2014 has been an alright year for games. Theres no BioShock Infinite this year, no The Last of Us or Skyrim or, thank goodness, new versions of Animal Crossing. But its been pretty good. Here are, off the top of my head, my top 10. Note: this could change with the realization that I spaced a game or the dangerous shifting of my mood, a known threat to all lists. 10. Telltale Games (The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, and Game of Thrones): I like Telltale a lot, but Im sliding all 3 into this last slot because I have not finished any of them and they are story heavy. 2 of them just started, with only one chapter currently available, and the 3rd I repurchased on a new console and thus have not caught up and completed it. If the episodes continue to be as good as the ones Ive played, all 3 would move up significantly in the list. 9. Infamous: Second Son: The story wasnt perfect, but it felt and looked pretty great. I fell into this one hard and hit 100% completion in less than 2 weeks, which is exactly how long I like a big, AAA, non-roleplaying game to be. 8. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare: I thought I might be done with CoD after Ghosts, but the trailers for AW (silliest menu icon, btw) got me interested due to the mad jumping the exo suits allow for and I ended up picking it up. Havent touched the single player campaign, but have been loving the multiplayer. Earning Supply Drops with randomized loot is exciting and being able to cash unwanted loot in for XP is smart. Also, it feels like CoD (perfect gun feel, movement, and depth of field (which killed Destiny PvP for me)), but adds a welcome change of pace via the exo abilities. 7. Shovel Knight: Every level feels unique. How many indie platformers can you say that about nowadays? Great art and challenging gameplay, glad this is making its way to PSN soon. 6. Mario Kart 8: What more can be said about Mario Kart? Its the perfect racing game when youre in the market for fun and nobody does polished final product like Nintendo. Also, $11.99 for 6 new characters, 16 new tracks, and 8 new vehicles is disgusting. Its just gross. Im not sure Ill be able to buy DLC from anybody else ever without thinking about how much better Nintendo did for so much less money. 5. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd: Japanese Vocaloid rhythm game. Its exactly like the first one, but with new songs, some tweaks to the star notes, and a pretty decent increase in difficulty on the Normal level (Im afraid to even touch Hard and Extreme now). Though, the word LOUSY doesnt pop up when I fail anymore. It says So Close, which is not nearly as much fun as being called lousy for getting a 79.9 on a song that requires an 80.0 performance. 4. TowerFall Ascension: Local couch multiplayer battle royale archery game. WHAT IS THERE NOT TO LIKE? More killer retro art. Sometimes going 8/16/32 bit is a cop-out, I get why people have become jaded about indies that look like that, but sometimes its not. Sometimes its the best look for the game theyre trying to make and that should be embraced. 3. Far Cry 4: The most common comment I see about Far Cry 4 is that it is more of the same. Did we not love Far Cry 3? Do we not want more of that? A new setting, a grappling hook for climbing (which you know is awesome), elephants (THAT YOU CAN RIDE), and Troy Baker, the voice of 90% of video game characters in 2013 and 2014, as an awesome villain. If you liked 3 and want more, you should dig 4. Also, best game for co-op ever. At first it seemed a shame that only 2 people could join a session at once. Having experienced it now, 2 people is more than enough to create an extraordinary amount of chaos. 2. Transistor: I did not play this game very much. I was terrible at it. Also, I will not soon forget this game. Everything about it - the music, the art, the voice-over, the menus - was exceptional. In a year where unfinished games dominated the news, it was unbelievably welcome to see something so polished from an indie dev. I want to start over, get back in, but the dying... All the dying! 1. Grand Theft Auto V (PS4 reissue): They took a perfect sandbox from the PS3, cleaned it up, added loads of both small and large details to make the world feel even more alive (cats!), and I couldnt be happier to purchase it again. A remaster done right. Note: I still havent finished it. Ive never finished a GTA game. I play until I have all the toys I want in said sandbox and then play, play, play because thats what sandboxes are for. Honorable mention goes out to Dragon Age: Inquisition. Im currently about 20 hours in and loving it to pieces, but Im not ready to put it on the list. If it continues to engage me in the way it is, and if the story pays off like Im feeling it might, it could easily take number one as the most engaging fantasy game Ive played since Skyrim. Additional shout-outs to Monument Valley (iOS), OlliOlli (Vita/PS4), Nidhogg (Steam/PS4), and Peggle default menu location is on the store because EA bought us, but were still the virtual Plinko game you love 2 (PS4).
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 04:38:44 +0000
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