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Pudge

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GOTY 2016

This year has been harrowing for many reasons, but gaming is not among them. We’ve had an embarrassment of riches, and I could have easily put together a second list of games that are just as deserving as what I’ve decided upon as my personal best. Speaking of, 2016 has also been an amazing year for me professionally, as I rose in rank to become the reviews editor at TechRaptor. I fulfilled a childhood dream this year by attending E3 as a journalist, and I’ve befriended more people in the industry than I ever thought possible. I’m optimistic about 2017 and my continued journey in this strange industry we all call home.

Before I go through my top 10 proper, a few honorable mentions.

  • Overwatch is a great shooter that reminded me how much I love TF2, but it just didn’t hook me in the way that most competitive shooters do, and I played it far less than a lot of my peers. (Review)
  • In any other year, the zany combat of Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 would have easily secured a spot on this list, and I'd say that this game would probably be #11 if I extended the list. Still, I just had so many other options that I never really came back to it after the review process, and that's a shame. (Review)
  • Gemini: Heroes Reborn will never get the recognition it deserves for its unique and groundbreaking mechanics, and I've accepted that. It's still a solid FPS campaign that is way more fun than it has any right to be, and everyone who is bowled over by Titanfall's campaign should give it a look. (Review)
  • Hitman is an achievement in game design that I enjoyed immensely from afar. I’ve watched hours and hours of assassinations, but I can’t say that I’ve dived in myself, so I couldn’t really include the game despite its brilliance.
  • The same sentiment above goes for SUPERHOT, which is an exclusion that I plan to rectify sooner rather than later.

With that out of the way, let’s start the list. As with last year, I'll include a list of my reviews of the listed games below.

Gears of War 4

Forced Showdown

Enter the Gungeon

The Turing Test

Kirby: Planet Robobot

Shadow Warrior 2

Titanfall 2

List items

  • Rip and tear until you're through. Those are some of the words that begin 2016's DOOM, and they're apt for the game the proceeds them. iD have recaptured lightning in a bottle, filling this game with the same insane energy and bloodthirsty vigor as the legendary classic that inspired it. On top of that, they gave Doomguy a personality without giving him a voice, a masterful stroke that made gamers everywhere relate to an insane demon slayer. With equal parts nostalgia and technical wizardry, no other game in 2016 has reminded me why I love games more than this sadistic trip through Hell.

    Also there's multiplayer? I guess. It's fine.

  • I knew I'd be hooked on Titanfall 2's multiplayer from the moment I first played it at EA Play earlier this year. It is still as fast and furious as the first game, and no other titles have come close to replicating that formula. What I didn't expect was Titanfall 2's expertly crafted campaign, which blew me away with setpiece moments and exciting boss battles. BT was the best new character of the year, and I haven't been this excited to play through a set of FPS levels since the salad days of Halo.

  • Shadow Warrior 2 is interactive adrenaline. A ridiculous number of custom weapons, a retro carefree attitude, and a valid tweak of Borderlands gameplay combine to form a satisfying whole. The experiments with procedural level design may not have panned out completely, but this is still a worthy successor to the Shadow Warrior name.

  • Kirby games are simple fun, and I feel like the franchise doesn't get enough recognition for just how well it nails that every time a new release gets put out. Even for the more experimental outings, you can rely on a Kirby game to lift your spirits after a long day. Planet Robobot is no different, and its robotic additions and subtle gameplay tweaks to the Kirby formula make for another solid entry for my favorite Nintendo puffball.

  • A First Person Puzzler with brains, The Turing Test is a fun ride through a realistic space setting that makes you feel clever as you conquer its various test chambers. As I said in my review, its visuals really sell the entire experience, and I've never felt more connected to the vast foreignness of outer space than I have on this moon base. Criminally overlooked by many, it's certainly worth a look for any fans of Portal.

  • FORCED: Showdown is a great sideshow, but Enter the Gungeon is the true main event when it comes to Roguelikes in 2016. An expertly designed stab at conquering Issac that comes ever so close to achieving that goal, Gungeon is nevertheless a great romp filled with gun puns and frustration.

  • I still really like Roguelikes, and I like collecting cards. FORCED: Showdown combined these two likes into one enjoyable package that provides run after run of enjoyable nonsense. The aesthetic of all the FORCED games have devolved into "idk Fantasy?", and this has lead to hammer-wielding lava golems fighting Rambo-themed rats with miniguns and a German accent. Roguelikes are great when they surprise you, and this game always delivered.

  • I'm a huge fan of action movies, and some of my favorite games are basically interactive excuses to go through set pieces guns blazing. Gears of War 4's campaign is one of those games, with a great campaign full of memorable and exciting moments. Sadly, the rest of the package brought the whole thing down, and the game is rotten with microtransactions, but the single player is redemptive enough to earn a spot here.

  • This year, I wrote a piece looking back at Spyro: Year of the Dragon. It was one of my favorites on PS1 as a kid, but playing through it again revealed just how far we’ve come since 2000, and I was anything but kind to it. Later in the year, I finally picked up a PS4, and Ratchet & Clank was my first purchase, mostly based on wanting to experience the stunning visuals I’d heard so much about. Those do deserve praise, but I was surprised even more by how much fun I was having playing the game, and how much it reminded me of the best parts of Insomniac’s Spyro trilogy. This was my first experience with the series, and playing through the campaign this year gave me a renewed hope for Insomniac's unique brand of platforming.

  • What is Firewatch? It’s a short and sweet narrative game about hiking through the woods. It’s an examination of how self centered we can all be in life, and it’s a story told seamlessly through a set of natural conversations. The beauty of the game’s scenery, the power of its vocal performances and the quality of its writing, they all come together to create a grand experience that I couldn’t stop thinking about all year long.
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