). I don’t see it as a really ambitious game. Relic repeats and perfects what they do best. But is a partially derivative game the best we can expect from a full year? The “better” RTS?

Other very good RTS came out this year. It’s the year of the RTS. BFMEII, Dawn of War (the expansion), Rise of Legends, Paraworld and, forcefully in this category, Medieval 2 TW. But again I cannot see how they could represent the year. Good games, but still variations on the theme. The designers did a good work but, again, it doesn’t stand out. They are water channel, they follow the path along.

Dark Messiah. That’s another game with some excellent parts, but who would vote it to represent the best of the year? It was released with a bunch of problems and at the end it’s a short shooter on rails with variable art quality (from very high to ok) and some design problems here and there. Even in this case there are parts that stand out, but as a whole I wouldn’t celebrate it.

Prey? I wrote a lot about Prey. Some interesting ideas. A good feel. A good graphic. But again a rollercoaster with very, very stupid combat. And short. Great for the summer. Not for the year.

Titan Quest? Another game with a very good execution, but are we left again with a Diablo-derivate to represent this year?

I mean, the point is not to pick the best, or preferred game out this year. The point is to define THE APOTHEOSIS OF GAMING IN YEAR 2006.

That’s what I think. From how many years we play games? We must have something that can be celebrated properly, something that can be useful as a symbol, something to be proud of playing.

Oblivion and Gothic 3? Ugh… There’s a lot of “good” there, but overall the execution is terrible in both (at different degrees). Both have terrible engines and some bad game design. Neither of them has gameplay that “sticks”. And SURELY they aren’t worth of representing a whole genre. Too partial, too sketchy, too rough and unpolished. Good, interesting games *IN* their own niche, not outside. I cannot see them representing a wide “best”. I saw terribly optimized engines and lack of post-release support. I would never celebrate anything with those premises.

Neverwinter Nights 2? I’m still waiting my copy but, come on… It’s NWN1 with maybe better tools and better campaign. But technically it’s shit. It surely doesn’t look like a masterpiece. Obsidian worked on rather solid basis, it wasn’t simple to screw this title. And the result is passable. But, again, a passable title isn’t the game of the year.

The “best game” should have at least some innovative ideas, good game design, a *great* engine. It should do something good on all fronts. A proof of what gaming can be today. A proof of how far we have came.

There are some niche games like Dominions 3, Defcon or, hell, even Dark Fortress. These games DO stand out but it’s hard to see them as “best”. They are game wishes, mostly. Incubations. But not fully realized products.

There just isn’t a good title. However, as a whole, this was a GREAT year. I never bought as many games as this year and I wasn’t really disappointed by any of those titles. My backlog of stuff to play continues to grow. Thankfully (or not) now it looks like the Flow of Good Games of September/October is over.

But where’s the Game Of The Year?