This year i thought i'd try and play types of games i'd never given a shot in the past, games i'd either started playing but stopped for one reason or another, or games i'd got as part of steam bundles or humble bundles that have sat in my steam library ever since. I also intended to complete one game a week and a minimum of one game released in 2016 a month. I'm moving countries, and travelling at the beginning of 2017 so will have little to no time to play games so might as well play as many as possible in 2016.
I'm glad i tried to set some kind of goal for this year as it made me experience and enjoy games i'd not have played otherwise, such as Shadowrun: Returns, the first CRPG I've ever played, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which i'd tried to play in the past but couldn't get into it, but someone at my work was playing XCOM 2 and his stories made me jealous, aren't i glad i went back to Enemy Unknown, great game! Then we've got Until Dawn, DmC, Transistor, Shovel Knight, Vanquish, and Binary Domain, all games i owned but never expected to play let alone to enjoy them as much as i did. As well as playing many games that have surprised my expectations this year there were many that disappointed me, and games i thoroughly disliked.
Moving onto next year, i'll only have January to play games then i'm moving to Australia and Asia to do some backpacking. Maybe i'll get a handheld for my travels, but most likely i'll be taking a break from gaming and if i don't i probably won't have any money to purchase new games anyway.
Games completed in 2015 (34), games completed in 2016 (55). 14 of the games being released in 2016 (Games in bold), By the end of the year i managed to complete 55 games, a huge number i never expected to reach. Mostly older games but i enjoyed them more than most new releases.
10/10 - Red Dead Redemption, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
9/10 - Until Dawn, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, DOOM, DMC: Devil May Cry
8/10 - FarCry 3, Transistor, Assassins Creed: Syndicate, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadowrun: Returns, Uncharted 4: A Thieves End, Bloodborne, Shovel Knight
7/10 - Binary Domain, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, The Division, Metal Gear Solid V, ZombiU, Grow Home, Shadows of the Damned, Vanquish, Tales from the Borderlands, Gravity Rush: Remastered, Titanfall 2, ABZU
6/10 - The Swapper, SOMA, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, Dead Space 3, Halo 5: Guardians, The Technomancer, Heavenly Sword, Trine 2, Oxenfree, Gears of War 4, Star Fox: Zero, Inside
5/10 - Deadlight, Never Alone, The Fall, Her Story, Republique, Broken Age, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Massive Chalice, Killer is Dead
4 and under/10 - Papers Please, Undertale, Oceanhorn, Life is Strange, Quantum Conundrum, Lego City: Undercover, Beyond: Two Souls
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Classic guns, check, Fast paced Gameplay, check, Bad-ass metal music, check, Doomslayer, check, Doom ticked pretty much every box it needed to, it succeeded in areas you'd expect it to fail. None of this hiding behind walls as cover or picking off enemies from a distance, the best form of defence is a good offence, a challenging yet satisfying experience on Ultra-violence. The most fun i've had with an FPS campaign maybe ever. Platform: PC Date Completed: 6th December 2016 Time Taken to Beat: 13h 24m Rating: 9/10 2016 rank: 1
I never got into the original Dishonored, even after multiple attempts the First-Person Stealth gameplay infuriated me to the point where I just couldn’t continue. I can’t put my finger on what rubbed me the wrong way about Dishonored but 5 years on playing Dishonored 2 it has completely changed my opinion about the series, and has pushed me to maybe go back and retry the original. Not just the original but other similar stealth games I wrote off due to them being of the First-Person Stealth Genre. Dishonored 2 has a unique sense of art style that bothered me in the original but I found refreshing in this one, a believably built open-ended gameplay with tons of freedom, and a story crammed with characters that intrigued me through each mission. Each mission feels finely crafted but allows the player to tackle it how they see fit, with an exquisite level design that keeps the gameplay feeling interesting. Clockwork Mansion and the time travel mission really standing out! A huge surprise on a game I had no interest in playing after the first. This game has ensured I’ll be coming back and playing the next iteration in this series. Thank god for Bethesda still making publishing single player experiences! Platform: PC Date Completed: 20th March 2018 Time Taken to Beat: 17h 28m Rating: 9/10 2016 rank: N/A 2018 rank: 2
I loved the 2013 reboot of Lara Crofts Tomb Raider, one of the only games i 100% completed last generation, so i was really looking forward to it's sequel coming to the PC a few months after its Xbox One release. First things first this game is bloody gorgeous environments with stunning vistas and great detail. The way cut scenes seamlessly fit into the gameplay allowing for much greater immersion, more games need to have these kinds of seamless transitions. Trying to pin down exactly why i liked it so much is difficult, but I’ll try. The gameplay is a lot of fun. Mainly consisting of a lot of very cinematic expeditions where you traverse through extremely dangerous obstacles and do a variety of insane stunts. The rest consists of 3rd person combat encounters where you can choose to be stealthy, or run in guns blazing. This is complemented by an upgrade system for everything, Lara herself and all her equipment. The story was predictable with the plot twists i saw coming from a mile off, but was competent enough, i just wish they didn't always go supernatural with a 'Divine Source' in every game. Lara herself was as good as she has ever been, great voice acting and great looking. Lara however is let down by some of the side characters who were unnecessary or just clichéd (Jonah). Tomb Raider did lots right in this iteration, with a few improvements for the next game such as not fighting a helicopter as a final boss (Why does every game do that?), more locations (I miss jet setting around the world with Lara), and to make the game a little more challenging. Platform: PC Date Completed: 6th March 2016 Time Taken to Beat: 20h 06m Rating: 8/10 2016 rank: 2
Platform: PS4 Date Completed: 7th October 2019 Time Taken to Beat: 11h 06m Rating: 8/10 2016 rank: N/A 2019 rank: 4
Uncharted does set pieces better than most developers and that hasn't changed in their most recent release in the series. A Thief's End continues 3 years after Drake's Deception and continues with the same formula that’s served Naughty Dog so well and on the whole it once again delivers. I've a couple grievances with a couple aspects of this formula however. 1. Too much climbing, which requires zero skill, 2. Some set pieces feel like they're dragging you along rather than you're playing the game, both my grievances are about The Uncharted series not giving the player enough to do, not enough gameplay. Otherwise Uncharted 4 excels at, creating great characters, with some of the most natural dialogue in gaming, the best story in the series, I’m glad they got rid of the supernatural aspect. It also refines the same gameplay that was brought about in the previous games allowing for both run and gun or stealth gameplay in the beautifully crafted environments. Naughty Dog knew how beautiful their game was they put a photo mode in it, which should say all you need to know about Uncharted's visuals. This game doesn’t quite hit the heights of the previous games but I think that’s down to me wanting different things from the Uncharted series, after 4 iterations of similar gameplay it’s about time they retire Nathan Drake before things get stale. Platform: PS4 Date Completed: 17th October 2016 Time Taken to Beat: 13h 33m Rating: 8/10 2016 rank: 3
I feel this game fell off everyone’s radar soon after it was released, which is a shame due to it being one man’s pet project for a decade. A game in development for that long rarely breaks out of that cycle; if they do they tend to be unimpressive! Owlboy shakes off this baggage and succeeds where many failed and delivers on all fronts. It manages to combine a host of interesting characters, exceptional OST, animations that express the characters emotions, in ways words can’t, and a stunning hand animated aesthetic. You can really see a huge amount of time and care has gone into each aspect. Owlboy wouldn’t feel out of place as a new, old Nintendo IP, as it gave me those same feelings as playing the old Zelda games with musical ques and characters right out of a Zelda game. As much as I loved this game it did have problems. I think it’s down to the game not really doing anything new, everything was very well done but what would make it a great game would be to implement a new feature to define Owlboy. My other minor nitpicks are controls not being quite responsive enough, which I feel the difficulty was dialed down due to this; Level design being a little too similar, with corridors followed by a square for the boss battle. Nonetheless Owlboy managed to capture that old school feeling without feeling old, similar to what Shovel Knight did a couple years ago. A huge recommendation from me! Platform: PC Date Completed: 19th June 2017 Time Taken to Beat: 13h 33m Rating: 8/10 2016 rank: N/A
I was one of the few people who actually enjoyed the first installment in the Watchdogs series, it had it's flaws but i felt it did something different than open world games, with the idea of controlling a city with a touch of a button implemented well in some areas and not so well in others. The idea behind Watchdogs 2 really appealed to me, not only due to enjoying the first game but because i'd just finished watching Mr Robot. Watch Dogs 2 is more Hackers, and War Games than Mr. Robot though. My initial impression was that of cautiousness, the opening exchanges between characters was cringe, however i soon realised the game was just being self-aware. Having the ability to mock itself and lean into the silliness that is Watch Dogs 2 at it's own expense. The Ubisoft mission is a great example of this, leaking a trailer for a game within a game. This helped in developing the characters who are caricatures of hackers, with the game playing into this with montages and quirky dialogue similar to your favorite cheesy hacker movies. Even Wretch who uses emoticons as his face becomes charming by the end. The gameplay is best enjoyed as a stealth game, using all your gadgets to break in and hack terminals or servers without the player themselves ever entering the building is very satisfying. This Non-Lethal type play through fits the scenario and the characters your playing, as killing police officers, civilians, and security guards doesn't feel right. Your meant to be taking down the big man upstairs, not just hoards of working men. I must say i did kill a few gangsters who definitely deserved it, and i didn't even feel bad! The levels are well designed to suit this gameplay, with many entrance and exits points, options are plentiful. My only disappointment was the anti-climatic last few missions, up-to them the story felt like it was building to something but the mission structure felt slightly rushed in the climatic moments. This Hipster Vibe, Dog petting, stealth game has it's serious and it's sad moments, but it also has charming banter about movie trivia, a Knight Rider theft mission, and quotes galore from 80's and 90's pop culture. Platform: PC Date Completed: 12th August 2017 Time Taken to Beat: 27h 36m Rating: 8/10 2016 rank: N/A 2017 rank: 5
The best from Software game?! Not quite but close! I feel Bloodborne just edges Dark Souls 3 out, mainly due to me preferring the slightly quicker combat that Bloodborne offers. Dark Souls 3 has however improved the speed and flow of combat in this iteration, an improvement on the previous Dark Souls games. DS2 i felt got a bad rap from the fans, playing the two games within a few months from each other, yes DS3 takes the criticisms from DS2 and addresses them to improve gameplay and exploration, but in story telling it takes a step back. The one thing that is missing for Dark Souls games to take that next step is a less hidden and mystique laden plot. I know people feel this series tells it's story with it's environments and item description, that you can piece together if you so wish to take the time. The only story I've ever got from these games is gathered from watching youtube videos but i still can't get into it. I whole-heartedly enjoy the combat, even if it's a love hate relationship, but would love from software to introduce more storytelling mechanics into there games. Platform: PC Date Completed: 27th October 2017 Time Taken to Beat: 33h 46m Rating: 8/10 2016 rank: 4
Platform: PC Date Completed: 16th July 2018 Time Taken to Beat: 3h 16m Rating: 8/10 2016 rank: N/A
I didn't follow this game before release nor did i have any friends who were playing it, so the only information i got was from my usual trusted reviewers and forums. What i want from my games is a single player experience and The Division allowed for me to have this without any interaction with other humans if that's what i wished for, or on the off chance i felt like teaming up for a mission it allowed that with ease. The missions were all very similar but the perks you unlock allow for customization in how you want to play. The gameplay with the relatively smart AI is probably my favourite aspect of The Division; I’ve loved games like Borderlands which involve excess loot and numbers flying off bodies, so The Division fills that hole for me. Sadly the final boss fight was once again a helicopter :(, the dreaded obligatory 3rd person shooter helicopter boss fight. This was the culminating moment in the story, a paper thin story which deserved to be expanded on, it felt like they were just winging the story as they went along just feeding you a small amount of information each mission. I only ventured into the dark zone on a couple of occasions but gave up due to people having much better gear just sitting at extraction points trolling people trying to extract anything. As a whole i really enjoyed playing The Division, running around a beautifully detailed New York City naturally bumping into enemies, looting, and teaming up with other humans to complete story missions. A very good initial attempt that i hope they expand on and make a series out of. Platform: PC Date Completed: 14th May 2016 Time Taken to Beat: 25h 38m Rating: 7/10 2016 rank: 4
