Game of the Year 2011: #1 - Dark Souls

25 Dec 2011 at 13:00:00 by John Robertson

• See our full Top 25 Games of 2011 list

Thanks to the two being near polar opposites, deciding between Dark Souls and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception as our game of 2011 was a near impossible task. One delights in the sadistic torture of the player, trying at every junction to break one’s will and force early retirement. Conversely, the other is about the razzle-dazzle; making everything look wonderful as it tells its story of love and adventure.

Perhaps it’s the length of time required to suck the goodies out of Dark Souls that turned the tide in its favour. That enormous investment making an impression that no eight hour game could reasonably match. Or perhaps it’s the sharing of painful stories about loss and death with other kindred spirits – two or more people coming together through a common adversary further strengthening the experience and helping it take centre stage in the mind’s eye.

In truth it’s all of the above and a whole lot more. Not least of that ‘whole lot more’ is the desire to stick it to the game’s designers by proving that, no matter how difficult they try to make things, we will not be beaten and we will never give up.

Some people have said that Dark Souls isn’t all that difficult a game. Sure, some play styles have advantages over others but no matter which way you look at it those that find it easy must be better people than I. Personally, I found it near-impossible for the first eight hours. After that, I still found it difficult to the point that zen-like discipline was required to prevent £200 worth of smashed controllers.

But it’s that difficulty, that uncompromising design, which makes Dark Souls (and Demon’s Souls before it) the game that it is.

By not relegating itself to the standardised practices of other RPGs Dark Souls manages to stand alone in a genre that is populated to the point of saturation. Where other games offer quest paths, Dark Souls presents (very) subtle hints as to your objective. Where other games offer health potions and checkpoints, Dark Souls serves more enemies to master and a lack of resources.

This sounds like a nightmare, and it is. But imagine the feeling of satisfaction upon facing ones nightmares and overcoming them, triumphing in the face of overwhelming odds and relentless hostility. That is the feeling of success Dark Souls offers. But it only offers it to those that put in the time and effort required to garner such rewards.

If Dark Souls does nothing else it reminds us that true accomplishment is brought about only through hard work and unyielding focus. To enter into its clutches a naïve, half-hearted adventurer is to bring about certain catastrophe and infinite respawns.

You can tell how this bears little in common with Uncharted…

Despite the pain, though, Dark Souls is an experience of surprising beauty and gratification. The world in which it plays out is magnificent in its macabre gloom and despair. Castles, small towns and dungeons create a labyrinth of such intensity as to make you feel as though you’re exploring a work of Escher.

Certain bosses require so many attempts that they end up feeling like old friends; to the point that their eventual deaths at your own hand are mourned and you long for their return. No game released in the past twelve months has generated so many strong and conflicting emotions as this.

So, in summary, Dark Souls is bastard hard and that what makes it great? Well, yes, but that’s only half of the story. One cannot make a game appealing through sheer effort alone, so it’s handy that Dark Souls’ world is one worth exploring and its mechanics stand up to in-depth learning and mastery.

There’s no denying that this is a game that is not for everyone – if you’re someone that likes to finish their virtual excursions in a weekend (or less) then this is not for you. Conversely, if you’re the type that relishes tackling the seemingly impossible then this is something in which to lose yourself.

As an experience there’s little that comes to emulating the concentration of design and beauty of execution demonstrated here. That’s why Dark Souls is our game of the year. 

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