The 10th Hour 01.06.12: Top 10 PSN Games of 2011

Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 01.06.2012

From Street Fighter III and Tetris to Beyond Good & Evil HD, Blood Rayne Betrayal, Explodemon and more, 411's Armando Rodriguez counts down the top 10 Playstation Network games of 2011!

Welcome to another edition of the 10th Hour. This week we continue the "Best of 2011" series with a list of the 10 best PSN Games of 2011. That will probably be followed by a similar list for XBLA next week. 2011 was a good year for PSN since some of my favorite games (Pixel Junk Side Scroller, Payday: The Heist) were left out of this list. But I'd rather suffer the pang of guilt for leaving some good games out than enduring the struggle of placing undeserving games on a best of list!


The 10th Hour: Top PSN Games of 2011



10. Stacking: One of the most original games of 2011, Stacking put you in the shoes of a Russian stacking doll in a world filled with similar dolls. The game played like a basic adventure/puzzle game as you explored the gameworld, possessing other dolls with unique abilities to solve puzzles. The game's unique art-style, music and atmosphere set it apart from other games and it featured some hilarious moments as well. The game had it all: fun, great looks, great puzzles….it was unique. Then why is it so low? Like it's the case with almost all puzzle games, once you figured out the solutions to them (even when Stacking offered multiple solutions) the game stopped being fun and the replay value was limited. Still, Stacking offered great fun for the 3-5 hours it lasts.

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9. Blood Rayne Betrayal: I admit that I have never played any of the Blood Rayne games that came before Betrayal. The reason I picked up Betrayal was because it got a lot of praise and positive comparisons to the old-school Castlevania games. Betrayal has proven to be one of those games that I simultaneously love and hate. I love the graphics and the violent action that is reminiscent of Shank. I love the old-school challenging gameplay. I hate how hard the game can be! Sure, I did grow up in the 16-bit era, so I am used to challenging games, but it has been a long time since I faced this type of challenge. As a matter of fact I have yet to beat the game. Still, I recommend Betrayal to any old-school fan looking for a challenge or any gamer looking for a stylish action game.

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8. Sideway: New York: If there is something that the downloadable space offers that the big retail games don't are stylish games. Indy and smaller developers simply take risks that others wouldn't Sideway: New York could have been another run-of-the-mill platformer, but what sets it apart is the world your character inhabits. Your character is paint on a wall, so everything you do is tied to the wall and this leads to creative and unique scenarios. Like the other games before it on this list, it also offers a fresh graphical presentation and also adds a great soundtrack. There are a lot of indy platformers out there, but as long as they keep introducing interesting mechanics and hooks, I don't mind one bit.

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7. Tetris: Tetris is Tetris…..or is it? The latest entry resurrected my love for the all-time classic thanks to its varied modes that added new rules and challenges, a colorful HD presentation and the addition of Online Leaderboards, turning into the new Zen Pinball for my friends and I (a game that we played to death trying to beat each other's scores). EA accomplished the unthinkable: they made a game that is decades old feel fresh and new again. I mean, this was a game that I played so much during my childhood that I had nightmares about falling blocks and still I stopped playing everything for weeks to go back and play this new release.

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6. Pixel Junk Shooter 2: The Pixel Junk franchise has been brilliant thus far and this Shooter sequel is no exception. Yes, you do shoot stuff. But it is more of a puzzle game at heart as you manage liquids like lava, water and oil to navigate through the levels and rescue the workers/researchers trapped there like some sort of futuristic Choplifter (with a lot more puzzles). Shooter 2 did everything good sequels do: added a few more wrinkles, made the levels more challenging and made the game longer. If you loved the first one, you will love the sequel.

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5. Beyond Good & Evil HD: Like many, I never played it last generation. But I jumped at the chance to play it and see what I missed and I don't regret it. BGE feels a lot like Zelda, with dungeon exploration, puzzle solving and story at the forefront, complemented by simple battles and challenging bosses. Heck, you even have racing segments and vehicular combat with your hovercraft and several side missions and distractions. My favorite aspect was actually behaving like a reporter and using the camera as an integral part of the gameplay. Collecting all the pearls will take some time and you are looking at 8-12 hours of awesomeness for a measly $10. Not a bad deal and I recommend this game to everyone so that we can convince the devs to pony up a sequel.

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4. Explodemon: Explodemon is yet another platformer from smaller developers that rocked the PSN with its old school challenge and addictive gameplay. Playing as a robot that can't stop himself from exploding, players are tasked with managing this "unique" skill through the challenging levels and trust me, there is a lot of challenge here! Comparisons to the XBLA hit XplosionMan are inevitable, but Explodemon was in development first. Plus, for some reason (maybe the challenge and robot-based action) reminded me more of Mega Man….without guns. How much I like this game? I have it twice: Once on PSN and once on Steam so that I can carry it around in my laptop.

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3. Outland: The next game from Dead Nation and Super Stardust HD developers, Outland is an exploration based game that offers a steep challenge (as expected from Dead Nation's developer) while having a great presentation (killer graphics and sound). Your character can wield the powers of light and dark and you need to effectively switch between them in order to kill enemies, solve puzzles and navigate the environment. Think of it as an amalgam of a platformer and a shooter, with the color-switch mechanic from the classic Ikaruga and you have a general idea of what Outland is. Then again, you can go back to older levels and use newfound powers to access new areas, something akin to Metroid or Castlevania. Outland comes with my highest recommendation and I seriously considered giving it my #1 spot.

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2. Street Fighter III: There is a lot of divide when it comes to SF3 because it is a more challenging, technical fighting game than say, Street Fighter 4, and it is not particularly welcoming to newbies. I still feel like I suck at the game. But I can't deny how I addicted I am to it. Improved graphics and online functionality are joined by brand new training and trials modes. They are still not accessible, but at least the game gives you the tools to become competent. How can I be addicted to a game in which I suck at? I really don't know. But this is a game I have been playing almost daily since it came out, even if it's just a fight or two.

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1. Rochard: My favorite PSN game has to be Rochard. The game is flat-out funny and features an unusual hero who feels like just a regular Joe. Plus, the gameplay and presentation evoke a little of Shadow Complex, even if the real meat of the game is centered on puzzles and navigation and not on action or killing, although you do that too. Although the plot was a bit lame and felt like an excuse to push the game along, the physics-based puzzles, addictive gameplay and comedy make it a must play and my favorite PSN game of 2011.

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That's it for this week folks. I will be back next week with the XBLA list. In the meantime, post your PSN list in the comments section!

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