The New Order Vs. Bayonetta 2 for GOTY 2014

It feels that Bayonetta 2 might run away with being the GOTY 2014 for most of Giant Bomb. It also feels that Wolfenstein The New Order isn't getting the attention it rightfully deserves. I take issue with both of these statements.

First off I feel that The New Order out shines Bayonetta 2 in every conceivable way. From the gameplay, to the characters, to the story. Bayonetta 2 is just that. More Bayonetta. There is nothing wrong with that, but the New Order is far more unique. The New Order pushes the genre forward while Bayonetta 2 just feels like some sexy anime fever dream.

The things the New Order did with its story, its tone, to even its gameplay thoroughly shocked and delighted me back in May. Lets just take the cover system for example. When was the last time you had used a cover system that fluid and dynamic in a first person shooter? It just felt right. Being able to dynamically lean in any direction and being able to do it in a pressure sensitive way was a game changer.

Lets not forget how visceral all the guns felt and sounded. The power trip you got from duel-wielding assault rifles as you tore through hordes of Nazis was amazing. Sure the arsenal was limited, but what was there was fantastic. You could duel-wield sniper rifles!!!!!

Lets not forget the way the game handled persistence and growth with the perk tree. How each little challenge helped you try to play the game in new and interesting ways. It made you want to play some sections stealthily and it was pretty successful for that.

Even the way you received ammo felt refreshing. In most games you'd smash a box and it would completely explode and disappear. But in the New Order the crates felt real. You were smashing into the side of these crates and leaning into them to grab supplies. It sounds silly but it added a lot to the game. The game even brought back actual health and armor pickups without it feeling dated. It didn't even have tacked on multiplayer in an industry where its prevalent!

Lets talk about the story. Sure it was kind of silly with it's mystical ancient alien-jewish artifacts and whatnot but it had a lot of sincere moments and memorable characters. Remember that sex scene on the train? It was tastefully done. In a Wolfenstien game no less! There is a scene where Jimi Hendrix gives you a hit of Acid! Lets not forget about the villains. Sure Deathshead is a stupid name for a villain, but man was that guy unsettling and scary.

The New Order is more than some generic shooter. It is pushing the genre forward. It deserves our attention. It deserves a sequel. And most importantly it deserves to be Game of the Year.

here's your reply

My top 2. It's coming down to the wire.

Wake up, you're dead.

New order isn't even the best shooter this year.

BOOM!

Huh, considering Wolf Among Us is the best game this year, comparing those two doesn't really matter.

In all honesty, I think Wolfenstein might end up being in the bottom 5 for GB, while Bayonetta will secure a spot in the top 3.

I think Wolfenstein will see it's fair share of support from the GB crew, it comes down this is anyone willing to fight for it? I don't think it's a cert it makes top ten and if no one feels strongly enough then it's dead in the water.

I haven't played Bayonetta 2 yet but if it is just more Bayonetta, it's already a better game than Wolfenstein. Wolfenstein starts strong with a great story, an interesting cast of characters and a well paced campaign. Those parts of the game maintain throughout. The problem is the gameplay which stays interesting in the first half of the game and then suddenly becomes frustrating. The wrinkles they added in the last few missions weren't as good as stuff in the beginning and enemies started becoming annoying bullet sponges. I burned through the first half and I still want to finish the game but I don't want to actually play the gameplay sections anymore. I thought the first half of the game did a good job of making it feel like more than a generic shooter but those changes don't hold up in a game this long.

Doesn't matter because Shadow of Mordor will win easily by being the blandest and most generic yet competent game this year.

You meant Guilty Gear Xrd, but that's okay. We all make mistakes. Except for me.

You're probably right. ):

The fact people are even asking and comparing these two games shows what is wrong with Game of The Year. Play them both! They are both fun and awesome!

@babychoochoo said:

Tomodachi Life wins GotY over Guilty Gear, duh.

Bayonetta 2 is going to be remembered as one of the best games of this generation and possibly ever made. It's nearly flawless.

Wolfenstein is a fantastic game but it won't go down as one of the best ever.

That'd be like The Kings Speech winning best picture over The Social Network. The Kings Speech is good but it isn't a masterpiece....oh wait...HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!!?

No one really talks about either King's Speech or Social Network anymore. Neither one will go down in film history as masterpieces.

I agree insofar that Wolfenstein hasn't been getting the recognition it deserves from most places where they have already decided their end of the year awards. Then again let's not forget that Saints Row The Third received a grand total of 0 GotY wins in 2011.

I think you will need to accept that the aggregated Game of the Year is going to go to Dragon Age. Bioware games (and Bethesda games) have an insane chance of winning it whenever they bring out a new game. On the other hand, Wii U-exclusive Bayonetta 2 has about a snowball's chance in hell of winning it.

As for the Giant Bomb GotY I still think it will be between Bayonetta 2 and Shadow of Mordor with Bayonetta 2 winning it.

No one talks about most Oscar bait movies.

When was the last time you had used a cover system that fluid and dynamic in a first person shooter? It just felt right. Being able to dynamically lean in any direction and being able to do it in a pressure sensitive way was a game changer.

Crysis 2's cover system was pretty great. Now, if you want to talk about criminally underrated shooters, we can talk about Crysis 2.

it's story, it's tone, to even it's gameplay

Its. Its story, its tone, its gameplay.

Now that's just bollocks, Wolfenstein is the best shooter we've had for several years now.

That is a sentence that goes in complete opposition to what I'm about to say, but I felt like it had to be said (just out of curiosity, what would you call the best single player shooter this year?).

Anyway, Bayonetta 2 and Wolfenstein aren't really comparable as far as gameplay goes. We can talk about how both of them aren't terribly innovative, but are instead incredible refinements of well-established genres, but that's about it. Both are very different kinds of games and both appeal to different subjective tastes.

Besides, everyone knows that Shovel Knight is the best game of the year.

Thanks. I'll fix that bit.

Wolfenstein brought us this, which already deserves a mention! I really loved the game otherwise as well.

@donchipotle: The Social Network is absolutely going to be talked about for ages.

That film where Justin Timberlake met not-Michael Cera? Pffft.

Lol. Yes and no. The one about that selfish prick who created one of the most defining tools of our generation. One of the best scripts ever! One of the best scores! It's absolutely in the top 10 movies of the past decade. Certainly one of my favorites. I'm also realizing how flimsy a comparison to the topic at hand it is....uh boy...embarrassed.

I like Bayonetta 2 more than Wolfenstein: the new order.

I also like spaghetti and meatballs more than beanbag chairs.

I played Wolfenstein so I obviously like it more, but I generally prefer hack'n'slash games, so I wouldn't be surprised if I had liked Bayonetta more.

While there are many valid points made in this thread this is the reality.

@acidbrandon18: When did Jimi Hendrix give you acid? I just finished Wolfenstein today and that never happened.

You're on drugs man!

@bigmess: Jimi Hendrix only exists in the Wyatt timeline.

Michael Hayes is in my brain.

The lack of playable Johnny immediately disqualifies Xrd from being the best anything, except maybe the best looking.

@corevi: That alone seems worth another play through.

I bought a wii u for Bayonetta 2 and was very pleased with that decision. However, Bayonetta isn't the game of the year. There are way too many jencky boss fights. Its at its best when you're fighting a ton of enemies at once. The boss fights are boring and way too many.

I'd overall go with Bayonetta just because it has the better gameplay, but Wolfenstein was the best FPS released this year easily, and is a damn great game.

I really liked The New Order. It is a bit late to be posting though since they were already done deliberating three weeks ago.

@acidbrandon18: Wow that's really silly and awesome. Plus, I saw that you got an armor upgrade afterwards. I only got health upgrades throughout my play through. Is that another Wyatt timeline thing or am I just dumb?

That is a Wyatt timeline thing. You also get the ability to pick locks instead of hotwiring.

Imagine if Bayonetta had assault rifles on her feet, and she killed Nazi's in the 60's in the next game.

@gunstarred: There're no ARs in Bayonetta but there are shotguns, bazookas and flamethrowers.

Also angels are basically Nazi's right?

Personally did not find The New Order to be all that good. I feel the production values overshadowed a pretty uninteresting story. The Jewish resistance group hiding troves of the most insane tech ever was pretty silly. Too many bland humans as enemies. Would have liked more human mechanical monstrosities, or occult based enemies of some type. Wasnt real big on running around cities and sewers either.

Both games are unlikely to win for the same reason honestly, just not enough people really played them. New Order because it is an FPS game in a sea of FPS games and Bayonetta 2 because no one bought a Wii U/because sexuality is bad, what will the children and old women I'm playing this game with think/character action games are intimidating.

Wolfenstein is a very good game that I think will make a lot of personal top 10s but I don't think it will end up in the Bombcast top 3.

I think that:

(1) the aggregated community GOTY will be Dark Souls 2 or Dragon Age; and

(2) the odds on favorites for the Bombcast crew top 3 are Mordor, Bayonetta, and Dark Souls 2.

Eh Wolfenstein was a good first person shooter... that's about it. The market has "good first person shooters" coming out it's butt. I am sure Wolfenstein will get a mention, maybe even be top 10, but game of the year? No way.

Wolfenstein is my personal GOTY, but to say that it "pushes the genre forward" is a little much. It's a really damn good shooter that combines a lot of old-school and modern design choices in a refreshing way, but all of it has been done before. It definitely feels like a game that came from ex-Starbreeze devs, as they have a trademark 'feel' to their shooters.

As for Bayonetta 2, I haven't played it. I would love to, as I'm a big fan of the first, but alas, I do not own a Wii U. Though I'm confident that if I did, Bayonetta 2 would be high up on my list.

The New Order got robbed of that 10 spot. To Destiny no less. sigh

I WAS right. I demand the Wizard Belt.

*Takes a knee, looks up and uses both hands to hand Corevi the Wizard Belt.*

Bayonetta 2's infinite climax difficulty mode is the best action game ever made. Better than infinite non-stop climax in bayonetta 1, better than 101% hard in wonderful 101, and better than revengeance difficulty in MGR. It's a damn crime it didn't win best game.