The top 10 multiplatform games of 2011

It's the turn of the console and cross-platform games of 2011, as we count down our predictions for the best games of the year.

We'll let you in on a little secret: when we were compiling the list of the top 10 PC exclusive games of 2011, we had a shortlist of around 20 titles. Through a combination of coin tosses, epic battles of scissor, paper rock, and a round or two of Russian roulette, we somehow got it to a manageable list of 10. So when we tell you that our shortlist for the top multiplatform games was over 30 titles, hopefully you can understand how hard it was to whittle it down to less than a third of that size.

It would've almost been possible to make a list of the top 10 first-person shooters and a very separate top 10 list of role-playing games, but we digress. It's time to put our final 10 where our proverbial mouth is, so in no particular order we give you:

Brink
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 redefined the way we approach first-person shooters with semi-dynamic battlefields via destructible environments. Brink is the next evolution of the FPS with eight-player cooperative play, a persistent character across single-player/multiplayer and the greatest gem of them all: Mirror's Edge-style free running by way of a single button.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Back in the year 2000, the original Deus Ex game showed PC gamers that the terms 'RPG' and 'accessibility' weren't mutually exclusive. After a poorly received sequel and more than a decade on, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is set to rise out of the ashes of Invisible War with an incredible range of gameplay features, a Rainbow Six: Vegas cover mechanic and multiple approaches to the storyline. Deus Ex is back and it's looking better than ever.

XCOM
This partially Aussie-made title is another relaunch of an old PC series, taking a giant step from a top-down turn-based title to a first-person sci-fi detective story. The finer points of the game may well be under wraps, but we do know that there are a few alien types that are rather fond of dematerialising us human folk and that weapons will evolve over time based on your interactions with extra-terrestrial life forms. The mystery at the core of this mysterious title has us saying this is one to look out for.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Skyrim has been a shoe-in on our multiplatform top 10 even before a certain nameless commenter noted its 'absence' from our exclusive PC list. Glorious cheap shots aside, Skyrim is the latest entry in the rather popular Elder Scrolls' series, which is boasting all-new features such as the removal of the class system (viva la revolution!), dual wielding of spells and weapons, as well as powerful perks by way of Dragon Shouts.

Batman: Arkham City
Arkham Asylum was a magnificent example of how well a graphic novel can be done justice. But that doesn't mean it was without flaws: repetitive boss fights, obvious setups for a sequel (or fifteen) and the most anticlimactic end-of-game showdown of all time; just to name a few. You'll start Arkham City with all of the gadgets of the previous title, new toys on offer, a greater emphasis on puzzles and a further refined combat system.

Mass Effect 3
The driving sections disappeared after the first game, the second game overhauled the all-important combat and now we see no reason why the third outing in the Mass Effect universe shouldn't be anything short of gaming nirvana. With over 1,000 possible importable variables from the first two Mass Effect games and the promise of the completion of the Commander Shepard story arc, we don't really need to spell out to you why you already want this game.

RAGE
After what seems like a Duke Nukem Forever amount of time in development, RAGE is scheduled to grace multiplatform screens in September. But who really cares how good it looks on an Xbox 360 or how much it pushes the boundaries of a PlayStation 3 when we all know how much better it will look on the PC. Sure, you're going to have to sell a kidney to buy a rig that's hard enough to make a 'Crysis killer' look like a Wii, but the pedigree of id Tech is enough to make us consider selling an organ; isn't that why humans have two kidneys?

Dead Space 2
Having played through the original again recently, we can't begin to tell you exactly how excited we are for the second serving of blood, guts and good ol' fashioned scares in Dead Space 2. Isaac Clarke is back and a bit messed up, the Necromorph infection has spread into a populated metropolis and, if the latest promotional video is to be believed, your mum will hate it so it's sure to be a hit. Best of all, it's out before the month is done and dusted.

Homefront
What? Another first-person shooter in the list? Say it isn't so! It is, and with good reason. First and foremost, Homefront is sporting a script penned by the writer of Apocalypse Now and Red Dawn (and shares similarities with the plot of the latter). And then there's the whole cinematic and character-driven gameplay that's so gritty it'll spin your car out. We have high hopes for this darker entry to the first-person genre.

Driver: San Francisco
As far as trippy storylines go, this one takes the cake. The game takes place from the coma dream of the protagonist, whereby players will make use of a 'Shift' power to possess the drivers of various vehicles in San Francisco: true story. Driver: San Fran boasts a garage of over 120 licensed automobiles along with online multiplayer (a series first) and is set to breathe some new life into driving games.