My Best Games of 2016
2016 been a year hasn't it? A shitty yeah in which the UK chose economic suicide via Brexit and the US elected a nazi Umpa loompa, and a lot of celebrities that we actually like died. Oh well at least the gaming scene was OK... Yeah OK, a lot of games released but a lot that got to my "It's just good" bracket.
Anyway these are the few that I considered more than a bit above the average or that I've come back to on at least more than one occasion.
Note: For a game to get on my best of list I must of acquired it at some point in the year (and I say acquired since I have received free games along with my purchases)
SUPER HOT - PC
It's the most innovative shooter I've played in years! And shooter is a bit of a stretch word, as Superhot has something of a high speed puzzler vibe to it. Your mission? Simple! Shoot all the red dudes as fast as possible, the twist is that time only moves when you move and as fast as you move. Everything is about timing and forthinking as you plan your next move and line up your next shot, or sword slash, or toss or punch or teleport until everyone in the room is brown bread.
It's a simple game that gets to the point, it's hard but very fair, and when your antics are played out in real time it's super fun to watch.
If I had a complaint then yes it is a bit short and even while there is extra stuff to do it is an easy game to burn out. However for the quality of the game and the fun I had with it, it's an easy pick for my list this year.
Battle Zone - PS4 *PSVR*
Not making a lot of other lists but that's mainly down to investment in the PSVR is needed to enjoy this one, and it's close to a killer App for VR at the moment as we can get this side of next years Resident Evil 7.
To put it simply this is a first person shooter where you are strapped into the cockpit of a tank and have to take on mission after mission in a TRON like world to destroy an AI core. Simple right? It would be if it wernt for the onslaught of RED tanks coming your way!
Very easy to get to grips with and the FTL like rougelike or rougelite, elements with actually some nice precocial generation. Oh yeah and it's hard as well very hard at times. try not to forget that.
Battlefield One - PS4 and PC
Yeah by chance I ended up for the game on both formats, and I have to say that on a technical front the game is very well optimised and looks great on both console and PC (though better tech makes the PC version standout that little bit more).
Aside from some issues with wobbly realism, the game feels fresh for giving the FPS treatment to a conflict that otherwise has been repeatedly looked over for shooters due the nature of the conflict and level of technology at the time. However Battlefield one plays well and the multiplayer is still as solid as it ever was.
The campaign is alright, even though for the most part it really is tutorials for aspects of the multiplayer.
Yeah this is a bit of a drab pick due to it being an AAA FPS game, but it also got me into looking into a lot of history stuff concerning WW1 which alone makes it worthy of this years best of.
XCOM 2 - PC
There are two things about this game that slightly annoy me, one is that I didn't spend enough time with it (due to the intimidating level of difficulty at times), and it forced me to eat my words about the Xcom reboot of a few years back.
A very fine return for the franchise and a brave direction for the sequel. However yes it is bloody hard to say the least.
Honourable mentions: Deus EX: Mankind Divided was a fairly worthy sequel to the 2011 original that I really did enjoy. However it's rather sudden ending, that felt like a chapter end than a true cliffhanger rather dampened my will to stick it on this list. EVE valkyrie, Tumble, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood where fine examples of what VR can do, but none really stuck out as the Killer App for the PSVR or VR in general. Dishonoured 2 was fun once I could play it, but the lack of advancement from the original failed to put it on my main list. Mafia 3 was fun as well and had a great setting and licensed OST, but it also had a shitty PC launch and got into a rather Ubisoft like rut.
Anyway these are the few that I considered more than a bit above the average or that I've come back to on at least more than one occasion.
Note: For a game to get on my best of list I must of acquired it at some point in the year (and I say acquired since I have received free games along with my purchases)
SUPER HOT - PC
It's the most innovative shooter I've played in years! And shooter is a bit of a stretch word, as Superhot has something of a high speed puzzler vibe to it. Your mission? Simple! Shoot all the red dudes as fast as possible, the twist is that time only moves when you move and as fast as you move. Everything is about timing and forthinking as you plan your next move and line up your next shot, or sword slash, or toss or punch or teleport until everyone in the room is brown bread.
It's a simple game that gets to the point, it's hard but very fair, and when your antics are played out in real time it's super fun to watch.
If I had a complaint then yes it is a bit short and even while there is extra stuff to do it is an easy game to burn out. However for the quality of the game and the fun I had with it, it's an easy pick for my list this year.
Battle Zone - PS4 *PSVR*
Not making a lot of other lists but that's mainly down to investment in the PSVR is needed to enjoy this one, and it's close to a killer App for VR at the moment as we can get this side of next years Resident Evil 7.
To put it simply this is a first person shooter where you are strapped into the cockpit of a tank and have to take on mission after mission in a TRON like world to destroy an AI core. Simple right? It would be if it wernt for the onslaught of RED tanks coming your way!
Very easy to get to grips with and the FTL like rougelike or rougelite, elements with actually some nice precocial generation. Oh yeah and it's hard as well very hard at times. try not to forget that.
Battlefield One - PS4 and PC
Yeah by chance I ended up for the game on both formats, and I have to say that on a technical front the game is very well optimised and looks great on both console and PC (though better tech makes the PC version standout that little bit more).
Aside from some issues with wobbly realism, the game feels fresh for giving the FPS treatment to a conflict that otherwise has been repeatedly looked over for shooters due the nature of the conflict and level of technology at the time. However Battlefield one plays well and the multiplayer is still as solid as it ever was.
The campaign is alright, even though for the most part it really is tutorials for aspects of the multiplayer.
Yeah this is a bit of a drab pick due to it being an AAA FPS game, but it also got me into looking into a lot of history stuff concerning WW1 which alone makes it worthy of this years best of.
XCOM 2 - PC
There are two things about this game that slightly annoy me, one is that I didn't spend enough time with it (due to the intimidating level of difficulty at times), and it forced me to eat my words about the Xcom reboot of a few years back.
A very fine return for the franchise and a brave direction for the sequel. However yes it is bloody hard to say the least.
Honourable mentions: Deus EX: Mankind Divided was a fairly worthy sequel to the 2011 original that I really did enjoy. However it's rather sudden ending, that felt like a chapter end than a true cliffhanger rather dampened my will to stick it on this list. EVE valkyrie, Tumble, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood where fine examples of what VR can do, but none really stuck out as the Killer App for the PSVR or VR in general. Dishonoured 2 was fun once I could play it, but the lack of advancement from the original failed to put it on my main list. Mafia 3 was fun as well and had a great setting and licensed OST, but it also had a shitty PC launch and got into a rather Ubisoft like rut.