By Sean Willett
2012 has been a hallmark year for video games. A staggering amount of important work has been released over the course of the year, including amazing updates to massive franchises such as Halo, Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect. However, one game managed to rise above the rest, a game that I am tempted to call my favourite game of all time: Spec Ops: The Line. Never before has a big-budget game so perfectly used every aspect of the medium to help drive home such a powerful message. Anyone who considers themselves a fan of video games should make every effort to play it. Other particularly noteworthy video games include the fantastic indie games Thomas Was Alone, Dear Esther and The Real Texas, all of which push boundaries in their own ways.
My favourite film this year would have to be Moonrise Kingdom, simply because of my undying love for Wes Anderson. Marvel’s The Avengers was also ridiculously entertaining, and proved once again that superhero movies are not just for nerds. Skyfall was another thoroughly enjoyable movie, especially the part where Bond Mario jumps off of a CGI komodo dragon.
As for music, both Guess Who’s a Mess by Brad Sucks and Transcendental Youth by The Mountain Goats stood out as my favourite albums of the year. The moody electro-pop of Brad Sucks and the melancholy rock of The Mountain Goats pair together like a depressing peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
The best television show this year was Adventure Time, with the show’s fourth season managing to be the strongest yet. It continues to blend a perfect mixture of top-notch animation, bizarre humour, lovable characters and heavy-hitting emotion that has won it scores of fans of all ages. Coincidentally, my favourite comic of the year is Ryan North’s fantastic Adventure Time comic series, which shows that Finn and Jake can be entertaining in any medium.