We gave Batman Arkham City Game of the Year. With so many fantastic games released in 2011 it was not an easy choice. Looking back through all the games over the past year and placing them into distinct tiers of achievement in innovation, fun, narrative and technical excellence and the artistry that pushes games ever towards true emotionally engaging experiences is a gruelling task. Gamers who have grown and engaged around this medium from an early age and truly love and appreciate it (such as myself) are lachrymose to decide a winner, a better game and an award winning game amongst truly great titles. There is a misconception concerning video gamers: that we are rash, that loyalty blinds us to the quality of the industry we feed and that we are the force that holds this medium back and proves every stigma true. The truth is a true gamer with only the utmost respect and admiration for games is as any fan: a bookworm, cine file, buff… a synthesis of the art they love mirroring reality and vice versa. As 2011 came to a close we looked at the games that taught us to think creatively (Portal 2), to lose ourselves in a story we shape (The Witcher 2), Become a child again (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword), forget how serious we can be (Mortal Kombat) and embrace our own inner hero (Uncharted 3). Yes 2011 gave us that and so much more, I am hard pressed to think of a game that had no strength or artistry. It was a great year and when thinking of the greatest single moment in our nominations across the four main platforms, one seemed to stick: the final sequence in Batman Arkham City; not because it was the most exhilarating but because it represented a perfect amalgamation of the time spent playing through this adventure. Batman is like a checklist of things you need in an amazing video game; great story, voice acting, graphics, game play, sound design… the list goes ever on. It features a lot of gameplay though not as much as Skyrim, every second of it is deep and rewarding. When faced with just one choice (and it came down to just Batman and The Witcher 2) we had to account the mass penetration of Batman and the near perfection in its design and presentation. Games often emphasize their strongest elements; technology (Crysis 2), multiplayer (Modern Warfare 3) , design (Skyward Sword)… Batman’s strongest element? Its weakest? Who can say, we definitely could not and in many ways we attribute our pick to the way this game left us: confused… and loving it.