GOTY 2015
Did I even play 10 games released in 2015 that I liked (I don't even own any of the new consoles)? Fuck.
List items
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Glorious return of the real city builder. The last Simcity brought much shame to it, but Cities: Skylines is pretty much a big 'F you' by being everything Simcity isn't with mod support and big maps from the get go and no forced online 'features'. But the game is incredibly strong on its own too. It's a joy to precisely craft your cities and seeing it grow. The simulation gets a bit wonky sometimes, although some of that can be fixed with mods.
O, and even with the After Dark DLC added to the total price, it's not a full priced (meaning, $60) game.
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My favourite 'small' game of 2015. In early access since forever (but done the right way with constant updating, extra's such as a free copy to give away and streamed development), but the result is great. Fantastic soundtrack, meaty gameplay and the right balance between enjoyment and challenge.
The graphics are a bit weak, even for being 'retro', but the character and enemy design is adorable enough to forgive Vlambeer for this.
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This is the best multiplayer CoD ever made gameplay wise. Period. Treyarch by now knows how to balance their CoD's and the Titanfall-esque is a better movent option addition than more abrupt exo suit movement from Advanced Warfare. Is it better than Titanfall? No, because the mandatory CoD features like pointstreak rewards and ludicrous low time to kill weapons bring the game down a bit and the almost Quake strafejump-like acceleration aspect from Titanfall is missing in BO3.
The PC version, while packed with PC quality of life options like up to 120 field of view and precise frame rate limiting, is also suffering some performance problems, but not game breaking.
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Released in december 2014. Bought and then of course played most of it in 2015. A very competent and reasonably accessible racing sim. Most of the tracks are laser scanned and a joy to ride because of the very direct handling feel and force feedback (I don't care if that's 100% realistic or not) and the standard package of cars is both varied and interesting (who am I kidding... Ferrari's!). But wait, there's more! F1 2015 (and 1998, 2006, 2009, ect) cars you say? There's mod for that. Rally cars? There's a mod for that. Bonkers Ferrari F1 concept mod? Sure, here ya go! The mod community added so much cool content already.
The AI is a bit spotty, especially with the mod content, the online functionality is not always a smooth experience and you don't want to buy this game for the career options, but I usually just drive solo to relax anyway.
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I do not own this game nor a WiiU. Yet, this game brought me so much joy by just watching people create levels or play it. The Giantbomb content is great and the Dan vs. Patrick fued is one of best things that happened this year gaming wise.
Note to self: I should buy a WiiU some day. Wait... Doom SnapMap next year! (DOOM Alpha secret early access GOTY)
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My favourite 'smal... Nope, Nuclear Throne came out this year. Still a really fun game to play though. High one-more-game factor! It's a cool take on the (shooting) platform genre since you are going downwards instead of forwards.
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Another year, another Football Manager. The create-a-club addition is neat. And of course I manage to lose with an 800 million worth team with Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pogba, ect.
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The best playing MGS game brought down by poor story telling. It's kinda sad that most of the really interesting information often comes from tapes (what is this? Destiny!?) and that the whole second chapter kind of falls in the 'whatever, here are some not so important loose ends we tie up' category. The questionable forward operation base (microtransaction) nonsense didn't help either.
Man, I want a PC version of MSG4 with these controls and movement/sneaking mechanics now.
Still, it's a good game.
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The best RTS you can play today. That doesn't say much since there aren't many around, but LotV is also really good on it's own. The campaign lacks the variety of the Wings of Liberty installment and gets a bit silly storywise, but is still rock solid and introduces some very likeable characters along the way.
The multiplayer is more streamlined than ever with less down time at the start and more focus on army micro. And the co-op and Archon mode (2 players control one army) are fun new distractions.
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Another game released in december 2014 (2015 for the steam release.. HAH! So it's a 2015 game!). This game is so boring, yet so awesome. Most of the game is just like a job. Mine some minerals here, do some space trucking there and keep the space lanes safe from pirates and rebel scum. With no story to dramatize all of it.
But it's in space in all of it's 400 billion stars Milky Way glory to explore. And that's fantastic.
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