#so I have high hopes for a Robobot port

[theamazingian]

not a single clue who NatetheHate is but would LOVE for the best Kirby game to be on Switch

[sporadicbeepboops]

20 Games I Loved in 2016

The Switch delay. Several big AAA duds. Another year without an official Mother 3 U.S. release. 2016 could have been a disappointing year. (Outside of video games, it certainly took its toll.) But at least from my perspective, the good far outweighed the bad. Virtual reality finally made it out of the gates, and despite some hiccups, it shows real promise. Long-delayed games like Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian somehow made it to store shelves AND surpassed expectations. And love it or hate it, Pokémon Go inspired a genuine pop culture craze the likes of which we’ve never seen before, at least as far as games go. I think all of that is worth celebrating.

Before we get to the list, some quick shout-outs and no-brainer caveats…

2016 was not kind to the Wii U, but the 3DS quietly had one of its best years ever. That’s partly reflected here, but I couldn’t make room for Dragon Quest VII, Fire Emblem Fates, BoxBoxBoy!, Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Gotta Protectors, to name a few. Sometimes it felt like Nintendo was just cleaning out its closet — how long ago was DQVII released in Japan? — but we benefited either way.

Overall, I played fewer games this year, but the ones I did play held my interest longer. Thanks to various microtransactions and DLC, 2016 probably hit my wallet just as hard.

What didn’t I play? Stardew Valley, SUPERHOT, Final Fantasy XV (at least past chapter 2), Frog Fractions 2, Hitman — oh, and I didn’t get to stuff from last year like Yakuza 5 or The Witcher 3, either. Yakuza 4 was pretty solid though.

I left off any new ports of games that came out last year or prior, unless there were substantial additions that changed the experience in a meaningful way. That meant The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and Mini Metro weren’t in the running, while Rez Infinite technically was.

Love making lists, hate ranking items in said lists, just because I’m incredibly fickle. There’s a good chance that I’ll want to shuffle everything around the moment I publish this. But my podcasting buddies are counting on me here, so it’s time to be decisive.

Keeping all that in mind, here are the games I really loved in 2016…

20. The Witness - I’m already cheating because if I’m being honest, I didn’t actually love this game. The Witness takes a couple dozen hours to finish, and I spent at least half of them staring at a notebook, drawing grids, connecting dots, and having no idea how to pave forward. But even if I didn’t love the game, I respect it immensely. I admire Jonathan Blow’s commitment to this singular idea, of taking the kind of puzzle you might see on a restaurant placemat and coming up with every possible permutation of it. And there is of course a “meta” layer on top of that, where solutions to each component change the environment around you — tree top bridges that unfold based on the paths your lines take, or colored glass panels that create new puzzles on top of old ones. It might be cold and off-putting at times, but The Witness is still commendable as the ultimate puzzle box.

19. SuperHyperCube - I bought into PlayStation VR for games like Rez Infinite and RIGs — big, flashy, “immersive” experiences. And they delivered! I’m a very happy PS VR owner, and I hope Sony builds on its momentum this year. (I’m skeptical, but then being a virtual reality early adopter was always a leap of faith.) However, while I got exactly what I expected from most of the launch titles, it's the simple puzzle game seemingly modeled off of “Brain Wall” that I keep coming back to. I turn on the headset to play Job Simulator or Battlezone, but I always play a couple rounds of SuperHyperCube before I’m done. A solid case for virtual reality not as a thrilling roller coaster, but a hypnotic, relaxing voyage.

18. Headlander - The best game Double Fine has put out since Iron Brigade. Free-roaming Metroid-style exploration, a perfect 70s-synth sci-fi score and a fun body swapping gimmick at the heart of it all. I wish there were more vessels for your noggin to control, but there’s a strong foundation here. 

17. Kirby: Planet Robobot - It’s easy to take Kirby games for granted, and that’s especially true of Robobot, which uses the same engine and many of the same powers as the recent Triple Deluxe. What does the former bring to the table then? Smart level designs that take advantage of the new mechs without letting them dominate the action. A novel mechanical world that feels distinct from the typical pastel meadows. New amiibo support. OK, so maybe it doesn’t add that much to the series, but it’s right up there with Super Star anyway. 

16. Pokkén Tournament - This game is a fresher, more enjoyable fighting game than Street Fighter V. It doesn’t even matter (too much) that the single player is pretty thin or that the roster is small. When’s the last time you played a one-on-one fighting game that felt truly new? Pokkén is a great 3D fighter and a great 2D fighter at the same time, which is no small feat. And it’s also a gorgeously animated recreation of those battles we all imagined happening in our Game Boys 20 years ago.

15. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - The popular sentiment seems to be that Madagascar is when this final Uncharted entry really takes off. Slow drama and frequent cut scenes give way to island exploration and memorable shootouts. My take? The back half is fun and the epilogue is lovely, but I could spend an entire game in Nathan and Elena’s living room, or hopping around the globe for the next story sequence. Wherever you stand, this is a fine way to close out a reliable series.

14. Picross 3D: Round 2 - Seven Picross games — eight if you count the Twilight Princess freebie — on the eShop. That’s a lot of a perfectly fine thing. But none of them are Picross 3D. Thankfully, the real deal finally arrived this year, with hundreds of puzzles and a few extra gameplay wrinkles. Worth the premium price tag.

13. Titanfall 2 - The campaign didn’t need to be good. Multiplayer FPS games live and die by their multiplayer, and many developers seemingly write off the single player experience as an afterthought. That’s why Titanfall 2 is such an unexpected treat. The factory, the time hopping, the airborne carrier — all cleverly designed, with platforming gimmicks that would feel just as suited for a Metroid Prime game. I think the reason the new Mirror’s Edge fell flat for me was that this game featured the same parkour moves in a much more exciting package.

12. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - This crossover game is Persona-lite, yes, but I think that sells the characters and world a bit short. While its inspiration focuses on the pressures of being a Japanese high schooler, #FE is all about the Tokyo show biz scene. Pop music, soap operas, microwave cooking shows — it’s all very goofy, but the game still takes its protagonists’ dreams and ambitions seriously. #FE also makes clever use of the Wii U GamePad, turning it into a tablet/social app that helps keeps the conversations going. Even if you’re not into this particular “scene,” #FE may still win you over.

11. Rhythm Heaven Megamix - I can’t get enough Rhythm Heaven. They could put 20 new musical minigames on a cart annually and it’d make my list every year. Sumo wrestlers, lumberjack bears, monkey slumber parties — all magic.

10. Severed - A Vita game! It’s great to see DrinkBox Studios stretch beyond sidescrollers with this first person dungeon crawler full of grotesque monsters and creepy, colorful mazes. Swiping and poking on the Vita’s touchscreen feels great. The controls are key to Severed’s success; if battles were menu-driven, the entire game would fall apart. 

9. Pocket Card Jockey - I hope Nintendo keeps letting Game Freak be this weird. It’s not just that it’s horse racing plus solitaire. It’s your jockey biting the dust and being brought back from the dead to repay his debt to the angels. It’s the brassy, big band score that accompanies every race. It’s horses with luchador masks and cats hanging from their backsides. Pocket Card Jockey is a miracle of localization.

8. Pokémon Sun - Yes, another Pokémon game. The Alola region is the best thing to ever happen to this series. Previous games had regions based on cities like New York and Paris, but the results always felt half-hearted. In Sun (and Moon), the tropical island setting influences everything from the creatures you catch to the trials you complete. I’ve never demanded a believable world from this series, but that’s kind of what we get here, and it’s terrific.

7. Inside - This is the type of game where the less you know going in, the better. It’s Limbo — a previous Justin GotY — filtered through a twisted dream logic that I still can’t get out of my head months later. 

6. Paper Mario: Color Splash - I know you don’t like Sticker Star. Rest assured: that 3DS oddity feels like a rough draft for Color Splash, which improves upon its predecessor in every way. A textured, vibrant world that rivals Tearaway in its papercraft. Thrilling scenarios like a train heist, an underwater game show and the throwback above. Hilarious dialogue that mostly makes up for the many, many identical toads. I miss the liberties Intelligent Systems used to take with the Mushroom Kingdom, but everything else about Color Splash restores this spin-off series to its former glory.

5. Overcooked - This year’s couch co-op champ. Cooking with a partner is all about communication, and that’s doubly true when the kitchen is split across two flatbed trucks or on an iceberg rocking back and forth. My friends and I love head-to-head games like Smash Bros. and Towerfall, but it’s nice to play a game that’s all about puzzle solving and careful planning together. And I love the wistful stage select music.

4. Dragon Quest Builders - Minecraft has always fascinated me, but I don’t do well without direction. That’s why I’m so grateful for Dragon Quest Builders, which breaks down the open world construction into small, manageable tasks. I started off just sticking to blueprints and keeping decorations to a minimum; now, I’m spending hours building up towns the way I want them to look, for no other reason than my own personal satisfaction. Even taking the crafting element out of the equation, Builders does a great job of capturing the adventuring spirit of its parent series.

3. Pokémon Go - I didn’t set out to put THREE Pokémon games on here, and in a vacuum, this is much less satisfying than Pokkén or Sun. But we don’t play video games in a vacuum, and certainly not this one. I played Pokémon Go in Central Park, talking to strangers to find out where the Ivysaur was hiding. Or I played on my lunch breaks, exploring parts of South Street Seaport with coworkers that I had ignored for years. Go’s peak came and went, but it remains one of my fondest experiences of the year.

2. The Last Guardian - Another game that’s more than the sum of its parts. The Last Guardian is finicky and sometimes frustrating. Trico is hard to climb. The camera doesn’t know what to do when you’re up against the wall. So what? How many games feature a creature this lifelike? He may be an illusion made up of A.I. routines, scripted animations and fur shaders, but all of those elements come together in a uniquely convincing way. His evolution from reluctant ally to friend has a subtlety I’ve never seen before. I’m glad Ueda spends as much time focusing on the inner struggles as he does the external ones. Hope it doesn’t take another decade for his next game.

1. Overwatch - I didn’t even know what Overwatch was until two weeks before its release, and even then, I didn’t expect much from it. I had played Team Fortress 2 and thought it was just fine. I knew what to expect. Medics, tanks, builders — that sounded familiar to me. But I was so wrong. Overwatch isn’t just a team-based shooter; it’s the superhero team-up game I’ve been longing for since “The Avengers” was in theaters.

All 23 (and counting!) heroes have their superpowers, and all of them have their jobs to do. What really sets Overwatch apart is when these heroes are bouncing off of each other. Any combination of six is going to have its own dynamics. Mei dropping ice walls to give Reinhardt time to recharge his shield. Junkrat dropping traps to help Bastion watch his back. Mercy gliding up to Pharah to give her rockets a little extra punch. Every battle brings new possibilities and strategies to the table. I’ve played over 100(!) hours and feel like there’s still so much to learn.

But it’s not all serious business either. The colorful personalities, animations, costume designs and more do so much to shape the world, even when I know next to nothing about the overall “lore.” Last year, Splatoon felt like the only shooter I’d ever need, but Overwatch has actually managed to supplant it in my heart. That’s something this Nintendo fanboy never thought he’d say. Can’t wait to see how Blizzard builds on their masterpiece in year two.

[royalxiii]

My Personal Top 10 Games of 2016

I know a lot people had a bad 2016, but for us gamers, it was a pretty good year (if you don’t mind all the delays that is)! So why not make a good old top 10 list? It’s always fun! 

I’m also gonna have my personal “out of 10″ score for each game’s gameplay AND story, since both are equally important to me. As well as a mini-ish review and why it’s placed where it is. Without further ado, here we go!

*Contains Spoilers* 

*Keep in mind I haven’t played every game, nor do I have a Xbone or Gaming PC.*

10) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U)

Gameplay: 8/10 | Story: 9/10

Twilight Princess is one of those “love it, or hate it” Zelda games. For me, even though I’m aware of it’s faults, I love Twilight Princess. Even more so without the motion controls. I love Wolf Link (even though I wish there was more reasons to use him), Midna, Zant, the darker and creepy atmosphere, I love it all! So why is it at number ten? Well, I personally don’t believe ports and enhanced versions should be on a “top 10 games of the year” list (they should be for new games only). But I haven’t finished a lot of games I got this year, and I was missing two slots. So here you go!  

9) Gravity Rush - Remastered - (PS4)

Gameplay: 9.5/10 | Story: 9/10

Like TP above, Gravity Rush is lower on the list only because it’s a port/HD version of a old game. I really loved Gravity Rush back on the Vita, but I was quite confused at the story. But once I replayed it on PS4, knowing what I knew, it was easier to follow (even though you really don’t figure much out by the end). Gameplay feels so, SO, much better on the PS4! I love the Vita, but playing GR on it cramped my hands so much. It feels just right on the PS4 controller. Playing through this again makes me even more excited for Gravity Rush 2 this month! 

8) Pokken Tournament (Wii U)

Gameplay: 9/10 | Story: 3/10

At last, a actual new game! Pokken is such a oddity, but goddamn I love this game. I’m pretty horrible at fighting games, especially ones that aren’t “Smash Bros.” style. But I had fun playing this, and when I had friends over, they loved it too! There’s not much of a story, which wasn’t surprising, but the Shadow Mewtwo segment was interesting enough to keep me playing. Still haven’t beaten the bastard (last battle) though. I hope to see this ported or get a sequel on the NS!  

7) Ratchet & Clank -2016- (PS4)

Gameplay: 9.5/10 | Story: 5/10

Ah, Ratchet & Clank! One of the handful of games on my “Must Buy Day-One” list for every new installment. The series has been a bit on the shaky side after A Crack in Time, both in gameplay and in story. But this game (at least gameplay-wise) is a real return to form! Unfortunately, since this is a game based off a movie (based off a game), there’s pretty much no story since you’re suppose to watch it’s movie counterpart (which isn’t great). But it’s still a fun time! And there’s a in-game cheat to turn bolts into rupees, which is fucking fantastic. 

6) Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero (PS4, Vita, Wii U, X1, PC) 

Gameplay: 9/10 | Story: 8.5/10

Oh Shantae, you were so close to becoming a 2017 game, good for you for staying in 2016 :3 This is game is beautiful! The animation is so good and lovely! And it’s as fun as any Shantae game before it (I do miss using Risky’s gear though)! My only complaint is the slide segment that’s used twice. For me, they ruin the pacing and they drag on for a little to long both times. Other than that, I really loved it and I can’t wait for the Risky Boots DLC! Also the music is fantastic XD

5) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice - (3DS)

Gameplay: 9/10 | Story: 10/10

I love the Ace Attorney series, warts and all. That being said, I didn’t like the last game, Dual Destinies. Although I liked a lot of new characters from it (and it’s DLC Case), I never felt so out of sync with out to proceed in the Court Cases. By the end I just wanted it to be over. But with Spirit of Justice, it was like the game was reading my mind or vise versa. I was so in-tune with the cases and only messed up a handful of times! And the story is wonderful and heartbreaking, as this series is known to be. I really can’t wait to see the future for Wright and his friends :D

4) Final Fantasy XV (PS4 and X1)

Gameplay: 9.5/10 | Story: 8/10

People are gonna hate me for this, luckily this blog ain’t popular enough for a huge backlash. FFXV is game I, much like a lot of people, have been waiting for since it was first revealed as Final Fantasy Verses XIII back in 2006. So obviously, there are high, and I mean high, expectations for a game ten years in the making. For the most part, it does succeed, at least with gameplay. Unfortunately, the story is lacking. Not in plot, mind you, but in cutscenes. I know cutscenes are the bane of some people’s existence, but to them I say “fuck you, why the hell are you play a JRPG in the first place then?!” Cutscenes  don’t only add personality to the main characters and depth to the story, but also to show other character’s within the story and why we should care or hate them. I know FFXV will be getting a update with new cutscenes later, but for now it’s sort of bare bones for me, and I don’t want to feel like that for this game. I see so much good in it, so it’s only natural I want to love and care for everything in it, right?

3) Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)

Gameplay: 9/10 | Story: 9.8/10

What a way to end Nate’s story, I fucking love this game! It’s so beautiful, the writing is great, the characters are great, and that fucking epilogue makes me want a Uncharted featuring Nate’s daughter. With Sam acting as her Sully. I know it wont happen, but I can dream can’t I? The gameplay is mostly the same, but it’s still fun. I love being able to almost always complete areas in stealth mode. Much like most games on here, I can’t wait for it’s story DLC :3

2) Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)

Gameplay: 10/10 | Story: 9/10

This may seem very, VERY, odd that Kirby beat both FFXV and Uncharted 4 for me. But I have to give the number two spot to this game because, well, I just had so much fun playing it! Once I got it, I barley ever put it down. It was 100% fun from beginning to end. Hell, I was actually completing it as I was playing it! Granted, I haven’t picked it back up since I completed it. But I’m already feeling the urge to replay it as I type this, and that’s the sign of a good game. Story-wise, it’s sort of what you’d expect from Kirby, but it’s still fun and entertaining. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I just wish it had post-game levels or something to that effect. 

1) Pokemon: Sun & Moon (3DS)

Gameplay: 9.8/10 | Story: 10\10

Given that my blog is mostly Kingdom Hearts and Pokemon, and all the news updates, drawings, a report of my gameplay for both games, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Even though I have some problems with it, this game is fucking fantastic! There’s a lot of upgrades to how things work that needed working on for a loooong time. From small things like your PC no longer has the useless “Withdraw and Deposit” options, to big things like no HMs! And recovering from the somewhat bland story in XY, the story and characters in SM is really fun and interesting! Hell, there were times where I was actually laughing out loud! I don’t think a Pokemon game has ever done that before! This game is just a real treat from beginning to end! As far as nitpicks and things that just piss me off from the oversight, well it defiantly has it’s fair share. But this is mostly at the Trainer Customization and some movepools for the New and Alolan Form Pokemon. In any case, even after beaten both Sun and Moon, I can hardly wait to get another copy to play my Popplio Team :D

Honorable Mentions 

(AKA Games I’m Loving but Haven’t Finished)

World of Final Fantasy (PS4 and Vita)

I honestly didn’t think I’d like this game, but it does grow on you! I stopped playing because I want to wait for the Sora Summon DLC (coming out this month!) Plus Pokemon came out soon after. What makes this game great is that, unlike other non-Pokemon monster-catching games, the monster-catching part isn’t almost 100% completely random. Like Tales of Symphonia 2, Ni no Kuni, and Yo-Kai Watch to name a few. The story is kinda interesting as long as you get used to to voice acting, which isn’t bad but the dialog is kinda awkward and Tama’s the-the is so annoying. In any case, I can’t wait to get back and beat it!

Watch_Dogs 2 (PS4, X1, PC)

I got this game for Christmas, and started it after beating FFXV and Shantae. So far I’ve been loving it! So far it’s much better then the original Watch_Dogs in graphics, gameplay, and story (granted, I’m still basically in the beginning. Doing a lot of side-quest). As of now this is the game I’m currently playing in till Gravity Rush 2, which will then be taken over by Kh2.8. 

[scottsdumbgameshit]

Game of the Year 2016

There have been a whole lot of good games this year, and I feel like this is the year I finally try and write something about the games I liked the most. So here goes nothing:

HONORABLE MENTIONS

First off, here’s some games that didn’t make the list but were definitely in consideration.

Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright: Didn’t find this game as enjoyable as Awakening and I honestly got burned out while playing this one. That made me not want to continue on and play Fates: Conquest and Revelation. Still very much enjoyed the game though.

Watch Dogs 2: A significant step up from the first game, but still has the Ubisoft open world formula problem. I also haven’t played enough of it to put it on here.

Thumper: Really cool horror / rhythm game that makes me very anxious, and because of that I haven’t got to play much of it since one level (which takes about 20 mins) is all I play per session.

Killer Instinct [Windows 10]: The long awaited PC version of one of the best fighting games in recent memory. Can’t really include this since it’s from 2013, but the game is definitely good. Shout outs especially for the stellar port job and the amazing soundtrack by Mick Gordon.

Ratchet and Clank [2016]: Fantastic remake of a Ps2 classic, one of the best looking games of this generation, I haven’t included it here because of the fact that it is a remake but it is definitely worth playing.  

Top ten games of 2016.

10. MOTHER RUSSIA BLEEDS

As a huge fan of Beat Em’ Ups and the brutal, grimey, 80′s-esque aesthetic of games like Hotline Miami, Mother Russia Bleeds should be a game for me - and for the most part, it lands.

I had to keep it low down on the list because the PS4 release of this hadn’t arrived until very late in the year, and at the time of writing I have only played around 3 chapters of it. But in that time I found it to be one of the more enjoyable, refreshing and outright fun Beat Em’ Ups I’ve played since 2012′s Double Dragon Neon.

9. KIRBY PLANET ROBOBOT

Kirby - for the most part - has been one of the Nintendo series I’ve held dear to my heart. While not having actually played as many of the games as I would have liked to, Robobot is my first Kirby game since 2007′s Kirby Mouse Attack. While it’s easy to write off Kirby games as having little to no challenge and being generally samey, Planet Robobot has enough charm (which comes off especially well in the soundtrack) and nuance to cement it as one of the best games in the series.

Also, you can not deny Kirby in a Giant Mech Suit.

8. Rhythm Paradise Megamix

Being a huge fan of rhythm games, Rhythm Paradise (or Rhythm Heaven as it’s known in the States) is a series I have always admired from a distance. With this 3DS version being a “Greatest Hits” so to speak, I thought “what better time to jump in than now?”.

What I got was a collection of games with an amazing sense of humour, style and charm that kept me entertained throughout its 70 different minigames, and very much captures the same type of feeling I got from the Warioware series which holds a place very close to my heart.

7. SUPERHOT

Superhot has one of the coolest concepts for a shooting game, period - time only moving when you move - which leads to what amounts to you re-enacting several John Wick style action scenes.

It’s hard to talk about the plot elements of this game without giving important things away, but what I will say is the concepts shown in the storytelling are almost as interesting as the concepts shown in the gameplay which is quite the high bar.

To summarise: SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I’ve played in years!

6. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Uncharted is a series I’ve had kind of a love/hate relationship with. The first game I found to be lacking, and the second and third were both really good games, but I have never been a fan of the core gameplay.

So when I first heard Naughty Dog were doing yet another Uncharted game, I groaned. However, Uncharted 4 proved my cynicism wrong, and ended up being not only the best game in the series but one of the best games of the year with the storytelling, the refined gameplay and the surprisingly great multiplayer. All of these come together in a fantastic way to finish off the Uncharted series with a fitting and cohesive ending.

I especially liked how the Indiana Jones quest for the Macguffin was basically a side plot in this game, and instead the focus was on the characters and relationships between Nathan and his wife, long lost brother and mentor - all of which produce some of the most lifelike and engaging dialogue in a videogame, period.

5. Street Fighter V

The obligatory ‘controversial’ game on my list comes in the form of Street Fighter V.

Street Fighter is a series that is very near and dear to my heart - definitely makes my top 3 franchises in videogame - but I’ve never been very good at it. Street Fighter V is the first SF game where the mechanics felt accessible, but deep enough so that the barrier of entry isn’t super high while also not so shallow that it doesn’t feel competitive or hard to master.

Not to mention one of the best rosters in a SF game to date. A lot of people have complained that there are less than in SFIV, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Fan favourites such as Birdie, Urien and Alex make long-awaited returns, while series standbys such like Ken, Akuma and Vega were reworked in such a way that almost makes them feel like different characters.

And yes, the game was clearly rushed out for the Pro tour, and is lacking in content (especially in the single player department). The DLC pricing is also a bit steep, but the core fighting of the game is where SFV shines brighter than most fighting games do, which is enough to land it a spot on this list. SFV is probably my second most played game this year after another game on this list and I plan on playing it long into 2017.

4. Titanfall 2

The first Titanfall game was in a very similar situation to Street Fighter V: lacking in single player content, bad DLC structure, but incredible gameplay nonetheless. Titanfall 2 remedies all of the problems Titanfall 1 has and improves on the original game exponentially.

The multiplayer of the game is still the incredible fast paced action that the first game had, with major improvements such as special abilities like the grappling hook or the stim boost, to the increased amount and variety of Titan classes on offer, new game modes like Bounty Hunt and Colosseum, all wrapped in an amazing multiplayer suite that rivals some of the best multiplayer shooters of all time.

And I haven’t even mentioned the Single Player yet.

The Campaign in Titanfall 2 is one of the best single player shooter campaigns in a long time, and rivals games like Halo, Call of Duty 4 and Timesplitters 2 in terms of sheer quality. A small, concise package full of amazing action, incredible set pieces and surprisingly great boss fights and characters - the banter between Cooper and BT being the highlight.

The campaign isn’t afraid to introduce mechanics that are exclusive to a level and not explored again, which does its bit to keep the game fresh while not overstaying its welcome.

This game was number one on my list at a point this year, so every game from here onwards is a must-play for everyone in my opinion.

3. Overwatch

Overwatch is bound to be the game mentioned the most this year in everyone’s GOTY discussions. The game is a phenomenon and blew up in ways I haven’t seen since the aforementioned Call of Duty 4. I’ve had so many good times this year playing with friends in this game. It’s so easy to just throw it on and shoot the shit while playing. It also made me a salt mine more times than I would like to admit.

The game also has one of the most phenomenal cast of characters in any video game (Reinhardt is the best character though, let’s be real here). There’s bound to be a character for every playstyle and preference: Soldier “Call of Duty Guy” 76, Jesse “I’m unironically a Cowboy” Mccree and Pharah “Did Somebody Say Quake” Amari.

Even from a visual standpoint, the characters are unique enough that everyone should have at least a few to fall in love with, from the Mad Max-inspired Roadhog and Junkrat, to Lucio - s rollerskating DJ with a dubstep gun and a whole load of optimism. The game is so full of character and charm, it’s hard to hate anyone.

As for negatives, I kind of fell off of the game in a bad way because of the summer event where I got burned by the random lottery loot box system in place for unlocks, and the game also lacks any single player content. But when it got down to it, there was no other multiplayer game I has as many good times with this year (it is also my most played game this year), which is enough to cement it into my top 3 of the year.

2. Hitman

Hitman is one of the biggest surprises in gaming for a long time. After the lacklustre Hitman: Absolution and the announcements that it would be an episodic game, expectations were very low coming into it.

And when I bought the intro pack when the game came out, those expectations were met. I found the game to be janky in the way the Hitman games have been, and especially after Metal Gear Solid V re-invented stealth gameplay, I walked away feeling burned and disappointed by Hitman.

Cut to later in the year when I started getting into Giant Bomb’s content, I had watched a few of their videos relating to Hitman, and as I was watching the amount of content and depth to Hitman was revealed to me. I reinstalled hoping that the spark would hit me, and it didn’t right away.

But at some point it clicked - the amount of ways to go about the missions and how to finish your missions are staggering in the same ways I felt about Metal Gear Solid V the year prior.

This game went from being one of the most disappointing games of the year for me to my second favourite game of the year.

The maps - Paris and Sapienza especially - are masterfully crafted to give you so many different ways to deal with your targets, and while some of the initial jank still persists (vision cones not being very clear, guards seeing you through walls, awkward controls sometimes) the game has managed to win me over in such a monumental way that it came very close to becoming my GOTY.

1. DOOM

Speaking of low expectations.

I’ve never been much of a fan of DOOM as a series and I don’t think anyone expected a DOOM game in 2016 to be any good especially after it was in development hell for so long (with versions of it apparently being a modern military shooter referred to as “Call of Demons”), the frankly bad multiplayer beta and Bethesda not sending review copies to gaming sites, things were not looking bright for DOOM.

Yet despite all that DOOM launched with one of the greatest shooter campaigns of all time.

The game begins with about five seconds of a voice talking to the player instructing him to “Rip and Tear” and then Doomguy smashes a demon’s head into the coffin he was sealed away in, from there you’re thrust straight into action, already a far cry from the 20 minutes of talking you get at the start of most shooter campaigns (including DOOM 3).

and the pace of the game never really falls from there, its just constant balls-to-the-wall action from beginning to end in its 10+ hour campaign, introducing new mechanics and weapons for your character along the way.

The game just has has a sense of self awareness so it doesn’t become generic cringe-inducing metalhead schlock, It has a sense of humour about how stupid the concept of a guy named “DoomGuy” being pissed off at all of the demons and wants nothing to do with anything else.

The sense of humour the game has also does wonders in characterising DoomGuy, from him throwing computer screens out the way because he doesn’t care about a characters exposition or kicking highly volatile hell energy canisters, much to the chagrin of Dr Samuel Hayden.

Samuel Hayden is effectively the only major character other than DoomGuy and the way he is portrayed as a scientist trying to harness hell energy to help humans sustain the planet vs DoomGuy’s lack of care for anything except killing demons has a certain Buddy-Cop film vibe that does wonders for the characterization of both of these characters.

This game even made Codex entries cool, by reading them it’s revealed that the Demons view DoomGuy as some sort of Angel of Death bringing nothing but death and destruction to all of Demon-kind.

I haven’t even mentioned the amazing soundtrack by Mick Gordon (Killer Instinct, Wolfenstein: The New Order) which when you look at the game you would assume would just be some generic metal tracks, but instead you get metal mixed with industrial and more electronic sounds to create a blend of styles that not only go perfectly with each other but with the game also. The soundtrack does wonders for the atmosphere of the game and keeps you pumped up through all of the amazing action the game throws your way.

Now DOOM does come with 2 other modes: Multiplayer and Snapmap. The Multiplayer is honestly kind of lacking, for one its loadout based instead of the classic fps style. There are also powerups that are doled out in certain points of the map which just encourages camping instead of people playing the game. It’s not terrible but you could honestly just ignore it.

Admittedly I have not played much of the Snap-Map mode but it seems like it has potential, from what I can tell it’s like Custom Games from Halo? Whenever I have went on I’ve seen some cool stuff like levels from the original game remade, but again Snap-map doesn’t really do much to increase or decrease the quality of the overall package in my opinion.

With all that being said I obviously highly recommend DOOM to anyone, especially if you are a FPS fan and a fan of games that are solely about action, we’re talking about the FPS equivalent of a Devil May Cry or Bayonetta in terms of speed, combat quality and just the frankly badass feeling you get while playing it. It’s been a fantastic year for games and a fantastic year for shooter and to me, DOOM is the best of the lot.