1. Lee & Clementine - The Walking Dead
A testament to today's modern "indie" gaming scene and to the immense talent contained within, Telltale's episodic The Walking Dead was one of 2012's biggest surprises. The downloadable episodes, which are based on the graphic novels as opposed to the television series, slowly gained more attention with each successive release, and was already being proclaimed the best game of 2012 by various media outlets by the time the fifth and final episode released. Millions of gamers have been been hooked into The Walking Dead's incredible storytelling, which centers around the mysterious, yet soft-hearted, Lee, and the young girl Clementine, who he has sworn to protect. The strength here is in the writing. The vocal gamers who have been complaining about The Walking Dead not being an actual "game" are missing the point. This is a classic point & click adventure game, a legitimate genre that has been around for decades (though rare on consoles), and never before has an adventure game, or perhaps even any game, told a story with so much searing intensity, emotion, and heart. When Lee first meets Clementine, he has just escaped from the back of a police car and finds her hiding out in her treehouse. Her parents left for vacation and never returned. A zombie apocalypse has decimated America, and Lee takes Clementine under his wing as he tries to guide them somewhere safe. In a world where the surviving humans can be worse then the undead hordes, Clementine is a shining beacon in the darkness. One of the most genuinely sympathetic characters to ever appear in a video game, only the gamer with the coldest, darkest heart won't feel an overwhelming urge to keep this little girl safe. Lee and Clementine continue to encounter obstacle after obstacle, adversary after adversary, and only in their moments together is there seemingly any sense of calm. By the time you reach the game's climax in the final episode, you will likely feel emotional in a way that only the very best stories can do. The relationship between Lee & Clementine, which may very well be the most poignant and meaningful relationship between two characters to ever be depicted in a video game, could be signaling the dawn of a new age for our beloved hobby. The writing in video games has been improving by leaps and bounds in recent years. By making the story the central focus above everything else, The Walking Dead has proven that these interactive stories can create character relationships that are every bit as genuine and affecting as anything else out there. Imagine a game as well-written as The Walking Dead's combined with the gameplay mechanics and depth of the best AAA games out there today? And then beyond that? I've said this before, and I'll continue to say it: now is the best time ever to be a gamer, and the future is going to be absolutely amazing.