RPS Calendar - Celebrate The Games They Missed

[Lambchops]

So the RPS Calendar is now complete and a jolly good list it was too. But of course there's always going to be something you've loved that wasn't on there so this here thread is for extolling their virtues. Not, I repeat, NOT, for moaning about them not appearing or criticising what was there in their place (fun though that may be). Positive vibes people!

Here, courtesy of PhilWal in the comments, is a list of the games on said calendar:

Dec 01: FTL
Dec 02: Borderlands 2
Dec 03: Waking Mars
Dec 04: The Walking Dead
Dec 05: Stacking
Dec 06: Thirty Flights Of Loving
Dec 07: Guild Wars 2
Dec 08: Legend Of Grimrock
Dec 09: Lone Survivor
Dec 10: Dark Souls
Dec 11: Dear Esther
Dec 12: Thomas Was Alone
Dec 13: Mark Of The Ninja
Dec 14: The Secret World
Dec 15: Torchlight II
Dec 16: Mass Effect 3
Dec 17: Tribes: Ascend
Dec 18: Planetside 2
Dec 19: Day Z
Dec 20: Crusader Kings II
Dec 21: Dishonored
Dec 22: Hotline Miami
Dec 23: XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Dec 24: Far Cry 3

So my picks for missing games are:

Super Hexagon - http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...und-next-week/

Fiendishly well designed, gloriously difficult, great tunes. Can't really explain why I poured hours into being able to beat only the easiest level but I did!

Drawception - http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...n-drawception/

It was always going to be a flash in the pan but for two weeks it was brilliant and hilarious and wonderful. Going back to the site it's now covered in a swathe of social media nonsense, XP, coins and other such bullshit which suggest that the guy behind it never found a way to make money from it after the initial burst of popularity faded. Still in it's opening days it was an excellent place for creativity, humour and, yes, myriad drawings of cocks.

Offspring Fling - http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...fspring-fling/

I did describe this as "good but ultimately forgettable" in one of the calendar comments threads which was a bit harsh (I had forgotten about it though!) as it is a rather neat concept and an excellent puzzle game worth trying if puzzle games are your bag.

So what other games do you care to recommend? First person to say Frog Fractions earns a look of bemused indignation until I remember those positive vibes!

[SirKicksalot]

Spec Ops: The Line - by the time I finished it I felt like a truck ran over me. Granted, it was a hot summer day. But I felt really bad. And I loved that. While the shooting isn't that good, the storytelling and visual design are excellent.

The Darkness 2 - a heartbreaking story and an ultraviolent shooter. I gladly went with the bad ending.

Syndicate - the best power trip of the year. You're a bad guy and you murder people with awesome overpowered guns and abilities. I took great pleasure in murdering every civilian. There are many civilians. It also has a very cool interface and Riddick-tier body awareness.

Sleeping Dogs - best city in its genre. Very fun melee combat. Missions that mix and match various gameplay elements and challenges and never get stale. Wei Shen Motherfucker is a very likeable protagonist. Glorious PC version.

Diablo 3 - the feel of the combat is unmatched and skill swapping makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. While the story is shit and there's still no STFU mode, it's worth playing for how FUN the combat is.

[airtekh]

I pretty much agree with most of RPS's calendar, the only glaring omission I found was ...

Natural Selection 2 Wot I Think

It's Marines vs Aliens in an asymmetric multiplayer FPS/RTS hybrid which produces some of the most exciting multiplayer matches I've ever seen online.

For indie developer Unknown Worlds, I think it's a terrific accomplishment; they've fostered a community for over ten years and developed NS2 since 2006. I'm delighted to see them finally release the sequel to the old Half Life mod, NS1.

I feel it was perhaps overshadowed by Planetside 2, which occupies a similar area (also it's free). Hopefully it'll get a daily deal on the Steam sale and get a bunch of new people interested in it. I've set up a little steam group over in the social forum, and maybe we can get some RPSers playing over Christmas.

[Cooper]

Black Mesa -Wot I think
Given the existence of DayZ, it seems "total conversion" mods are not off of the table. In which case, Black Mesa. Sure it's not anything new and different like DayZ, but it takes what's arguably - if not the best PC game ever - the most important PC game ever, and tarts it up. And what a tart up. Those behind Black Mesa show a kind of awareness of exactly why Half Life is probably the most important PC game ever that no game it's influenced or critic write-up could ever capture. It shifts things very slightly in a way that acknowledges the development of game design since it was released and so offers much more than a just a "HD" version. The first hour is almost more Half-Life than Half-Life; the movement through an underground research complex, knowing conversations going on around you captures that deliberate place-making, scene-setting and exposition-less story telling that Half-Life is the master of and that few games have been able to pick up on. It's perfect pacing and wonderful set-pieces obviously owe their debt to the original, but throughout Black Mesa proves itself a great game in its own right.

[PeteC]

Spec Ops: The Line - by the time I finished it I felt like a truck ran over me. Granted, it was a hot summer day. But I felt really bad. And I loved that. While the shooting isn't that good, the storytelling and visual design are excellent.

Very much this although I didn't think the shooting was all that bad. The mechanics are all solid enough but that's really not the reason to play the game. Play it for the story. I've not played anything else quite like it.

This is a good synopsis on why it's so good. Just don't watch part two if you've not played it as it's very spoiler heavy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjaBsuXWJJ8

As he says, the game isn't exactly fun but it really is engaging.

[Casimir Effect]

Botanicula
Where so many games are about shooting men, slicing demons, crushing undead, eating marines, eviscerating aliens, or being an artsy 2D platformer which builds a game around a single unique mechanic, Botanicula is a pleasant feast for the eyes and ears with tonnes of character thrown in. It's not a hard game. The plot isn't going to shatter your world. The puzzles are sometimes silly. But the game will make you smile and you'll want to share it with others.

[Bobtree]

Super Monday Night Combat, Wargame EE, Natural Selection 2, AirMech, Awesomenauts

[Shooop]

How the hell did they manage to miss Black Messa? Mod or not, it was a tremendous undertaking and the fact that it got made at all is a glorious achievement in video games - and it's actually good.

[NathanH]

Recycling my comment on the Far Cry 3 blog thread, here are my twelve games of Christmas. Six of them already appeared on the blog, though. Italicized entries were those not chosen by RPS for mysterious reasons probably involving publisher bribes.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, digital downloads gave to me: Twelve children murdered, eleven shards to conquer, ten iron doors standing, nine lands a-tapping, eight dwarf queens breeding, seven conclaves researching, six berserkers defending, five phase beasts, four crewmen dying, three colours to choose from, two ratman robbers, and a sectoid in a laboratory.

[LTK]

Botanicula
Where so many games are about shooting men, slicing demons, crushing undead, eating marines, eviscerating aliens, or being an artsy 2D platformer which builds a game around a single unique mechanic, Botanicula is a pleasant feast for the eyes and ears with tonnes of character thrown in. It's not a hard game. The plot isn't going to shatter your world. The puzzles are sometimes silly. But the game will make you smile and you'll want to share it with others.

I give your post the 'Understatement of the Year' award. *applauds*

I liked Botanicula too, in any case. Give me an entire year's worth of creative not-games that make you smile and I'll be a happy gamer.

That reminds me: If free games were included in the Calendar, I'll bet they'd have wanted to make room for Zineth. That is definitely one of my games of the year, free or no.

[EOT]

Home

Bit of a non game, but an interesting narrative statement on its own. I've rarely had a game make me feel guilty.

Superbrothers; Swords and Sworcery HD

Another non-game. But one I really enjoyed. Interesting pixel-art visuals, a whimsical story and a wonderful sound track.

[Tritagonist]

It's been years since I've had as much fun with an online FPS as I've had with Blacklight: Retribution. I don't have the experience to make a comparison to similar current games, but it feels good, graphics and performance are both great, maps are fun to run around in, there's tons of customizability in terms of weaponry, gear and secondary equipment, and it's a free to play title with a very decent purchase-system.

Wargame: European Escalation has been pretty fun too. It's probably aimed at too niche a strategy crowd to warrant inclusion in a general top list like the RPS crew made, though.

[EOT]

Wargame: European Escalation has been pretty fun too. It's probably aimed at too niche a strategy crowd to warrant inclusion in a general top list like the RPS crew made, though.

Forgot about that one. I'm bloody awful at it though, even single player. And Multi has mostly been me being roflstomped by Wolfenswan. Still a fun game. R.U.S.E was good too. I eagerly await Eugen System's next game.

[Lambchops]

Oh yeah Botanicula. I didn't reread the calendar and had assumed it was in there (think I was thinking of the Guardian's top 25 list, which did include it).

Charming, fantastic art, great audio and keeps Amanita's superb run of games going. Definitely in my current top 5 (may retrospectively get bumped down depending how I feel about Dishonored and Far Cry 3 when I eventually play them).

[deano2099]

Resonance. May well be my game of the year. Brilliant point and click adventure-ness which went the extra mile in terms of voice acting to deliver a really compelling story. And a wonderful twist.

[Giaddon]

​Natural Selection 2, Sleeping Dogs, Chivalry, Max Payne 3, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, Super Hexagon, Vessel, Assassin's Creed 3

[vinraith]

Sword of the Stars: Rebellion

Funny slip, that. Sins doesn't do much for me, so I expect I'd be much happier if that's what it actually was. :)

[Casimir Effect]

Funny slip, that. Sins doesn't do much for me, so I expect I'd be much happier if that's what it actually was. :)

You got Sword of the Stars II, what more could you want?

[alms]

I was just checking last year's calendar again and was reminded they published a list of 'runner-ups' right after christmas. Maybe this year too..?

[vinraith]

You got Sword of the Stars II, what more could you want?

I really do need to check out the new, "all clear" version of that.