What a year 2015 was for gaming! I feel like I open my awards post with that every other year but the last twelve months saw the release of some truly astonishing titles. The breadth of titles was stunning and the depth of the games themselves left me wondering when I would get to play everything!
As is always the case there are titles I simply haven’t had time to get to or that I started but only put a small amount of time into. Things like Mad Max, Just Cause 3, Mortal Kombat and Borderlands: The Handsome Jack Collection may well have made it into these awards somewhere but alas not this year.
So as usual let’s delve back into 2014 for a title I missed at the time but ended up being a firm favourite early in 2015…
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MISSED GEM OF 2014
WINNER: Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us
I had no real knowledge of the Fable comic series before the announcement of The Wolf Among Us and even then I thought it sounded like a cool premise but wasn’t sure if I’d want to play a game based around it. Having loved The Walking Dead (yes, even the much maligned season two!), I just didn’t know if I could care about a cast of characters in such a far fetched setting… Well, as it turns out I definitely could! You play as Sheriff Bigby, the wolf of the game’s title and fairy tale legend. You are charged with keeping fairy tale characters in check as they settle into life in the real world alongside Humans. They do such a good job of dragging you into this world and it features all the hallmarks of a Telltale game – narrative choice, good writing and memorable characters.
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BEST GAME INNOVATION
WINNER: Metal Gear Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Until Dawn came close to nabbing this award, with the best use of the motion function of the controller in years. In tense moments of the game you are tasked with remaining still and not moving the gamepad. If you do you will be caught/trapped etc. In a game where all the characters can die at any time it led to some extremely tense moments! Life Is Strange‘s unique use of time travel also impressed, just the fact that you could rewind dialogue choices more than once gave you a sense of freedom to explore the possibilities and take your best option. Again, Batman: Arkham Knight might have taken this in another year. I don’t recall a use of audio/visual cues that was as good as it was in Arkham. In addition to the radial wheel to choose missions there was an abundance of in-world feedback that I loved. So many times I’d be on my way somewhere and see or hear something odd, a building on fire or a strange flying shape, that I investigated and suddenly found myself in a side mission. Great stuff. But there is only one game that could take the award for 2015. In a year of amazing games Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain rewrote the rulebook for open world games. There is so much I could say here; the amount of buddies you can take on missions, the customisation of weapons, the base management and so on. It all boils down to one thing: giving players the flexibility to take on missions, or salvage ones gone awry, in their own way. Want to capture that colonel and get his Intel? Go for it. Oh, you’d rather just shoot a rocket launcher at him and jump in a jeep to speed off? Just as valid. Amazing.
RUNNERS UP:
- Until Dawn (Don’t Move)
- Batman (Audio/Visual Cues)
- Life Is Strange (Improved Rewind Mechanic)
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BEST DLC (CONTENT)
WINNER: Destiny: The Taken King
There could only really be one winner in this category. With The Taken King, Destiny has been revitalised. With fresh content and a re-working of the game’s original story stuff this really was DLC worth having. New multiplayer maps and modes added extra value to the mix and this was a fantastic addition to the game. DriveClub: Bikes also bought a wealth of new content in the form of Bikes to the game. Another full tour mode, challenges and multiplayer bring a different spin on the original game and for the mid-range price point. If you’re into DriveClub and fancy something different, you can’t really go wrong here. Rocket League has been extremely well supported by the developer with both free and paid for content. I’ve taken advantage of both and found them to be excellent. Sure a lot of it is smaller things like cars/decals etc. but with the new content that allows you to mix it up and make the game more fun (low gravity/huge ball etc.) I feel it’s a worthy nominee. The same can’t really be said for Star Wars: Battlefront but it’s the only other DLC I played this year. A free addition that gives you a new map and few new game modes, it’s perfectly fine and apparently more free content is coming.
RUNNERS UP:
- DriveClub: Bikes
- Star Wars Battlefront
- Rocket League
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THE JOE DANGER AWARD
WINNER: Rocket League
This was previously my Best Downloadable Only Game category but it kind of felt redundant, with so many great games in the spirit of the award also getting physical releases. So from here on out The Joe Danger Award will be for games that are mid level price but captured my attention in terms of hours spent playing or polish. This year the award came down to a head-to-head between Life Is Strange and Rocket League. As much as I enjoyed Helldivers it didn’t stick with me and Steins;Gate is awesome but it just doesn’t fly in the same way as the two frontrunners. In the end I have to give it to Rocket League – I had no expectations for that game and it pretty much took over my gaming schedule for the entire Summer! With no story or characters to divide opinion, Rocket League seemed to be enjoyed by everyone that played it and for good reason.
RUNNERS UP:
- Life Is Strange
- Steins;gate
- Helldivers
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MOST ANTICIPATED GAME OF 2016
WINNER: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Well because of its delay in 2015 through to Spring of 2016, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End takes this award for the second year in a row. I love the Uncharted series and the footage that has been released, along with the multiplayer beta I played before Christmas (footage here) have stoked the flames even more. I can’t wait for this… No Man’s Sky was a runner up in this category back in 2013, another game that has been confirmed for 2016. This space exploration sim looks set to explode this year as gamers clamour to name new planets and creatures. Should be good fun! I couldn’t get enough of Persona 4 Golden a few years back so the sequel, Persona 5, is big news for me. I look forward to building up those Social Links all over again! I also think Horizon: Zero Dawn looks astounding, and the creators of Killzone are well worth backing in their new game universe. Another one to look forward to in 2016.
RUNNERS UP:
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Persona 5
- No Man’s Sky
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BEST GAME TRAILER
WINNER: Star Wars Battlefront
As someone who isn’t even a Star Wars it was a surprise just how much of an effect that Battlefront trailer had. I suppose everything Star Wars is so much a part of pop culture’s make up that just seeing the characters and hearing the music triggered my brain – nonetheless it’s a great trailer that was the best I saw this year. I’ve been hoping for a second installment of Dishonored and it was finally revealed at E3, with the awesome news that this time out you’ll be playing as Emily Kaldwin – hopefully it can live up to the trailer, which is the same thing I’m hoping for Hitman. This game looks amazing graphically and I really enjoyed the last one. With the PS4’s improved sharing functionality, this could be a game that benefits and the trailer does a good job of giving a glimpse of the world that awaits. I was always going to get Fallout 4 but I thought this trailer was really well done and deserves a spot on the list.
RUNNERS UP:
- Fallout 4
- Dishonored 2
- Hitman
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BEST VITA GAME
WINNER: Helldivers
My Vita was sadly underused for new titles during 2015. I had a lot of game time on the handheld but it was mostly spent playing older titles I’d missed – things like Persona 3, Muramasa Rebirth, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and the previously mentioned Wolf Among Us. So unfortunately most of the new stuff I played didn’t get a huge amount of screen time. I really enjoyed my time with Helldivers and thought it was a great port. It ran fine for me and I used it offline to level up my character before logging in when possible to update it. Steins;Gate has been really cool so far but I’m under 10 hrs in and don’t feel I can give it the award without having seen the whole story. I also thought Broken Age was impressive – it looked gorgeous and had a very engaging setting. Some of the puzzles were a little bit taxing for me but I’ve never been that strong on logic stuff in games. Olli Olli 2 was more of the same but why change a working formula? The introduction of manuals gave a further level of control to an already difficult, but fulfilling, game.
RUNNERS UP:
- Broken Age
- SteinsGate
- Olli Olli 2
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BEST GRAPHICS
WINNER: Star Wars: Battlefront
That Star Wars Battlefront trailer that you watched above? Most people dismissed it as CGI and said the game would never look that good. It looks that good. No question. Fair enough the game only has four environments but they are jaw droppingly stunning. The fact that The Order: 1886 didn’t win this category is still a surprise to me. I just didn’t see anything surpassing it, least of all a multiplayer title. But don’t let that detract from Sony Santa Monica’s eye melting depiction of an alternate history Whitechapel in the late 19th century. It has to be seen to be believed at times and while the gameplay wasn’t great, the graphics certainly were. Until Dawn had some ridiculously good facial capture and looked absolutely gorgeous, both in terms of the characters and the environments. Another game that had fantastic environments was Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which at times looked unreal – especially with it’s day/night and weather cycles.
RUNNERS UP:
- The Order: 1886
- Until Dawn
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
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BEST STORYLINE
WINNER: Life Is Strange
I seem to be in the minority when talking about the story of Batman: Arkham Knight. I enjoyed Rocksteady’s final hurrah with this character and found the tales told over the course of the game to be fun and interesting. Although I should also say it was mostly the side stuff that held my interest, the main storyline not so much. Until Dawn was another story I enjoyed – the mix of main storyline and background information found via collectibles was great and felt natural. The Order: 1886 told a solid story and was possibly the best written of the bunch this year. It’s such a shame everyone focused on the, supposedly, short play time of the game and not it’s positive aspects. Which brings us to the winner of this category, Life Is Strange. What a story. This was one full of twists I didn’t see coming and with some lovely character moments. Max’s story is well told and something that everyone can relate to, even if you’re not a teenage girl yourself.
RUNNERS UP:
- Until Dawn
- The Order: 1886
- Batman: Arkham Knight
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BEST MUSIC (SCORE)
WINNER: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
It wasn’t a huge year for music scores in the games I played. I enjoyed Life Is Strange‘s incidental music a lot and Batman: Arkham Knight had some powerful cues that really lent some atmosphere to the events on screen. Jason Graves delivered with Until Dawn and had me jumping out of my skin on several occasions. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain takes it though – some of the score when out on missions is fantastic and that music when you’re preparing for a mission is insanely good. I have high hopes for this category next year with titles like Uncharted 4, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Rise Of The Tomb Raider and Horizon: Zero Dawn hitting the PS4.
RUNNERS UP:
- Until Dawn
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Life Is Strange
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BEST MUSIC (LICENSED)
WINNER: Life Is Strange
Battlefield: Hardline set the bar for licensed soundtracks early in the year with songs by Jamie N Commons, Public Enemy, Judas Priest, Run The Jewels and The Clash before being usurped by the 80’s-fest that was Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain which included artists like Hall and Oates, Kajagoogoo, Kim Wilde, A-Ha and The Cure. The use of them in game was great as well, which made a huge difference. Battlefront had the benefit of licensing in some of the most well known film score in history. Those songs just fire something up in people and add a huge amount to the experience of playing the game. But the winner here is undoubtedly Life Is Strange, which has an array of fantastic music from artists like Syd Matters, Amanda Palmer, Sparklehorse and Foals. It all suits the game so well and the opening of the game is possibly the best use of music I’ve seen in a game. It’s flawlessly executed and helped me fall in love with the game even more.
RUNNERS UP:
- Battlefield: Hardline
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
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BEST VOICE ACTING
WINNER: Until Dawn
It makes a change when looking at the best voice acting category to have a selection of games NOT featuring Nolan North or Troy Baker! As great as those two are we have some fresh blood. First up I want to give a shout out to Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, and in particular the twins Evie (Victoria Atkin) and Jacob Frye (Paul Amos). Both compliment each other really well and it’s a refreshing change to have such engaging lead characters in the series. Also props to Battlefield Hardline, which I felt was a little overlooked in 2015. I liked the episodic TV format of the game and thought the voice performances were strong – especially Adam Harrington and Travis Willingham. Life is Strange nearly took this category with some wonderful work from Ashly Burch and Hannah Telle, as Max and Chloe, but in the end I had to go with Until Dawn. The game has a fantastic cast and some memorable dialogue that is delivered pitch perfect. Hayden Panettiere is great as Sam and Brett Dalton gives a good performance as Mike. For me though the best two lines were from Galadriel Stineman’s Ashley (“What are you tweeting? Hashtag there’s a freaking ghost after us!”) and Nichole Bloom’s Emily (“Understand the palm of my hand, bitch!”). Wonderful stuff that really added depth to the characters.
RUNNERS UP:
- Life Is Strange
- Battlefield: Hardline
- Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
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SINGLE PLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Life Is Strange
I haven’t finished The Witcher 3 but have played enough to know it’s deserving of a place on this list. I never had a chance to experience the previous games in the series as they were PC only but that didn’t seem to hold me back at all. The Witcher 3 has an in depth and interesting combat system that takes into account potions and well as sword-play. It can be challenging at times but is definitely worth sticking with, complimented by some cool story beats and side missions. As I mentioned earlier, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain took the opening world genre and redefined it. While it’s story wasn’t strong, I felt gameplay wise this was possibly the best thing I played this year. Until Dawn was also an absolute blast, which is surprising coming from someone who is not into the horror genre at all. I’m still annoyed about my ending to that game, thinking about the characters I lost, which is always one of the signs of a great game. The winner of this year’s award is another game that stuck with me for weeks after I’d finished it. Life Is Strange sucked me in like no other game this year. The mix of setting, characters, music, story and gameplay had me hooked from the very first episode. Seeing your choices make a difference, no matter how big or small, was always cool and some of those cliffhanger endings to episodes were jaw dropping. Checking the online stats and seeing how many people made different decisions was an eye opener. An amazing game, I can’t wait to see what comes next from the developer.
RUNNERS UP:
- The Witcher 3
- Until Dawn
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
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MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Rocket League
It was a much improved year for multiplayer gaming, with Destiny continuing to satisfy and increasing the level of content with The Taken King expansion. I had a great time with the game in 2015, jumping on to do a few Daily Challenges in the multiplayer Crucible modes. It remains the best shooter currently out there, the handling and control I would say are on a par with my other favourite FPS series, Killzone. At the other end of the spectrum we had Star Wars Battlefront, which was aimed at a much more casual market. With looser shooting and helpful mechanics like no reloading, Battlefront might have been something you could dismiss but DICE do a stunning job of creating the most authentic Star Wars experience out there. Now, admittedly, that is the view of a non-Star Wars fan but for me when you look around the battlefield and see Storm Troopers, AT-ATs and then that music swells as Luke Skywalker bursts round the corner… Well that’s Star Wars and it works. I still feel Metal Gear Solid Online was a little under-appreciated this year but then again I’ve been waiting years for a good SOCOM style multiplayer shooter so I was always going to like this. Having said all that the game that dominated my online time in 2015 was a football game. And it wasn’t FIFA 16. The award for best multiplayer goes to Rocket League, a game in which you play football (soccer) with cars. It sounds simple because it is but the developers nailed the control of the cars and the way the ball reacts. Scoring a goal is quite something else in Rocket League. This was the most fun I had this year online and the game also posed a great challenge as I started to get better at controlling the cars. And that’s the amazing thing about Rocket League – you can be good, bad or great. You can pick up a pad for the first time and play the game, having just as much fun as a seasoned veteran. It’s easy to get into, tough to master and generally an all round excellent game.
RUNNERS UP:
- Metal Gear Solid Online
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Destiny: The Taken King
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GAME OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
As I said at the start of these awards, it really has been a great year for gaming. It was tough to whittle this list down to four and even tougher to decide a winner. In the end it could really only be one title though, the game that delivered on both single player and multiplayer fronts. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Hideo Kojima’s swan song at Konami and the final instalment in the Metal Gear series was stellar. A few mis-steps aside (would’ve preferred keeping voice actor David Hayter as Snake and well, the less said about Quiet’s outfit the better) it was a masterpiece and has given other developers of open world games a lot to think about. The sheer flexibility of the game is unreal – what would be a ‘Game Over’ screen and restart in other titles (including previous Metal Gear titles) is here a chance to try and salvage the mission by improvising. The AI is clever enough but never feels unfairly advanced or, equally, too stupid. The online is also an achievement, with the slick control from single player coming over. Add into the mix the Fulton system and how that effects things in Bounty Hunter mode and you have mechanics that keep the game interesting beyond your usual 3rd person shooter stuff. This is the best game of 2015 overall and a worthy winner.
RUNNERS UP:
- Life Is Strange
- Until Dawn
- Rocket League
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So there you have it! 2015 is done and we can now look forward to 2016, which is shaping up to be another big year for games. Titles like Uncharted 4, Deus Ex, No Man’s Sky, Hitman, The Last Guardian, Gravity Rush 2 and The Division, among others, will be hitting and I can’t wait! It’s a great time to be a gamer and I’m already wondering which of 2016’s titles will make the list next time out!
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GregHorrorShow 