What a crazy year 2014 has been for video games. The ups, the downs, the hype, the letdowns. I can’t remember a more divisive year in video games. The first year of the Xbox One and the PS4 had some great games, and while nothing quite hit “masterpiece” level for me, I still played a good amount of really good to great games.
A caveat before I begin, we decided that for a game to qualify for our Game of the Year lists, it would have to have been released in the 2014 calendar year. Period. So while The Swapper is actually the best game I’ve played this year, it was released on PC in 2013 so it’s not included. If you have a PS3, Vita or a PS4, I highly recommend that game.
Oh, and furthermore, I don’t own a WiiU so there won’t be any Nintendo games on my list either.
So here we go!
10. Sunset Overdrive
Sunset Overdrive just narrowly made my list. Had the game continued for me like the first few hours, it definitely wouldn’t have made it at all. In fact, when I finished the game, I wasn’t sure it still would. Almost none of the humor worked for me. In fact only meeting Brylcream for the first time truly made me laugh out loud. The rest of the humor either made me roll my eyes or gave me no reaction at all. So why did Sunset Overdrive make my top 10 of the year?
It’s a ton of fun to play. Traversal is smooth as butter and once I unlocked the Air Dash, I rarely touched the ground again. The weapons were absurdly fun to use, with their different uses, ammo and effects. I’m pretty sure the TnTeddy was my most used for it’s awesome damage and area of effect. The Roman Candle was also a highlight. Chaos reigned and rained in my 15 or so hours in Sunset City and it’s well worth playing, even if – like me – the humor doesn’t work for you.
9. InFamous: Second Son
As a first year game, InFamous: Second Son is jaw droppingly gorgeous. Character animations, lighting and those glorious particle effects, all serve as a major showpiece of what this next generation of games are going to bring us, especially on the PS4. Looks alone don’t cause me to put a game on my list; otherwise, Ryse would be on it – which looks equally as impressive. Thankfully InFamous: Second Son is extremely fun to play. Using the different powers to navigate Seattle, or even change-up during combat, I was consistently exhilarated playing it. Delsin was a much more likeable character to me than Cole ever was, and the relationship between Delsin and his brother, Reggie, felt natural and real. And Augustine was a fantastic villain.
Unfortunately, the open world setting isn’t put too much use beyond trivial side missions so Seattle never felt “alive.” Coupled with side characters like Fetch, while likeable, who don’t get much to do in the story, the game feels like whole portions are missing in favor of a shorter experience. Still a very good game and worth checking out.
8. The Evil Within
Going into Shinji Mikami’s The Evil Within, I was not expecting to like it. I saw it prior to E3 2013 and wasn’t impressed, and playing it a month before release at the Gamestop Expo, I was actually repelled by it. Without the proper context the gameplay and goals in the game didn’t make much sense, not to mention being dumped into a section of the game with an unkillable enemy that can one-hit kill you, I was prepared to hate the game.
Then, about around Chapter 4, something just clicked. All of the systems the game was employing, the insane plot and challenging boss fights, it all came together and made for one of the best horror games I’ve played since Resident Evil 4 (also by Mikami). The game is not without its flaws. As the many locations and enemies are quite unpredictable, the story itself isn’t. I kind of knew where the story was going to end up fairly early on even if I didn’t quite now how. The writing in general is pretty poor. None of the characters are interesting and Castellanos has his entire story told in case files rather than in-game narrative. That said, the game is a ton of fun to experience, flaws and all.
7. InFamous: First Light
It might seem like a cheat to have the first and, most likely, only piece of DLC for InFamous: Second Son on the list, and had it not be released as a stand-alone product, it wouldn’t have made the list. But it was and it is. Another question one reading this might have is why this is higher on my list than the original game? Well, that’s easy. It’s actually better, even if slightly.
Mostly First Light benefits from a more focused narrative and benefits from having Fetch as a lead character. Immensely likable, and immediately relate-able, Fetch’s story and the subsequent “good or bad” path is much more feasible given the circumstances she finds herself in. Add in the highly addictive combat arena and you have a winning formula for the bite-sized episode. Good stuff and I would like to see more.
6. Destiny
Ah, Destiny. I should probably hate you. Your utter lack of compelling story, the ridiculous grinding required to get to the end game, and forced repetition of missions should have been enough to knock you to the top of my “most disappointing” list. It’s a testament to the things you did right – your excellent shooter mechanics and controls, gorgeous graphics and fun moment-to-moment gameplay that you’re actually one of the most enjoyable shooters I’ve played this year.
5. Watch_Dogs
I really enjoyed Watch_Dogs. A flawed game for sure – terrible driving, boring lead character and completely rote and predictable story – managed to get me to spend hours upon hours in Chicago by being a ton of fun to play. And for me, the good far outweighed the bad. I loved taking over enemy compounds without setting foot inside by hacking cameras and using environmental hazards to take out enemies, so much so that I would have loved playing an entire game of just that. I also really enjoyed the Privacy Invasions, which show off some of the best writing in any game I’ve seen. Each one serves as short, one location story, that range from humorous to downright heartbreaking and some dark passages in between. Good stuff. Don’t let the story keep you from enjoying a well-designed variation on Ubisoft’s open world formula.
4. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
After the step backwards that was Ghosts, Call of Duty came back strong with their first truly current gen effort, Advanced Warfare. Changing up the formula just enough to seem fresh while retaining what makes Call of Duty such a successful franchise, Advanced Warfare is arguably the best Call of Duty game in years. Some of the changes won’t sit well with some veterans of the series – mostly the Exosuits mobility that changes the ebb and flow of multiplayer in drastic ways, but it’s by far the least risk averse entry in the franchise since Call of Duty 4.
3. Far Cry 4
When diving into Far Cry 4 for a few hours, deja-vu will set in almost immediately for anyone that played and enjoyed Far Cry 3. It has everything Far Cry 3 had, only more of it. Which is fine, because Far Cry 3 was an amazing game. If you loved the shooting, mission structures, the gruesome healing animations, hunting animals and using their skin to craft better gear, stalking and taking over enemy compounds, it’s all here again. But to write off Far Cry 4 as “more of the same” would be doing a disservice to what new it brings to the table. First of all, traversal is much better. The grappling hook is a key element and makes getting around a lot easier and more fun. Also driving has been greatly improved with an awesome auto-drive feature, which allows you to sit back and take in the gorgeous Kyrat landscapes, and frees you up to shoot things. Then there is, of course, the Buzzer gyrocopter. This vehicle is a Godsend and made travelling around the huge map so much more fun and manageable. Throw in Troy Baker as Pagan Min and you have a recipe for easily one of the best games of the year.
2. Wolfenstein: The New Order
I feel completely vindicated regarding Machinegames’ debut title under Bethesda Softworks. Comprised of members of the creative team behind The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Darkness, Wolfenstein: The New Order continues to show why these folks make some of the best narrative driven shooters available.
For many it didn’t seem like this would be the case. For the better part of a year I read preview after preview where the game was being slammed and being written off as at best another forgettable shooter, at worse, a bad one. And yet, ever since my hands on time prior to E3 2013, I was convinced it would be something special. When it finally released, the same people damning the game in preview coverage were singing its praises as one of the best surprises of the year.
If you want a good shooter, with ridiculous gore and weapons, good stealth mechanics, great characters and an interesting story, do not hesitate and play Wolfenstein: The New Order immediately.
1. Titanfall
With perfect controls, impeccable map design and an easily digestible gameplay loop, Titanfall stands head and shoulders above every game I’ve played this year. In fact, it’s the best shooter I’ve played since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Which should come as no surprise considering that Respawn Entertainment is comprised of many of the core team behind Infinity Ward’s top tier games, MW2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Eschewing a single player campaign for a focused multiplayer experience, Titanfall gets so many things right that what many see as lacking content, I see as focusing on moment-to-moment gameplay as the hook, everything else is just gravy. When you take into account the free updates the game has received over the course of the year – new game modes, refinements and balancing, Titanfall is the total package. Easily my favorite game of the year.
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