As always, I am incredibly excited for the Giant Bomb Game of the Year nonsense. It's a joy and privilege to listen to hours of intelligent and measured (as well as vicious) conversation and debate from the GB staff with regards to their choices and feelings. I guess it will all be tinged with a hint of sadness as one huge voice will be missing of course, but perhaps this is the closure the site needs. I have personally missed Ryan a great deal, and still cannot listen to the tribute show without a tear in my eye; but full credit to Jeff and the team - they have moved forward with dignity and purpose, ensuring that Ryan's contribution will never be forgotten, but his absence does not overshadow the quality of the experience.
But back to the business at hand - as in previous years, my Playstation loyalty shines through once again. No disrespect to Xbox owners, 360 or One, but they have just never offered a suite that interests me. I do own a PC, but it's so old now, that I can barely run anything on it. However, I was able to acquire a launch-day PS4 and some of those games made the list, somewhat to my surprise. I tried not to be too onerous with the list, even though there's a small part of me that has an issue with putting games on that I haven't finished or even seen most of, but it's a personal list and if a game feels better early on than a game that I completed and still felt indifferent about (hey, Ascension!) then that was good enough for me.
Honourable mentions up front go to Poker Night 2 (how did the PS3 version pass quality control?), God of War: Ascension (a tragic mis-step) and also Ni No Kuni (I wanted to love you!).
On with the show!
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
If you had told me ahead of time that this would be top of my list, I'd have laughed in your face. I have never enjoyed or even finished another Tomb Raider game in my life, and I was very unsure about this one at first. Brad's critique of it's tone as well as memories of being fucking terrified of the earlier games had me very skeptical. My first one was TR2 and when those two tigers savaged me right at the beginning of the game I screamed out loud. What a wuss. Anyway, the flash sale on the PSN tempted me enough to plunk down thirty bones and within the hour, it had me. I found the island to be wonderfully diverse and crafted well, far better than I had expected. It seemed alive and derelict all at once which made exploring it a thrill. The willingness of the developers not to hold back on the bodycount made this a sometimes raw experience - maybe the player hadn't had time to get to know some of these people, but you really got the sense of each personal loss to Lara. I spent ages traversing each area, looking for the collectibles, obsessively upgrading my arsenal and guiding Lara through a harrowing time. Tomb Raider is an exceptional game, but what propelled it to the top of my list was the fact that I loved it when I expected to feel indifferent at best, and had a sneaking suspicion that I would actually hate it. A successful reboot and amazing experience all in one, means I am very much looking forward to the next installment, and will really have to resist purchasing the Definitive Edition just announced.
What I didn't mention about Tomb Raider was that the multiplayer was a completely unnecessary mess and no fun at all. It speaks volumes that I was able to ignore this and still place the game at the top of my list based on the campaign alone. Shadow Fall is the opposite side of that coin. Granted, I have only completed a few levels of the campaign, but I doubt now whether I will ever make the effort. It's just so amateurish and clumsy in it's storytelling (somehow, and I don't mean to offend, it's EXTREMELY Dutch) and just not compelling at all, just like every other Killzone. No, what you come to this series for is the weight and heft of the thing, along with amazingly coordinated clusterfucks online. Somehow when I die repeatedly in Killzone, I just get back in, often laughing at my own silliness or lack of skill. It's just a riot. And for someone who is pretty bad at shooters, I seem to end up with some cool moments that sometimes I feel I didn't earn, but that the game gave me for my dedication. There's few things more satisfying in gaming than placing a perfect turret in Killzone and just watching the kills rack up. I love it.
You might have noticed already that GTAV is not on this list. I don't like the series at all, although I was more tempted by V than any other. Similarly, I just saw the Saints Row series as a poor clone. I could not have been more wrong. I tried The Third when it was free on Plus and I had an amazing time with it, just breathtakingly good. In fact, I finished it just prior to the release of this one and it was my very last PS3 purchase. More great writing, crazy scenarios and wonderful set pieces meant that the franchise was taken to new heights in the same arena. This could have been my top game as well, and I kept at this one until I platinum'd it, but it was a little TOO similar for the top spot. Shout out to whoever voices generic white female 1 - she really sells it!
Unfairly maligned by rose-tinted fools upon release, this has to be played to truly judge. Personally, I really enjoyed the storyline, even if the ending was somewhat predictable, and the actors delivered their roles exceptionally well. The mechanics were crazily complex whilst still being a blast and a breeze to execute, but somehow Ninja Theory created a tough game that even mediocre players like myself could get better at and beat. And for the hardcore fans, the upper echelons of the difficulty must have been a dream come true. This was the first DmC game that I really enjoyed and completed and it's streets ahead of it's predecessors whilst keeping the heart of it intact. An amazing achievement.
This is a weird one. It looks spectacular, plays well and has incredible sound design. The rub is that it's just too fucking hard for me - I barely completed it on Rookie and am feeling that I haven't a hope on any higher difficulty. Despite that, it draws me back for half an hour nearly every night, so it must have something!
This made the list as the game which made me love the Lego series again. Batman 2 and Pirates were lackluster I thought, no more than lip service, but Lego Marvel has a pretty cool campaign, excellent writing (Thor: "Assist me, human-spider!") and puzzles that don't seem too obtuse or too easy. The PS4 version really pops and there's just SO much to do, I can see it keeping me going for a long long time. Using the Vita as a player 2 controller is the icing on the cake.
I hate the Assassin's Creed games. I bought 2 on the strength of reviews and near-universal praise. I lasted 3 hours with it before acknowledging that it just wasn't for me; I would never 'get it'. So the series rolled on and I successfully ignored every one. Right up until i watched someone livestream this on the PS4. I knew I had to have it - it just looked so cool and effortless. Now, I do love the game, but it's pretty far down on the list because I have barely begun (still in Havana, shipless) but I have no doubt that the quality of the early experience will be carried through to the end. I just wish I was better at it - each assassination is botched mess of inelegant bodies and my Edward roams the rooftops with as much grace as one legged duck. But it has a ton of atmosphere and a sense of place which is so great to immerse myself in that I can only hope I will improve over time.
This really neat little shooter is very much worth your time. Challenging, subversive and mechanically sound, I was stunned just how good this was. I actually found the story pretty cool, if a little forced at times, and the ability to fight on both sides of the conflict was an interesting story diversion. Shooters on handhelds are usually a poor imitation, but this one genuinely holds up, with multiple challenges to complete and online which is robust, but sadly, however unexpectedly, woefully underpopulated.
My bottom two games are a wee bit controversial and here's why - I fucking hated them both. For why? Well, I bought Gunslinger on the basis of Patrick's glowing endorsement and the subsequent Quick Look. What he forgot to mention is that the game is ball-breakingly hard throughout. I swore, I threw controllers, I actually stood up and yelled at my TV. I am proud of none of this. There is so much wrong with the brutal nature of this game...but it is counterbalanced by EXCELLENT narration, expert storytelling, incredibly cool mechanics (last chance in particular is something other games should consider) and just a really good romp through the West. I was so happy when I beat it, because I nearly gave up on so many occasions; ultimately it's a good game, really good in fact; I would say it earned my respect, but not my love.
Which brings us to this. Up front, there was a time when this would have been in the top spot without any questions. Again, my lack of expertise with shooters found some spots nigh-impossible. I had to conserve, strategise and sometimes just run through, hoping for the best. What I loved was the sense of place, Columbia just seemed so cool and tangible that I really loved just walking around in it. Something about that scarily-American setting really appealed to me and seemed so ripe for a 'dark underbelly' type story. I will be straight - the setting is the main reason it's on the list. No other game created something as mood-laden, threatening and consistent as Infinite. I thought the storyline was actually terrible, just a confused half-baked series if threads which could have woven together coherently, but instead wove a tapestry of deliberate confusion and obfuscation; when I got to the end, although I appreciated it stylistically, I felt no emotional component at all, partially because I had worked out the main twist long before and partially because of the ham-fisted handling of it. I fear Ken Levine might become the next Peter Molyneux and should definitely check himself, before, well, you know...