What a season! 2016 was great if all you cared about was video games. Otherwise it's a steaming pile of shit. I just got a VR-ready computer, which basically just means it runs non-VR games super well. I have no interest in VR at this juncture in time, but boy oh boy games sure look great on my machine!
ON TO THE LIST!!! In reverse order for added drama and suspense.
Yeah. I know. This game. Listen, I had a few friends with which enjoyed this game with me. Playing the campaign, unlocking skins, making that score go up, getting those loots... that was all real fun. Sure it came out at the WORST possible time, and it didn't really entice anyone at all, but I had plenty of fun with it. Sue me!
They just had a free weekend tease with this game and it immediately clicked with me, mostly because of the minimal actual clicking needed. My biggest problem with the traditional MOBA is that you have to always be clicking your mouse. Fuck that noise. I want some goddamned direct control over my dude/lady. This game is like if your favorite MOBA got rid of all those pesky shops, towers, creeps, and jungle, and was all just team fights with short cooldowns. Hell yeah. You control your champ/hero/cool guy with WASD and aim with your mouse. That's all I need. I'm a simple man who enjoys WASD controls.
I haven't played this since the HUGE update they just put out a few days before this writing, so I can't really speak to the changes (which all seem really cool), but that doesn't mean I didn't have a blast pre-patch. Another MOBA where you have direct control with WASD controls. It feels a lot like a tighter Smite and about 20x as pretty. It is from Epic using UE4, so that's why it's so pretty. The card system took me a while to get used to, but after understanding its nuance, I kind of prefer it to the item shops of LoL and DOTA2. Fuck DOTA though. Ugh.
The first installment available on PC from the ground up. Boy oh boy does it look nice and play well. The campaign was pretty fun and just keeps on going which I like. It flows from chapter to chapter and act to act seamlessly which means I stayed up real late beating it. Lots of fun! The new Horde mode seems really cool, but there were matchmaking problems near release that kind of soured my time with it, along with the fact that there was always one or two players who'd drop out around the 7th wave which just made it a chore for everyone else. The class system is pretty neat, but I didn't dive too deep because of the shitty loot box system required to get anything worth a damn.
This makes it sound like I didn't like it more than my previously listed games, but I do. It's just that there were a few things worth nitpicking.
This game FEELS so GOOD. I love the V system they implemented. It adds extra individuality to the fighters. Ryu is my dude and has been my dude since 1992, and he just feels so good... but oh man that season pass bullshit can fuck right off. I want that Guile Stage. No I'm not paying you extra for it. Suck my ****!!! I haven't played in a few months, but during the time I was really playing, mostly before EVO, I was super deep into SFV. Here's to hoping they continue to work on the game and make Survival less bullshitty.
A game that will certainly be in most players top 5's, if not their outright GOTY. It is soo slick and has that patented Blizzard polish. Every character truly feels unique and does their job very well. Even Symmetra after her reworking is lethal now. The maps are great, the games are quick, but you know what can still fuck off? The loot boxes. GIVE ME MORE LOOT. AHHH.
Man this is a pretty game. Makes me want to go to Australia. At least the parts that are civilized and not the parts that always want to kill me. Some optimization problems for a while on PC, especially near the city, but other than that, a fantastic Horizon game. This is the first time I said to myself, "I'm gonna finish every event in this game." and meant it... then I found out that for every blip on that map, there's also a 3-4 race championship event. I think I'm gonna have to go back on that statement, but it's still a game I play, and I'll do a championship event here and there and I'm still having fun.
When this game was unveiled at the E3 2013, my jaw dropped. I had that child-like vision for this game that it was going to be the best thing EVAR. Year passed and no news, then delays, and more delays, then finally an open beta around January 2016. That's what spelled doom (heh) for me. Instantly pre-ordered, took TWO days off from work to play it. I probably burned myself out pretty quickly because of that, but it was a SUUUPER pretty game, even on my Xbox One. It was winter when it came out in Albany, and it just felt right.
The Dark Zone(DZ) is whatever. It was a pretty neat concept in the beta when people were still kind of figuring it out, but when it was released, and people started theorycrafting gear, that's when I lost all interest in going in the DZ, and that was unfortunate because this is all way before the 1.4 patch. The DZ was where you had to go if you wanted the best gear, but now you can get all kinds of good stuff even while roaming the world solo.
1.4 is to The Division as Reaper of Souls was to Diablo III. I had since sold my Xbox One, so I had to buy this on PC and boy am I glad I did. SO PRETTY. FUCK. Sorry. I've mentioned games being "pretty" a whole lot here, but what can I say. I love a pretty game.
Grabbed the Season Pass for $20 on sale, and it's been worth it. Underground, the first DLC, is like Rifts in D3. Randomly generated dungeons with random enemies and loot, with difficulty modifiers to remove things like regenerating health or your minimap to spice things up, and to get better rewards.
Survival, the most recent DLC, introduces a new mode where 24 other players are dropped in the main Manhattan map, but have to scavenge for consumables to keep you healthy. The gist of the mode is you're infected with a virus, and you have an hour to live. Medicine is randomly placed around the map to stave off the virus, so those are very sought after. Also it's in the middle of a blizzard, so you need to find or craft new clothing to keep warm.
It's an amazing mode that has a crazy amount of replayability. Thankfully you can opt for either PvP or PvE so if you're a care bear like me you can tool around without fear of getting ganked.
I'm happy the devs retooled their game so drastically. I'd say this game was pretty much dead around August and September, and they certainly breathed new life into this franchise. I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
The first Titanfall was a fantastic game held back by a lack of customization and no campaign mode to speak of at all. Titanfall 2 doubles down on both of these holes of their first game to a very awesome degree.
The campaign had one of the coolest moments in recent memory for me which I wont spoil for anyone, but if you've played this game, you KNOW.
Customization is plentiful in this game as there are about 5 pages of camo that you can choose for your gun, your character, your Titan, your Titan's face, and your Titan's weapon. Very neat.
The multiplayer, though, is my favorite of the year. the movement is fabulous, as Jeff Gerstmann explains in his review. The feel of the Titans going up against the puny, ant-sized Pilots and NPCs just makes you feel BADASS.
Buy this game. On PC. Help the player count which is small-ish, but isn't at a critical point where I'm having trouble finding matches in Attrition or Bounty Hunt.
What else needs to be said? It's fucking DOOM. Starring the motherfucking DOOM Marine! Shoot those asshole demons!
RIP AND TEAR
The soundtrack has been covered extensively, and even got a live performance at the Game Awards. Fuck yes.
The weapons all feel completely devastating, the glory kills are just beautiful to see, the goddamn CODEX is subtly hilarious... Game of my year by far. Oh and it has multiplayer too. Eh.
