Deus Ex Human Revolution
I didn't catch up on the hype of this game and didn't buy it on release. I just heard of it and the magnificent Deus Ex 1. When it was on Sale I bought it and it really was much better than I expected. It barely runs on my laptop, so graphics are something I don't care about, but the gameplay was just awesome. I never knew how much I liked sneaking around and avoiding the enemies, instead of attacking them with my machine gun or whatever. Finding different ways to enter a building or area and having the option to be as silent as possible is something more games should offer. To be honest with you, I haven't played through it yet, but it still was better to that point than the whole singleplayer of other games.
Portal 2
Now this was a really close call. As much as I like this game, I will tell you later why it's not that good. I didn't buy it on release, but still payed like 40€ for it. I played through it on the day I bought and was blown away. The story, the characters, the gameplay were just that good, it really left an impression on me. The added coop mode was really good too. Atleast if you have friends you can play it with. I played all the chambers, all the modes, got all the achievements...and then it was over. It's like the game has no replay value. The added Peer Review DLC was good too, but only for one playthrough. I'm not the competitive guy, so that's propably why the Challenge mode didn't appeal to me. All in all it still was and is a pretty good game and atleast good for one playthrough.
Battlefield 3
Another close call. Even though I like this game, it has lost its charme over the last few weeks. I've played the beta and preordered the game. I'm Rank 41 right now and unlocked lots of stuff. By preordering I also got free access to Back to Karkand, which is a cool map pack in all honesty, but it all got a little stale over time. Rush or Conquest are basically all the modes I play, because I don't like the other ones and it gets boring over time. I wish my laptop could run this game, because I bought Bad Company 2 for PC and it was awesome. I just hope they add more stuff to it that captivates me again. Just so you know, I don't hate this game. It is in my Games of the year list, because it was fun for me for like 2 months and I played nothing else those 2 months, so it definatly earns that place.
So those are basically the big 3 games that kept me playing this year. There's no Skyrim, Batman or whatever here, because I simply didn't play them. Let's hope 2012 brings better or just as good games as these are.