Recently I've been told that I don't like ANYTHING! Well considering they say the same thing about Jeff I think I'm in good company, but nevertheless what better excuse to make a list! It might even prove that I do actually like some games!
Released: Jan 26
I loved Myst growing up. Those were not only beautiful games at the time but the puzzles were clever and I simply fell in love with the way you had to sketch out clues and glyphs on a pad of paper. Made me feel like Indiana Jones or something - a reference that might start to get lost on todays youth. The Witness totally reignited those old feelings of exploration and puzzle solving. Beautiful game and clever in oh so many ways.
Released: Jan 28 (PC)
I was shocked with how much fun the 2008 Tomb Raider was. It was the Uncharted I always wanted. Rise of the Tomb Raider continues the hot streak with beautiful environments, great upgrade system and a decent Raiders of the Lost Ark type of story that kept things moving. Loved this game as much as the original even if it did push my PC to the limits in some of those big open areas!
Released: 2015
This game was on sale at some point and after all the praise sung about it during the Giant Bomb 2015 GOTY talks I decided to check it out. Luck would have it that right after getting it I got a really serious bug and was completely bedridden for over a week! Well that was actually terrible, but after the terrible migraines and body aches slowly subsided I had plenty of time on my hands to lay in bed and play this great puzzle game. Really nice graphics for a mobile release and pretty clever puzzle design that mixes it up every few levels introducing new mechanics that keep things fresh.
Released: February 25
Ever since it was shown on a UPF ages ago I was HOTLY anticipating the release of this indie project. Made in Poland, home of all things witching, this small team put together an amazingly stylish action-puzzle-shooter that subverts expectations in many ways. While I had some issues with how they priced it, the base game is really solid and the entire experience just oozes so much style these guys should really get hired as consultants for some of these triple A projects coming out in the West.
Released: March 8
Loot shooters with semi open worlds are becoming a thing now! There isn't much to be said about the Division except that it really hooked me for a good few weeks. As a person that lived in NYC it was fun to walk around and look for familiar sights and I actually really dug the base gameplay, which was augmented with a really great matchmaking system for whenever I wanted that multiplayer experience. Even if I didn't stick around for the endgame all that much, getting there gave me more than enough of some really fun shooty-shooty action!
Released: March 11
The new Hitman is following an episodic format and the first of these, a Paris fashion show called "The Showstopper" was a great return to form for the Hitman franchise. While Absolution featured some great graphics, the linear level design and downright busted disguise system hampered the experience for many fans of the older games (myself included!). This new Hitman may not be breaking the mold in any way, but it is giving us more of what made Blood Money such a classic for fans of the genre, and that is never a bad thing. The Showstopper is a gigantic level with multiple assassination opportunities for 47 to partake in, along with the signature wackiness these games are known for. If the remaining missions maintain the same level of quality and scope as the Showstopper then we might finally have a worthy successor to Blood Money from all those years ago.
Released: March 31
A retro styled indie game I can completely get behind! While I've lamented the way a lot of indie devs are chasing that 8bit nostalgia, Hyper Light Drifter ticks off all the right boxes in my big book of personal preference. Beautiful visuals, great ambient music and an almost suffocating sense of mystery that permeates every single pixel of this amazing world. Mixing in elements of all your favorite adventure games from past and present, Hyper Light Drifter is not only a joy to look at but a really solid action adventure game that isn't about to hold your hand on any level. Challenging but never to the point where you feel completely defeated by it, the dev's are constantly tweaking the gameplay to this very day by adding invincibility frames to the dashes or playing around with the health system. If you have any fondness for this style of game you really should check it out because it seems like it's only getting better with time!
Released: April 12
Now listen, I may have been seen around the internet saying a lot of negative things about this game. They are all true. I think DS3 is a bit too familiar, doesn't change enough and the way From Software has still not fixed some of the underlying issues these games have been suffering from since Demon's Souls is downright criminal.
All that said it is still a one of a kind experience that I do enjoy. Even when I get to the inevitable poison swamp that neither looks fun or is fun to traverse in any shape or form, I am always thinking of what the NEXT area is going to be like. When I find that new armor set that looks awesome, or get a new weapon that really caters to my playstyle, or defeat that boss with relative ease after the patterns just click in my brain - all of that is still a lot of fun. Tons of things that are downright disappointing about DS3 and I would currently probably rate it a 3/5 game to the shock and revulsion of the internet at large, but it's still a particular style of gameplay that you simply can't find anywhere else, which is something I continue to appreciate.
Released: May 10
While I was never a huge fan of Uncharted I played the obligatory second entry in the series and thought it was a fun enough action romp. Uncharted 4 doesn't really change up the formula a whole lot but the way the game plays out like this amazing Indiana Jones movie that you get to control is second to none. I enjoyed Tomb Raider more as a "Game" but Uncharted 4 is undeniably a spectacle to behold with a story you actually care about because for the first time they put the people front and center instead of the treasure. This deeper dive into the relationships that keep these people together not only helped put a human face behind the bombastic setpieces but gave you a better reason to keep playing than simply seeing another coffer of gold coins that Drake will inevitably have to leave behind. Uncharted closes it's doors for the last time on the highest of notes.
Released: May 24
I'm only a few hours into it but Overwatch is proving to be the perfect 15 minute distraction when you need it or a longer time sink when you're in the mood for it. Getting better at individual characters is rewarding and everything from the menus to the matchmaking is so seamless that you're literally two button presses away from shooting at guys and gals and monkeys alike.
Released: May 30
BLOOD AND WINE DLC specifically!
A brand new region with a lot of new quests, new faces, new equipment and even some new abilities. CDPR once again prove that they are the hardest working dev's in the biz, bringing this massive expansion out along with an equally impressive patch that addressed a lot of issues and reworked large chunks of the interface. Blood and Wine is more of what was already really good in the Witcher 3, with some sugar coating on top.
Release: May 2015
Got around to playing this now thanks to the Steam sale. It's a fun game that seems like it wasn't quite finished? No cloud saves, no dialog speed up, awkward controls.. Not huge issues, but small annoyances in an otherwise fun action romp in the same vein as Hotline Miami or Gunpoint.
Released: May 13
Doom is straight up pure action bonanza that doesn't take itself too seriously and accomplishes the seemingly impossible task of bringing a aged franchise into the modern gaming world while keeping core gameplay intact which helped this legendary shooter define the genre. Fast, visceral, and surprisingly funny, DooM defied all odds in not just being a great reboot, but by surpassing all expectations and then some.
Released: 2015
Last years horror introspective that I only got around to playing now that it went on a huge sale on PSN. The early beginnings seemed a little rough and I wasn't sure if I was going to keep going. Man am I glad I persevered! While all the monster sections felt really clunky and downright bad, the story and world of SOMA was truly fascinating. Can't remember the last game that had a similarly engaging and surprising narrative. Despite the fact that I'm no fan of horror I ended up really liking this one. If anything it makes me wish Frictional Games tried their hand at making a game where they abandon the horror trope completely so they can concentrate solely on storytelling and world buildings - elements where clearly their biggest strengths lie.
Released: October 28
While I never even touched the multiplayer in Infinite Warfare, I've played hours of Titanfall 2 without even launching the campaign. This game just feels good to play. Thats not to say you won't run into some typically multiplayer moments of frustration, but overall it's exactly the sort of game I was looking for - fire it up, play two matches of multiplayer, get my fill for a bit, come back later for more.
Released: Nov 4
The last Call of Duty I've played was Black Ops and up until that point I was a huge fan of the series in both single and multiplayer capacity. The campaigns were always these bombastic action movies perfectly transcribed to video game form and the twitch multiplayer was addictive in it's frantic speed and frenzy of unlocks. Infinite Warfare did everything I wanted it to do. It was pure sci-fi without holding anything back, but done in such a way that you still felt a connection to these human beings in the way, way future. The campaign was a great thrill ride with some fun surprises along the way. It's awesome that after all this time I can say that it honestly felt great to be back.
Released: Nov 11
Although it suffers from the "more of the same" syndrome plaguing many sequels this year, Dishonored 2 manages to still be one of the top stealth games out on the market today. The glorious levels and plethora of ways to traverse them, as well as the delightfully morbid means of eliminating your targets continue to be pure joy. It's not the sequel we deserved, but it's one that still brings a lot of fun to the table, even if that fun has an awfully familiar ring to it.
Released: Jun 29
Inside is like a spiritual successor and refinement of Limbo from many years ago, which in my case is great news as I was a big fan of Limbo. It will fascinate, perplex and generally place you into a state of unease throughout your stay in this dreary world. Beautiful in it's simplistic yet refined art style, Inside delivers a solid puzzle experience from beginning to end. It's an enthralling tale that presents more questions than answers, but at the same time it's unique approach to environmental storytelling respects the players intelligence in a way that many mainstream games simply do not.
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