It’s hard to imagine that it’s already 2012. We decided it would be best for us to take a look back through 2011 and decide our games of the year. We’ve heard what you readers have to say, as well as some of our podcast hosts, but now it’s the writing staff’s turn. So, we threw our writing team into a small room filled only with steak and rabid bears and asked them to come up with the highlights of 2011.

Today we are looking at the best cooperative and competitive multiplayer experiences, seeing what was the best innovation in 2011 and opening our ears up to the best original soundtrack of the year.

Hit the jump to see today’s winners and runners up.

Best Original Soundtrack

Winner: Bastion

While plenty of games this year featured phenomenal soundtracks, Bastion stood out to us as the best the year. Its standout track, “Build That Wall” is used to highlight one of the games most emotional and climactic scenes. Combine that with some amazing guitar and drum work and you have a recipe for success. Perhaps the greatest achievement that Super Giant Games achieved with this soundtrack, however, was making a nearly perfect soundtrack in terms of tone. In short, everything about the soundtrack fits and that’s why it’s our Best Original Soundtrack of 2011. – Addam Kearney

Runners Up:

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Deus Ex Human Revolution

Best Innovation

Winner: Motionscan – LA Noire

No game has captured the dynamic look of the human face as well as L.A. Noire. Being able to actually look at a character’s eye movements and body language, then infer from that whether or not they are telling the truth is an experience unlike any other offered on a game console. While it has yet to be seen whether or not this technology will see more widespread use, it wouldn’t be too hard to make the case for including that level of realism to draw players into just about every game that at some point includes a close up shot of a protagonist’s face meant to convey drama, humor or stir in us any other human emotion. Though we have that whole “uncanny valley” concept to be wary of, until we actually reach that point it’s hard to say what our reactions will be. With the Motionscan technology employed in L.A. Noire, we at least know at this point that we are uncannily impressed. – Patrick Cassin

Runners Up:

Cloud Storage Coming to Consoles
Glasses-free 3D (Featured in the Nintendo 3DS)
Context Sensitive Narration (Featured in Bastion and The Gunstringer)

Best Competitive Multiplayer

Winner: Battlefield 3

One of the most memorable moments in gaming for me this past year was the first time I played Damavand Peak in Battlefield 3’s Rush Mode. The realization that the game wanted me and my squad to base jump 500 meters below to our next objective, all while avoiding enemy fire and coordinating our plan of attack once we got down there, filled me with excitement. This was something new. Battlefield has always been known for its “Battlefield moments” (events that could only take place in a Battlefield game) and this particular setup seems likely to produce these moments for years to come. With the inclusion of jets to the vehicle roster, the reintroduction of prone to the series and new unlocks for each class kit, Battlefield 3 took fundamental steps to improve and change its multiplayer enough to be different while remaining true to their fanbase and what they expect from the franchise. Because of this, Battlefield 3 is our choice for Best Competitive Multiplayer of 2011. – Gustavo Ramirez

Runners Up:

Crysis 2
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
Gears of War 3

Best Cooperative Multiplayer

Winner: Gears of War 3

Gears of War has always stood as one of the high marks in the industry as far as cooperative play goes. The original had a solid co-op campaign but the series really took off with the sequel and the launch of Horde mode. Gears of War 3 advances even further with cooperative play by offering the much improved Horde 2.0, which serves to make the great Horde experience even better. Gears 3 also introduces four player campaign co-op, which works great, and the fun new Beast Mode which provides an entirely new cooperative experience. Bar none no other game in 2011 offers anywhere near the amount of cooperative fun available in Gears of War 3. – Kyle Orr

Runners Up:

Saint’s Row The Third
Rayman Origins
Portal 2