5 Best XBLA Games Of 2012
4. Fez
Fez suffered a continuous line of delays before it finally reached our marketplace for download earlier this year, but it was easily worth the wait. Oozing nostalgia the moment your quest begins, the look and sound of Fez is a love letter of sorts to the games of yesteryear, but there is a lot more than meets the eye to this cutesy puzzle platformer. You play as Gomez, a little man in a 2D world who comes into contact with a Hexahedron floating in the sky that shatters into 64 pieces, which you must find or his world will be destroyed. Gomez is then burdened with a magical little fez to wear. Once Gomez dons his new head attire, he can now rotate the world he lives in 90 degrees clockwise or anti-clockwise, thus becoming a 2D-3D hybrid. The world of Fez is filled with brain-melting puzzles, equipped with an original language that you must become accustomed to in order to solve the more devious brain teasers thrown at you, I unashamedly used a guide for some of them. The world rotation isnt just a flashy gimmick, but essential to your progress and one that is very fun to play. Fez is easily one of the stand out titles of the year for originality and addictive gameplay and one of the few that has to be replayed in New Game +, where you earn sunglasses for a first person view ability, letting you solve previously unsolvable puzzles. The fact it has come through development hell makes it more of an enjoyable experience and the trials and tribulations of creator Phil Fishs journey is documented in the fantastic film Indie Game: The Movie, which also follows the creation and success of Super Meat Boy and Braid.