[GOTY] Matthew Marteinsson’s Top Games of 2012

Editor’s Note: We thought it would be fun if we got some of the wonderful people in the industry to tell us their thoughts on this year’s games. Some of these people are developers and, yes, we have reviewed their games. After all is said and done, we hope you enjoy this series of GOTY articles.

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Matthew Marteinsson is the one man sound army at Klei Entertainment. Outside of work, he’s usually stopping everyone to put microphones in strange sounding spots. And posting pictures of his cat to the internet.

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Matthew Marteinsson
GOTY 2012

So here’s my top ten for the year. I actually had to go back and look at what came out this year to compile this. So much of the time I’m about a year behind with what’s coming out. I’ve always been horrible about narrowing down lists (favourite concert list is a Top 8 for that reason). This started as a Top 5, but grew a little. In no particular order, here it is:

Borderlands 2

I had forgotten how much I had missed Claptrap and his constant chattering. This didn’t feel like anything new, but a nice refinement of the first instalment. From the sound side, some great sounding guns. The sound team did a wonderful job of giving a voice to each weapon manufacturer. And serious points for having the most annoying gun ever that was disconnected from all the audio controls. 

Dishonored

Loved the openness of this one. A great, quirky world they let you play in, as well. A nice new twist on the steampunk setting (not that we get a lot of that, either). While the stealth is really great, I really started to enjoy this after I stopped worrying about playing a perfect stealth-style and just went with the flow. The game really does work with which ever mixed path you want to play it. And returning to areas makes you wonder how things will change if you perform previous missions differently. Not many games I really look forward to playing through multiple times, but this is one of them.

Shellrazer

Great iOS game from local Vancouver devs. Really nailed a fun game that I can fit in on the transit ride to work. And almost causing me to miss my stop. Always a good sign for a mobile title.

Pumped: BMX

Another iOS game. This goes to one of my long-term interests outside the game world. This game was made by a BMXer and it really shows. I feel like this actually captures the feel of trail riding. Better than any of the old 3D BMX games. It’s a tough game, but always feels fair in how it plays.

SSX

Big reason this is on the list is the music system. It helps that it’s also a lot of fun to play and, for me, captures feel of the old titles. But the music system! SSX has always done really cool things with the licensed music tracks. More so than just about anyone. It’s no easy task making licensed music interactive. And now they brought the same interactive effects to any track you drop into the game. All in real time. Really cool stuff.

Mass Effect 3

Even with the meh ending, it was really fun to dive back into this universe. I’ve always loved the sound work and music of this series as well. This is how sci-fi should be done. And there’s still some DLC to come. It’s always a bit odd jumping back into a story when the main story is done, but still looking forward to it.

Sleeping Dogs

More local people on this one. And a great dev story that preceded it. It was really great to see all the hard work actually see the light of day. Open-world sand-boxy games are sort of hit and miss with me, but this one hit. This was another one that wasn’t neccesarily breaking new ground, but it combined everything in a nice, tight package. Another one that I’m looking forward to with some of the DLC that’s in the pipe.

The Walking Dead

One that’s on a lot of lists. A great, well done story that really deserves the “it’s cinematic” comment. Loved the pacing of the episodes. Just the right length to dig into over a night and leave you wanting the next one. Can’t really add anything that anyone else hasn’t said before.

Bad Hotel

Another iOS game that got a lot of play from me. Loved how the music evolves as you build up each stage. It would get tough, too, but never with out hope that I could clear the stage if I gave it another shot.

Mark of the Ninja

Yes, I’m putting my own game on the list! That’s how proud I am of what we accomplished with this one. Definitely my proudest moment as a sound designer and game developer. I really do think it holds its own against anything else on my list, or anyone else’s.