Year of the Bow Bow of the Year

Well, we're creeping towards the end of the fiscal zodiac Year of the Bow/Luigi. Last year's E3 gave us a preview, but now we've gotten to experience it.

But which is the frontrunner so far?

The Last of Us for surviving horror, the futuristic Crysis 3 approach, the all-purpose bow in Tomb Raider, the elvin acrobats of Dragon's Crown... all these games featured fine, sick bows. Maybe I missed some indie bows. Please, share your stories.

I gotta go with Tomb Raider. Its versatility, adaptability, lethality, and an abundance of available arrows made it a true contender. I found myself switching to bows over shotguns in full combat, and it made stealth in the game a whole lot of fun.

What about Far Cry 3's bow? (That was in the right year, right? Oh, no, my life is becoming a blur...)

Ms. Pac Man = Bow of the year all years.

Also, why isn't Year of Luigi "Year of the Bro"?

Nope, that was 2012.

Blood dragon was 2013 though, and that had a neon bow, so that wins.

Oh dammit, that's the correct answer.

The Tomb Raider bow was helpful throughout that game and made stealth awesome. Of the bows I used this year, that was my favorite bow. The bowiest bow. Bowie's Bow.

The Tomb Raider bow was awesome. I used it for pretty much the entire game. I think the only area I didn't use it was the Shanty Town level because it just wasn't fast enough with so many enemies coming at you.

I agree with most of what you said, but I also found that it made stealth too simple and dumb. You're not punished for missing. The arrows can go right by the enemy's head without him noticing. Plus, most of the combat sequences were too scripted, enclosed, linear and brief for the shooting to be fun.

The Killer Bow from Fire Emblem is Bow of The Year every year.

Tomb Raider had the bow of the year. The combat in that game is pretty damn satisfying and a lot of that is the bow. It has good impact. Better than Last of Us' bow for sure.

The Last of Us's bow had reusable ammo

REUSABLE AMMO IN THE LAST OF US FOR GOODNESS SAKES!

TLOU bow gets my vote.

Absolutely Tomb Raider. I played almost the entire game by getting headshots on everyone with the bow.

Wait, I thought last year was the year of the bow. What sort of zodiac are you using?

I think out of all of the bow games this year Tomb Raider was the only one where I used the bow almost exclusively. It was dope. It should win.

I thought the 'year' started at e3 and ended after e3.

It's basically the fiscal year but better

Year of the Bow was last year...........

2012 - Year of the Bow

2013 - Year of Luigi

What if Luigi had a bow?

@hidys: Are you suggesting that Luigi become the drag queen of Mushroom Kingdom?

To address the fiscal zodiac controversy, the Year began at E3 2012 and will continue as long as someone believes.

Bow of the year.

Guys every year is year of the bow now. Duh.

The bow in Tomb Raider is probably my favorite this year. I used that thing for most of the game.

@grantheaslip: I know, times frames for theoretical awards are serious business. But I'm on vacation and no longer believe in rules.

I'll go with Tomb Raider's bow as well. It would be hard to beat the sheer versatility that bow has.

Tomb Raider bow was pretty great. You could actually use it throughout most of the game and it kept getting more powerful. It was satisfying, it had a good long range and it was deadly.

@animasta: yeah, I was about to say far cry 3 counts because it's in the fiscal year of the bow.

I said versatility, not simply murder potential. And it even has better murder potential. You can set guys on fire and blow up barrels with it. Exactly how a bow and arrow ignites whatever is in those red barrels is a mystery to me, but it does.

You can also use to pull down structures and cross chasms, and there are probably some things I'm not thinking of. My point is, Tomb Raider's bow is probably the most useful tool in the game.

Big Bo will always be best Bo/Bow/Boe

awesome thread title

It's Year of the Dog guys -

@video_game_king knows whats up.