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I look at this game with such awe. First, it's charming as hell. It looks great on PC and on the iPad. Mechanically, it's as simple as card games like Uno or War but when you dig into the depth that lies beneath you come to realize the truth. It's an extremely strategic multiplayer game that's as enjoyable to play as it is to watch. It's also a shining example of a free to play game done correctly. There's no intrusive advertising, there's a free track for players to advance without paying a dime and there's a fast track for people who want to pay a little but i've yet to feel like i was a lesser player because i haven't paid any real money. The recent (free) Goblins vs Gnomes expansion has only made the game even more interesting offering new variety to the turn to turn gameplay. Simply put, when you pull that perfect sequence of cards that allows you to get yourself out of a hole, spring a trap, or suddenly decimate your opponent, there's no better feeling.
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My biggest surprise of the year. I was ready to dismiss this game as soon as i saw the first trailer as an Assassin's Creed clone (and it sort of is) but where it's special is that it perfectly lifts the melee combat from the Batman Arkham series and mixes it with a Mercenaries "deck of cards" kill list of Uruk Captains and Warchiefs and just lets you go on your way to hunting those bastards down. Even better, if you fail in a first attempt on their life, they remember how the exchange ended and bring it up the next time. After they've been powered up of course. The first time i found myself flipping off the "mission accomplished" screen after killing a warchief who had bested me 3 times previously, i knew this game was special because of its mechanics.
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I'm an unashamed habitual Call of Duty player. I play it every year, probably more than most other games. I fully understand the fatigue people talk about and their reluctance to buy "the same game" every year. All that withstanding, this years exo movement mechanics are a reason to check it out again. Aside from the fact that this is far an away a better game than Call of Duty: Ghosts, it's just a hell of a lot of fun and reminds me a lot of Unreal Tournament. Plus, the single player is a great thrill ride.
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I had no love for Sunset Overdrive until i saw it being played. Then it clicked, it's Tony Hawk meets Saints Row with a smattering of zombies...erm...mutants. It's a hell of an open world game that's packed with beauty, humor, and style.
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(PS4) While i had already invested hundreds of hours into vanilla Diablo 3 on PC and Xbox 360 as well as the PC Reaper of Souls expansion, when it came time to pick up new games for my PS4, i could not say no to this one. It's as good an experience here as it is on PC and a hell of a time to play with your friends on the couch or online.
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(Xbox One) Yes this is a 2013 game, yes i played it back then on my 360 and yes i liked it back then. The update for the current gen of consoles and upcoming PC version are a testament to how far a fresh coat of paint and up-rezzed assets can go in a world like the one Rockstar built for GTA V. There are some places and scenes that are so detailed and alive feeling that you just want to stop what you're doing and look at them...right before you go punch that mime in the face from first person mode.
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Still working my way through this one as of this writing but from what i've seen so far, it's worthy of a spot on my top 10. The game feels deceptively open and explorable while still being a fairly linear shooter. The atmosphere is pretty great as well. Finding hidden areas and approaching encounters in different fashions seem like simple ideas but here, they're executed so well that i can't bring myself not to recognize them on this list.
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(Xbox One) While this game deserved every ounce of criticism for it's showing in 2013, it fully redeemed itself and exceeded my expectations for how good it would become in 2014. The fall update for Battlefield 4 took a game that had finally become stable and fun to play from earlier updates in the year and added some really intelligent changes to core game mechanics aimed at making the game provide players meaningful info more easily as well as tweaking balance items to ensure exploitative tactics would not stand up when countered properly. I even became a premium subscriber.
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I can't help myself, i love Borderlands! I love loot RPG's. I love shooters. I love over the top characters with silly dialog. This game is all of that with Australians thrown in for good measure. Also blasting the hell out of people with a foul mouthed shotgun named "reddy boganella" was one of the funniest gaming moments of the year for me. http://bit.ly/1J4yU1d
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Including this because for a time, i had a pretty good time with this game. I think the core shooting, the crucible multiplayer, and the PvE combat are well constructed and fun enough on their own. That said, this game is structurally a mess, and feels hollow because of that lack of connective tissue. every gameplay sequence is intersected by a menu and loading screen and it's through that method of instancing that the game's hollowness of its content starts to show. The things i found notable are the way the game takes a Call of Duty perks style system of RPG character building and attaches those "perks" to equipable gear that must be earned. While it's nothing earth shattering, it's a more interesting take on character building than the classic "here's a menu and all the abilities you can have at your current level."
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