I wrote out my Game of the Year thoughts, then I got to thinking about what disappointed me in 2011. You;ve seen the best, now read about the rest:
Worst AI - Crysis 2
I'M CLOAKED AND BEHIND A DAMN WALL! HOW CAN YOU SEE ME?!?!
Worst Port - Crysis 1 (X360)
I never played Crysis 1 on PC, but even on low settings I can't imagine that it looked & sounded this bad. Not a bad game really, but never should've come to the Xbox.
Obsolete In Under A Year - Marvel vs Capcom 3
We finally get a sequel to one of the greatest fighting games ever...what's this...Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 exactly 9 months after the original? For $60? Son of a....
Worst Use of License - X-Men: Destiny
After Marvel Ultimate Alliance I figured this would be another awesome Marvel game. It was even developed by Silicon Knights, makers of Eternal Darkness, MGS: The Twin Snakes, and Too Human, which I enjoyed despite the flaws. What I got was a horribly boring button masher that looked awful. And it didn't even have co-op. What the hell SK?
Worst Use of Co-op - Dungeon Siege III
How do you screw up a 4 player dungeon crawler? By giving other players zero incentive to join your game and making all 4 of you share the screen even when playing online. You can't even take the gold you earned back with you to your own game. Not to mention if the host is pretty far along you're more than likely going to have crap equipment when you join. Ironically, DS3 is much better as a single player game. Thanks Obsidian; excluding Fallout: New Vegas you've destroyed yet another awesome franchise.
$60 Bargain Bin Fodder - The Cursed Crusade & The First Templar
Both based on the Crusades, both have 2 player co-op, and both play & look like crap. Button-mashing generic action games that maybe if they land in the Walmart bargain bin for about $10, they might be worth it. And you'll want to play co-op since the boring paper-thin plots will put you to sleep if you're playing by yourself.
Good Idea, Bad Execution - Hunted: The Demon's Forge
A co-op dark fantasy with a mix of RPG and Gears of War. A custom dungeon maker. Sounds great to me. Game looks pretty good too. Unfortunately, some major flaws hold it back. Your AI partner sucks. Big surprise I know. There's uneven difficulty depending on which character you're playing. The execution moves are great, but they're done in slow motion, leaving your partner on their own and you defenseless to attack. The reviving system is terrible: you must have revive potions, and if you or your partner dies, it's game over. A little too rigid for a co-op game. I tried to like Hunted, but bad game design got in the way.
Biggest Overall Disappointment - Deus Ex: Human Revolution
This one bugged me. I was expecting a killer cyberpunk story with a hundred ways to complete it...and I got pigeonholed into a stealth game. Now I love stealth games, but Deus Ex has never been about stealth alone. In Human Revolution, if you don't go full stealth, prepare to get slaughtered. Running and gunning will most likely get you killed. And the plot, compared to Deus Ex and even Invisible War, is horribly weak. At the end, you press a button for your ending. I'm serious; you choose which ending you want by pressing a @#$%ing button.