Dead Island

Best New IP Game 2011

Dead Island

On February 16th, the entire internet seemed to be holding its breath for three minutes and seven seconds as everyone watched the Dead Island announcement trailer. In a matter of days, this new IP went from obscurity to the most talked about game around. It was beautiful, it was scary, it was intense, and most of all, it was different.Dead Island lets the player play as one of four characters each specializing in one particular area of expertise. What starts out as a nice vacation on a fictional island paradise quickly turns into a hellish nightmare of scavenging for supplies, meeting with survivors, and doing anything it takes to survive. Even a small pocket of undead can spell the end of the road, creating a great sense of tension as any situation can turn from calm to dire in the blink of an eye. Combat feels fresh and - while firearms are present - you’ll be doing the majority of your slaying up close and personal with melee weapons capable of viscerally decapitating your foes. Dead Island is not perfect but it breaks out of the digital mold that so many other titles try to form into. In a world slowly shifting towards sequels and re-makes, it’s refreshing to see that new IPs such as Dead Island are not only being made, but are being made well.

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Runners Up

Rage

As with every id Software game, Rage lacks a bit on the story side of things but that does not mean the potential is not nestled within. Built in the new id Tech 5 engine, it has the most surprising and dynamic AI we have probably ever seen. This ensured that Rage is still a fresh Mad Max-esque shooter with plenty of interesting straight-up shooter fund to be had.

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El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

El Shaddai’s visual design makes it one of the year’s freshest looking games, and its graphics are only a small part of the splendour. Lurid colour patterns and stylish camera angles illustrate an incredible journey with memorable moments throughout. A masterful weave of visuals and sound, El Shaddai is your answer to gaming as an art form. Your senses will not know what hit them.

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Bulletstorm

Bulletstorm challenges some of the biggest conventions of modern shooters, telling you to not only kill everything that moves, but also that you can’t succeed unless you do it with style. Beneath the guise of being another meat-head mindless shooter, there is a strategic and deep game to be found.

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L.A. Noire

Effortlessly unique in the gaming world, L.A. Noire is a stand out title that managed to bring something a little different into our lives than the tiresome sequels we get handed each year. It's fresh IP's such as L.A. Noire that entice us to try different tastes and interact with games in totally unique ways. It's classy, it's mature, and unlike anything else this year.

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