Oh, Game of the Year. To make things easier this year I tried to keep track of every new game I played (71 as of right now) and update my top 10 throughout the year. It helped in some cases so I didn’t forget about games I loved at the start of the year but also reminded me of so many games I enjoyed that just couldn’t make the cut.
I’ve tried to keep this brief and not worry about the specific order too much. Just as long as number one really was my favorite of the year and the rest all great games. I should note that I only just got a Wii U so there’s a few games I haven’t had time to judge effectively yet. Though Smash Bros and Captain Toad are probably the only Wii U games released this year which stood a chance. Let’s get straight to it.
Honorable Mentions: Fibbage, Murdered: Soul Suspect, Outlast (PS4), The Unfinished Swan (PS4), Octodad: Dadliest Catch (PS4).
10 - Rayman Legends (PS4)
I got a PS4 in February this year and started playing many of the early titles I missed. Loved Resogun, really liked Knack, Killzone was fun and I enjoyed AC: Black Flag at the time. But Rayman Legends was the first game of the system that I really felt strongly for. After the recent New Super Mario Bros games that underwhelmed me I really wondered if I could still love 2D platformers without nostalgia involved. Rayman Legends does so many things I’d never seen before and was an absolute delight.
Visually stunning, controls perfectly and very rewarding; Legends is just an all round joy to behold. My personal highlight was the rhythm levels that are just outstandingly well made but also the boss levels are so well constructed. The amount of content will keep you occupied for so long and it isn’t open world filler but just tons of fantastic new levels. I’ve never been that much of a fan of Rayman but after Legends I am proud to say I am.
9 - BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 2 (X360)
A DLC release is one of my favorite games of the year, and won’t be the last on the list. BioShock Infinite has already firmly established itself in my all time top 10 but last year’s DLC definitely was a disappointment. Then the news of Irrational closing blew up just before the release and I really feared the worst. I still played it having already purchased the Season Pass and was so surprised with how it turned out. Gameplay is probably what was the most interesting as it plays like a cross between BioShock 1 and Infinite and ends up being something very unique to the series.
The story is very ambitious like previous entries and does a solid job of trying to link up the BioShock universe even further than the events of Infinite’s finale. Overall it was a fantastic swansong to one of my favorite franchises and a great goodbye to Ken Levine’s involvement. I’m sure we’ll see more BioShock in the future as that’s the way business works but BioShock as we know and love it is gone and this was a great final chapter in the story.
8 - The Last of Us: Left Behind (PS3)
TLoU: Left Behind is a special kind of DLC. It pretty much is the absolute perfect way to do it. The original game could not have been better received by critics and players alike and Naughty Dog had almost no reason to make more before a full sequel. But they did and instead of it being an easy cash grab, they added even more to the story and helped create even more layers to already some of the most complex and real video game characters in the history of the medium.
Taking place in two distinctive periods, whilst I enjoyed the combat areas it was the other period that involved zero combat as we know it that really left an impact on me. It cleverly uses the same mechanics from the game that were used to fight infected and replace the situation with two girls having fun with each other. It’s very powerful juxtapositioned with the main game and just another sign that Naughty Dog might be the best in the business today.
7 - Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS)
Hands down one of the best handheld games I’ve ever played. And I don’t even like golf but the gameplay in this game is just fantastic. Easy to pick up but hard to master, tons of content, wide variety of courses and challenges, a surprisingly solid online infrastructure. Only part about the whole game I don’t like is the confusing menu system.
It’s so good that it has pretty much turned my 3DS XL into a Mario Golf machine where I don't ever wanna take the cartridge out as it’s always my go to game when I have some free time and wanna play something that is easy to pick up. Easily the best Mario sports title after a rough few recent titles like the terrible Mario Tennis Open.
6 - Watch Dogs (PS4)
Watch Dogs is my first choice of marmite games that really seem to have divided opinions this year. And I loved it. I’m not sure what everyone else was expecting but I got what I wanted. A great open world game with a fantastic twist in the form of hacking that makes a really familiar genre feel fresh. One of the only games this year I felt compelled to 100% and get the platinum trophy.
During the PS2 era I absolutely loved the GTA Clones that were so prevalent at the time. The Getaway, True Crime: Streets of LA and Driv3r I adored. And this game strangely reminded me of these titles after the release of GTA V last year. Open world crime games are my favorite genre and this delivered exactly what I wanted when I played it. I really look forward to a sequel which I don’t say very often.
5 - The Wolf Among Us (X360)
I, like many people, didn’t play any Telltale games before The Walking Dead Season 1 mainly due to only having a Xbox 360 at the time. TWD ended up being my game of the year so I was looking forward to what they did next. I knew nothing of Fables but played The Wolf Among Us anyway and was blown away.
The series isn't perfect, there’s definitely bigger lulls between the highs and the lows but I definitely think the highs are the biggest Telltale have produced so far. So many of the characters are fantastic and brilliantly voiced. Bigby being the best of the bunch. I didn’t think I would enjoy a Telltale series more than TWD but at this point I would prefer another series of TWAU than anything else they are making, however unlikely that is to happen.
4 - P.T (PS4)
P.T is absolutely incredible, outstanding, perfect piece of work. In the days of knowing so much before any game releases, not knowing anything other than a title and a few screens before randomly appearing on the PSN store, this was by far the most refreshing thing I played all year. I adore horror more than anything and I am constantly disappointed with it’s current state in film and games. Just thinking about the last two numbered Resident Evil games makes me physically depressed.
P.T is without a doubt the scariest thing I’ve played in my life. Much has been said about what makes the game so scary but ultimately it’s a perfect storm of just doing everything right. Then after such a horrifyingly beautiful experience we get the reveal that Kojima is making a new Silent Hill game. Whatever Silent Hills turns out to be when it’s finally released in 2-3 years, P.T will go down as one of the greatest experiences the medium has ever seen.
3 - Destiny (PS4)
Destiny is the most frustrating game for me to put on the list. I agree with many criticisms of the game like it’s lack of story and repetition, but I definitely think what it does best is constantly underplayed. Destiny has without a doubt the best shooting mechanics of any FPS I have ever played. Just shooting stuff is so god damn fun and the reason I’ve played the game for over 250 hours, more than any other game this year.
More than anything I think it’s the weapon design that has kept me playing for so long. They all feel unique and even feel different after upgrading them. I love collecting different exotics (15 at the time of writing) and seeing which ones are my favorite (Vex Mythoclast and Icebreaker). Plus doing the Vault of Glass raid and going from complete noob to expert over the course of multiple weeks is the most rewarding experience I’ve had in a game for years. Last generation I fell in love with Gears of War in 2006 and it was my shooter for the next 7 years. I hope Destiny is the same for this current generation.
2 - The Evil Within (PS4)
I had very high hopes for this game. Everything they were saying was music to my ears. The director of the best two horror games of all time returning to the genre. The words ‘spiritual successor’ being thrown around regarding my 2nd favorite game of all time. Limited edition pre ordered, all that was left was to actually play it. I know some crazy people were somehow disappointed but I loved almost every second.
The fact it somehow captured the spirit of RE4 in certain sequences just blew me away but I like that it strays away from that game also and becomes it’s own thing. It’s way more crazy and over the top, resembling more Silent Hill at times with amazing boss battles and enemy design throughout. The big open areas you explore that reminded me of RE4 were probably my favorite part of the game as most horror titles these days lean more on small enclosed spaces. The story was way better than I expected and whilst it is told is small chunks on purpose I’m really looking forward to playing it again in the future with better understanding.
Horror had a terrible year in film and I’m so surprised that in games it’s had a mini resurgence. With Resident Evil Remake HD, RE: Revelations 2 and Silent Hills on the horizon, perhaps the one thing I’ll take from 2014 more than anything regarding games is that it was the year I finally got excited for console horror games once again.
1 - South Park: The Stick of Truth (PS3)
In so many ways, South Park: The Stick of Truth is a dream come true. Growing up with the show since I was a young teen, seeing the movie come out and be hilarious, playing the early games and enjoying them despite their faults, occasionally falling out of touch with the show for brief periods before an episode gets me hooked once again, I could never have imagined playing a game like this. Obviously due to Trey and Matt’s heavy involvement it’s just the most loyal and I think best use of a license ever in gaming. To laugh at a game consistently over it’s entire duration is completely unheard of and the fan service is unrivalled.
The overall look of the game is just perfect as it is identical to the show and being able to see where everything in the town is situated for the first time makes a hardcore fan like myself just happy to walk around and see everything. Then there’s the amount of incredible settings and situations that happen in the game, that clearly took so much work to make that you only see once in service of a joke shows such an amazing level of dedication from the developer. One sequence in particular might be one of my favorite things I’ve ever experienced in a videogame. I feel so privileged to have grown up with the show and experienced this game after all these years; as games that carry so many personal feelings don’t come along very often. I enjoyed so many games this year, but none filled me with more joy than South Park: The Stick of Truth.
2014 was a strange year for games. It was never going to be able to follow such an unbelievable year for me personally which saw the release of 3 games that are already in my all time top 20 list. Many big releases disappointed or were completely broken, many anticipated titles were delayed to 2015, but we still ended up with a ton of great games. I thoroughly enjoyed all 10 games on my list and with it being such a weird year, it has definitely made reading top 10 lists more interesting than usual as it’s been such a diverse year. I hope 2015 delivers an equally diverse range of games but really hope the big players with the big franchises really hit home next year. Uncharted 4 yes please!
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