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# Ballots: Reid McCarter
- URL: https://www.killscreen.com/ballots-reid-mccarter/
- Published: 2012-01-06T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2015-11-17T14:34:15.000Z
- Description: High Scores 2011 ballot.
- Author: Anonymous
- Tags: Article, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-26 09:39

### Games

1\. The Binding of Isaac (20)  
2\. Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (17)  
3\. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (15)  
4\. Bastion (13)  
5\. Shadows of the Damned (10)

### Comments

No one game made as much of an impression on me this year as *The Binding of Isaac*. Edmund McMillen’s biblically inspired dungeon crawler is an infinite poker game where player skill and random chance blend seamlessly. *Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP* truly demonstrated just how far great audiovisual presentation can go, elevating the iOS adventure far beyond the usual trappings of its genre and forging the kind of post-modern fantasy that resonates with modern audiences. The narrative power of *Deus Ex: Human Revolution*, an enormously entertaining, interactive essay on the lofty topic of transhumanism, was a less experimental title but one that likewise engaged with the current zeitgeist, demonstrating just how culturally relevant game stories can/should be. The simple deception of *Bastion*’s omnipresent narrator was, ultimately, a great trick that showed just how a talented development team can make cold lines of code appear human. Lastly, the gleefully satirical *Shadows of the Damned* provided just as much fun when taken at face value as it does when played as a lengthy piss-taking of videogame history and culture.

Despite how different the experience of playing each of these games can be, they’re united by a universal concentration on tight mechanical design (let’s pretend *Human Revolution*’s boss fights don’t exist), a strong sense of personal style and the willingness to transcend the boundaries of familiar genres by implementing innovative features. 2011 was a strange year, full of sequels that didn’t attempt much of anything new, but the five games listed above — whether from big or small development teams — all tried, in their own way, to push the medium forward.

*Back to [High Scores 2011](http://killscreendaily.com/articles/high-scores-end-2011?ref=killscreen.com)*