We're only halfway through the calendar year, but there already have been some fantastic video games released in 2016.
Here's a top-five list of my favorite games so far this year. Plus, reasons why they could (but won't) be Game of the Year.
Special note: games like Dark Souls 3, Quantum Break and Doom do not appear on this list because I either have not played them or played nearly enough of them to have a definitive opinion.
Hitman: GO Definitive Edition
Yes, it’s
an upgrade of a mobile game, but the simple interface underlies a fascinating
puzzle game. You play as a tiny hitman moving along straight lines towards your
target. Every time your character, 47, makes a move, the other pieces on the
grid move as well. You have to position yourself carefully to be out of the
line of sight of the guards, while using distractions, disguises and even
sniper rifles. It’s a perfect, simplified version of its big brother, Hitman.
GOTY? No. It is in fact a re-release of a mobile
title. Great, simple, and short-time fun. Just what you really want in a puzzle
game. We need more games like Hitman: GO.
Far Cry Primal
Great way
to make a fresh entry in a franchise: take away all of the guns. You use sticks
and stones to break bones and also stab other cave-people. Hunting, gathering
and using “beast-tamer” skills to coerce sabre-tooth tigers, bears and wolves
make for some genuinely fun elements, in my favorite Far Cry game so far. By
moving the combat closer to each enemy, Ubisoft manages to make survival in an
ancient land more personal, violent, and well, primal.
GOTY? No
way. This is probably the worst storyline in any Far Cry game, including the
ones made by Crytek which were about drugs or aliens or whatever. Not having
the characters speaking a real language and instead making up 3 different
caveman dialects, makes literally every word a character speaks unimportant. It’s
gibberish, so you have to read subtitles no matter what, though you can turn
them off entirely or put in a language you don’t know and it will make about as
much sense. Here is the plot: we are of this tribe, go kill every one of the
other tribe. It’s like it was written by cavemen themselves.
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
This might
be the best looking game I’ve seen so far this year. I love the art style of
the City of Glass, the scenery is just beautiful. I hardly ever use the
fast-travel system, because I enjoy just running and jumping around the city.
While I hated its predecessor, Mirror’s Edge 2 is a simple joy to play. Everything
flows perfectly together and you don’t ever want to stop free-running and combining
slides, jumps and wallruns.
GOTY? Nah.
Like Far Cry Primal, there is a huge disparity between the gameplay and story.
The characters are basically all jerks and incredibly rude to each other. The
main character, Faith, is so irritated by everyone else and everyone around her
is too incompetent to take down this corporation and its vaguely evil ways.
This is how you fight an oppressive regime, by the way, with neat tricks and
flips.
Also, while
the environments are fantastic, the in-game character models look terrible.
Like they’re from 2008 or something.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Undoubtedly
the best Uncharted game ever. Looks great, plays great, the characters and
story are nearly perfect, with the exception of Nathan Drake being the worst
liar ever. The characters, and especially the villains, are well thought out
and nuanced. Who needs Amy Hennig?
While I
was initially down on the stealth mechanics, with marking abilities straight out
of Assassins’ Creed, the traversal and combat more than make up for it. Climbing
rock walls and rolling for cover works well and I never felt that any of my
deaths were the fault of the game, like I had thought with the previous titles.
I just missed the jump or I wasn't aware enough of enemy movement. It’s more than a fitting end for a marvelous franchise.
GOTY?
Maybe. Could be. The only real negative is the multiplayer. While competently made,
I don’t feel it’s a necessity in the game. Other games have it, so it must too,
I guess. Also, there are 2 separate instances of you playing Crash Bandicoot
in-universe. I fucking hate Crash Bandicoot.
Overwatch
So, I’m
terrible in first-person shooters. Call of Duty and Battlefield kick my ass. I
can hold my own in Halo and I still enjoy PvP in Destiny. For the most part,
these games reward the players who can kill the most while dying the least,
something I can’t lay claim to. Overwatch totally transforms the FPS genre for
me.
The mix of
classes, styles and characters appeals to a great variety of players. Want to
just shoot a bunch of bullets? Want to build a wall of protection around your
allies? Want to snipe or heal or just blow stuff up? There is a character and play-style for you.
And it is
the character of the game that is the real appeal. The art style is cartoony
and goofy. Vibrant colors and environments. Multiple costumes and colors for
characters. Everything is shown in a light-hearted and silly manner. (Unless
you are one of those people who really cares about the lore.) The game absolutely
requires teamwork and the right mix of heroes can pull out a victory at the
last moment. Of course, your teammates also have to change tactics and heroes to adapt to the situation too.
GOTY? Yes.
So far. The game can really only get better from here. With Blizzard continuously
tweaking and updating mechanics and the addition of new characters and new
maps, this multiplayer-only game can have real longevity. Also, you can’t win a
game by yourself. You and your teammates have to adapt to survive. Sometimes
this doesn’t happen and that one guy will just keep picking Hanzo.
And again, we're only halfway through the year. With games like No Man's Sky, Dishonored 2, Watch_Dogs 2, Final Fantasy XV and others coming in the following months, 2016 is shaping up to be an extraordinary year for video games.
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