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Chad Sapieha picks his favourite games from the last 12 months, from January's LittleBigPlanet 2 to December's Star Wars: The Old Republic.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, a vast fantasy role-playing game with one of the most immersive virtual worlds ever created. We think it's the best game of 2011

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Batman: Arkham City, an open-world multiplatform game that ranks among the very best super hero adaptations

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Portal 2, an ingenius puzzler featuring some of the most memorable characters ever to appear in a game

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Gears of War 3, the gritty and occasionally moving final chapter in one of Xbox 360's best exclusive series

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Minecraft, an indie game for PCs that allows players to create virtually anything they can imagine using materials mined within its virtual world

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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, an action/adventure RPG for Wii that sees Link questing through cleverly designed dungeons while chasing after the titular heroine

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Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, a truly cinematic game that feels like a 12-hour movie controlled by players

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, a powerful new entry in the franchise that remains safely at the top of the heap of military first-person shooters

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L.A. Noire, a period piece detective saga that takes facial animation and performance capture to new levels

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Forza Motorsport 4 for Xbox 360, the new champion of driving simulation games

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The Gunstringer for Xbox 360, a genuinely witty Kinect-only game that puts players at the strings of a cowboy marionette

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Infinity Blade II, a sword-slashing iOS game released near the end of the year, provides further proof that Apple's hardware can serve as an effective platform for hardcore games

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The Binding of Isaac, a short but provocative independent game for PCs

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LittleBigPlanet 2, a game that gives players the power to build their own interactive experiences and share them with others. Exclusive to PlayStation 3

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Mario Kart 7, a stereoscopic racing game for Nintendo 3DS that's fun for all ages

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Professor Layton and the Last Specter, a terrific puzzle game for Nintendo DS with a charming, gentlemanly lead

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Star Wars: The Old Republic, an enormous and unusually story-driven MMORPG set in a galaxy far, far away

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Super Mario 3D Land for Nintendo 3DS, a short but brilliant platformer that combines the best parts of Mario games old and new

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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, a visually sumptuous and decidedly mature role-playing game currently available only for PCs

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Bastion, an Xbox Live Arcade adventure with an ever-present narrator whose soothing voice provides a running commentary on game events

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Child of Eden, an immersive movement-based shooter for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with kalaidoscopic visual effects and a pulsing soundtrack

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Dead Space 2, a sci-fi horror game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that delivers plenty of shocks as well as moments of chilling psychological terror

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Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a sci-fi role-playing game that provides players nearly unparalleled freedom to play in the style of their choosing

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Dragon Age II, a role-playing game that sees players spending much of their time in compelling, branching conversations that mold their character's personality

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