Hey everybody, here is my top games of the year. 2015 was actually quite good for games, with plenty of variety across all genres. Not many disappointments and quite a lot of really enjoyable (and long) games.

7. Dying Light: This game is a much better version of Dead Island. Everything about it works well, the movement parkour system, the atmosphere, and even the story. The only bad part was the end boss QTE and the lack of world persistence (things reset). Dead Island was a co-op game you could play solo. I think Dying Light is a solo game you can play co-op. The competitive multiplayer is pretty basic but quite enjoyable too.

6. Rocket League: Thanks to Tim for giving me this as a gift late in the year. This game excels in its simplicity and depth. Drive rocket cars and hit a ball into a goal, easy right? It’s intensely competitive and fast. The difference between a new player and an experienced one can be huge. Teams alternate positions to attack the ball. In many respects the game is about making the least mistakes, or capitalizing on the other team’s errors. It has quick 5 minute matches and that helps make it easy to jump in and out.

5. SOMA: Frictional games still have the right stuff when it comes to horror and science fiction. Their world they’ve designed this time is much better looking and more interesting. Story is quite something once you get to the end. I do wish it had more puzzles, and some branching story choices, but perhaps that is asking too much

4. Batman Arkham Knight: At launch the game stuttered pretty bad on my PC at low settings. But despite this I completed the game and enjoyed it. The open world just felt right to me, like it was a proper city to explore and protect—the previous batman games did not give me that feeling. The Batmobile was used well most of the time, but I concede it was overused in a few situations. Some late patches improved performance (now playable on med settings). Definitely one of the better Batman games for me.

3. Tales from the Borderlands: Another fine game from Telltale that happens to be one of the funniest games I’ve ever played. The ending is amazing for many reasons, including the fight sequence and the narrative cleanup that the player can control. Some great characters and sharp dialogue bring this to the top of my list. The strange part is that I don’t even like the Borderlands games by Gearbox, they just never clicked. Hoping they persist with a second series (and same for The Wolf Among Us) or it will be a real shame.

2. Fallout 4: My most played game of the year and if other things were different it would be my GOTY. Absolutely loved exploring the commonwealth and discovering the stories found across the world. People trapped in bunkers, or families separated when the bombs dropped. There are so many things to find that are not always linked to quests. The settlement building aspect is quite interesting and I spent a bit of time building up my settlements and going to collect salvage so I could build more. Shooting felt good (slow motion woo), so did the progression via modifications and collectibles. Didn’t use the power armor much, but used it on the final mission with much satisfaction. Found the story quite interesting too, with some factions that had conflicting motives. Companions were great, although they still need to be better with orders and navigation. Would have liked a bit more chatter from them, but there are quite a few good ones

The main problem with FO4 is the bugs and lack of polish. Simple things in some cases, like not explaining how settlements work or helping you do basic tasks. Then you face more technical problems like giving you the same radiant quest three times in a row, or not letting you build stuff due to a crazy small build limit that could be increased by dropping weapons (yes seriously). Or silly design things like telling you to defend a settlement even though it has 20 turrets already. Six more months of development time would have cleaned it up almost completely and that is why it’s #2

1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Once again Geralt comes out on top, this time with the ashen-haired Ciri by his side. So many amazing characters and quests are found in this game. Even just those initial areas of White Orchard or Velen with Keira Metz and the Baron were truly sensational. And then you get to Novigrad and later Skellige which offer plenty of intrigue. It’s a mature story with funny dialogue, intelligent themes and an interesting world. The combat is quite good too, better than the last game because of some smart design decisions. And fortunately the difficulty is quite balanced. I can’t really think of another game that does this much story and content without skipping a beat. Barely any bugs to be found, runs amazing and looks even better. Another important factor is that CD Projeckt Red provided excellent post release support, many patches that actually changed the game based on feedback (e.g. inventory and storage chests) plus they gave us 16 free DLC packs which is the perfect slap in the face for the rest of the industry. My only wish is that we got to spend more time with each of the amazing characters.

The Hearts of Stone Expansion was also released in 2015, offering more than a dozen hours of some of the best DLC I have played. They created a new story with a few amazing characters (Man of Glass, Shani, Von Everec) and it perhaps used them better than the main game. The wedding was absolutely hilarious and made sense in context. Then it followed up with a completed shift in tone that was almost heart breaking. W3 didn’t need this DLC to be GOTY, but the DLC itself could have been in my top 7. Witcher 3 flies high above anything else this year in all respects and clearly deserves its scores of GOTY awards.

My Previous Winners:

2014 - The Wolf Among Us

2013 - Metro: Last Light

2012 - Mass Effect 3

2011 - Battlefield 3

2010 - STALKER: Call of Pripyat

2009 - Uncharted 2

2008 - Fallout 3

Honorable mentions

Good or great games in their own right, recommended.

GTA 5: It was a great game, although not sure it reaches the heights of previous GTA games. Actually did not play much after the story was complete which is unusual for me.

Life is Strange: A great adventure about a time-bending high school student. It is wonderfully composed and quite genuine with one tremendous character in Chloe.

Ori and the Blind Forest: Hard, but certainly rewarding. Fantastic music and good visuals

Battlefield Hardline: Will be remembered as a bad entry in the series, but I thought it was pretty enjoyable online and played ~100 hrs. Some good new modes (blood money / hotwire) and a focus on infantry combat.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3: Pretty solid multiplayer game, with fantastic maps and great movement system. The single player is not as good as its predecessors though.

DiRT Rally: Great driving and some brutal tracks. Side content is shallow though and no rally mp

Resident Evil Revelations 2: Not a big Resident Evil fan but this sequel surprised me in the good way with some great characters that work together to get through an island of monsters.

Minor Disappointments

Nothing really sucked this year, but some games could have been so much better

Stat Wars Battlefront: Frustrating! Some maps are bad and balance poor. Horrible spawn system. Connectivity via matchmaking is horrible. Looks great though and occasionally plays good in smaller modes.

Trine 3: Still a fairly decent game, but the move to full 3D took away more than it gave

Van Helsing 3: Final chapter in the series was a letdown, story fades, Katarina underused, classes are messy and the lack of tower defence hurts. Still a decent game

Summary

So 2015 was quite good for gaming with lots of titles across all genres. 2016 also looks like it will be solid. Some games I’m excited about include Uncharted 4, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Mass Effect Andromeda (probably be delayed) and Homefront: Revolution to name a few.

I am not visiting Gamespot much these days. With Kevin Van Ord gone, I’m not sure there is any written content that is worth reading. The site is pretty much all video content these days and that is understandable although not something I’m drawn towards.

Hope everybody had a good year this year gaming wise or otherwise.